October Newsletter

A note from our Project Coordinator: Happy Harvest!

Around this time of year, some Indigenous communities hold Harvest ceremonies instead of Thanksgiving, as it is considered a contentious holiday. Harvest is one of the biggest ceremonies celebrated by local Kanien’kehá:ka communities. It is a time to share abundance with others, and like all other days of the year, express gratitude. In Kanien’kehá:ka tradition, the Harvest ceremony is the last major ceremony of the year until mid-Winter. This upcoming long weekend, IDLG invites you to acknowledge the territory on which you reside, and to open up dialogue with friends and family about how to engage with Indigenous Peoples in meaningful and generative ways.

- Tiffany Ashoona, IDLG Project Coordinator

IDLG Highlights

• Concordia: Do you have an Indigenous-based project you need funding for? Apply for the Indigenous Directions Fund!
  
  The purpose of The Indigenous Directions (ID) Fund is to provide financial support to projects that advance the Indigenous Directions Leadership Group’s mandate, which is to improve Concordia’s responsiveness to IDLG's upcoming Action Plan and its six mandates. The funds distributed through this initiative will support projects that seek to build capacity within Concordia, and build mutually beneficial relationships between Concordia and First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and other Indigenous communities. 
  
  To learn more about project eligibility and funding criteria, please download the ID Fund Application PDF. (Note: This information and application will also be made available on the Indigenous Directions Hub in the coming weeks).

• Donna Kahérakwas Goodleaf (Indigenous Curriculum and Pedagogy Advisor, CTL) continues her Seminar Series on Decolonizing and Indigenizing the Academy with:

Decolonization and Indigenous Land-Based Pedagogies
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2018
Time: 10-11:30am
Location: SGW FB 620

The aim of this workshop is to deepen participants’ knowledge and understanding of how Indigenous communities today are engaging in decolonizing education in communities by creating and revitalizing Indigenous educational models grounded in land-based pedagogies, culture, language, and survival skills, while reconnecting students to the land in various contextual learning environments. To register, visit the Centre for Teaching and Learning website.

Job postings

• Coordinator, First Voices Week

Under the supervision of the Dean of Students, the incumbent coordinates the activities of student volunteers, as well as other Concordia staff and faculty involved in First Voices Week (FVW) 2019. In partnership with representatives from the First Peoples Studies Members Association (FPSTMA), the incumbent is responsible for preparing a central budget for the event, securing financial support from partner organizations and groups, and generally overseeing activities. For more information on this posting, please download the PDF of the job description.

• Director, First Peoples Studies

The School of Community and Public Affairs at Concordia University invites applications for the position of Director of the First Peoples Studies program (FPST), Quebec’s first (and currently only) undergraduate degree program specializing in First Peoples – First Nations, Inuit, and Métis – within the Quebec and Canadian context. Learn more about this position and apply here.

• Assistant Professor, First Peoples Studies

The School of Community and Public Affairs is currently seeking to develop its First Peoples Studies program further and invites applications for a tenure-track appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor in the field of Indigenous studies. Learn more about this position and apply here.

Events

• Love, Rage, and Solidarity: 13th March and Vigil for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People

Date: Thursday, October 4
Time: 6-9pm
Location: Cabot Square (Atwater Metro)

In solidarity with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit People, the Indigenous Directions Leadership Group encourages you to attend Love, Rage, and Solidarity: 13th March and Vigil for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit. For more information, please visit the Facebook event page here.

• Webinar: The Winnipeg Boldness Project: Community Wisdom & Systems Change

Date: October 11, 2018
Time: 1-2pm Eastern
Speaker: Diane Roussin, Winnipeg Boldness Project
Host: Galen MacLusky, Tamarack Learning Centre

This webinar will focus on the experience of The Winnipeg Boldness Project, a research and development project working alongside the North End community to create improved outcomes for children in the Point Douglas neighbourhood of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Winnipeg Boldness project director, Diane Roussin, will discuss the Child-Centred Model—a theory of change informed by community wisdom—and how the project is employing multi-sectoral collaborative efforts to contribute to systems change and reconciliation. Read more about this webinar and register here.

• Oral History in Our Challenging Times Conference

Dates: October 10-14
Location: Sir George Williams Campus, Concordia University

The Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS) is hosting the annual conference of the Oral History Association. The conference theme is Oral History in Our Challenging Times, featuring immersive, art-infused storytelling projects exploring subjects like the Syrian refugee crisis, racism and Islamophobia, the opioid epidemic, and more. Check out panels and presentations as well as guided tours (including a tour of Cedar Eve Peters' murals), sound installations, and more at no cost. Read more about conference highlights here, or visit COHDS’s website for full conference details.

• Readings for Treaty People: The Indian Act

Dates: Oct. 18, 25, Nov. 1, 15, 22
Time: 6:30pm-8pm, Thursday evenings
Location: Atwater Library
Cost: $25-$50 (sliding scale)

The language of reconciliation is in many instances nothing more than a new phase of colonialism. Indigenous scholars like Leanne Simpson, Glen Coulthard, Chelsea Vowel, and David Garneau argue, rightly, that it remains presumptuous to talk about reconciliation so long as the truths about settler relationships with Indigenous peoples continue to be so easily ignored, misunderstood, and flatly denied. Indeed, non-indigenous populations in Canada have much work and learning still to do.

Join us for the second session of “Readings for Treaty People,” a public education project designed for settlers but open always to anyone. This session will focus on the several iterations of the Indian Act. This is a series of events co-facilitated by Jocelyn Parr and Richard Cassidy. For more information and to register for this reading series, please visit: https://readingsfortreatypeople.wordpress.com/the-indian-act-fall-2018/.