The Indigenous Environmental Justice Project is celebrating National Indigenous History Month via virtual events and the sharing of Indigenous perspectives through presentations, videos, social media and photos. To learn more about National Indigenous History Month, see our list of resources in the table below.
| Resources |
|---|
| APTN’s Indigenous History Month 2019 Page |
| Gov of Canada’s About Indigenous History Month Page |
| The Senate’s Page The Importance of Indigenous History Month |
| Gov of Canada’s Indigenous History Page |
Indigenous History Month Live Talk Series
IEJ’s first event was on June 11, 2020 and featured Joseph Pitawanakwat from Creator’s Garden, a small business originally from Manitoulin Island but is now housed in Peterborough, Ontario. Creator’s Garden is focused on teaching the legitimacy of plant-based medicine, along with the intricacies of sustainable harvesting and use of every part of harvested plants. Want to see more of what Joseph does and find ways to support his work? Visit the Creator’s Garden page on Twitch, Patreon, Facebook and Youtube.
The second event was hosted live on June 16, 2020 and featured Jon Johnson. Jon is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, at the University of Toronto with a research focus on urban, land-based Indigenous knowledge in the GTA, with a focus on stories of Toronto’s Indigenous ancient and ongoing presence. Since 2003 he has worked with First Story Toronto, a an Indigenous community-based organization, as a guide, consultant, and lead organizer. Jon will focus on some land-based stories of Indigenous presence in Toronto as well as some of the ways that increasing awareness of and engagement with these stories of Indigenous presence is informing current projects and work among contemporary Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the city.
The third event of the series was hosted live on June 18, 2020 and featured Sylvia Plain from Aamjiwnaang First Nation. Sylvia is a community ambassador, water walker, researcher, birch bark canoe building apprentice and founder of the Great Lakes Canoe Journey. Sylvia’s talk was focused on her experiences and reflections from attending different canoe journeys across Turtle Island. She specifically highlights protocols, the importance of continuous learning and the types of grassroots nation-building exchanges that go alongside engaging in canoe journeys.ry.
The last event of the series was hosted live on June 30, 2020 and featured Dr. Alan Corbiere from M’Chigeeng First Nation. Alan is a scholar of Indigenous history in Canada and the United States, specializing in Anishinaabe history and culture of the northern Great Lakes region in the 18th and 19th century. Alan’s talk featured the importance of understanding language in archival documents and letters, the use of stories for Anishinaabe history and much more!