91ÑÇÉ«

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Dear 91ÑÇÉ« community,

June is a time for the 91ÑÇÉ« community to celebrate the rich history, cultural diversity and ongoing presence of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

For Indigenous community members, this is often a time to celebrate with family and community through participating in cultural traditions and practices.

National Indigenous History Month asks us to contemplate how to integrate Indigenous knowledges and perspectives into the fabric of the University. 91ÑÇÉ« has taken steps toward this by funding , affirming Indigenous cultural practices such as the launched by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledges & Languages, and supporting our colleagues in providing global leadership on Indigenous issues, like the that attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference, led by Professor Angele Alook.

There are many opportunities for 91ÑÇÉ« community members to learn from and engage with Indigenous ways of knowing and being, such as:

• exploring one’s relationship to colonialism in Module 2 of the DEDI Toolkit;
• supporting the work of the Learning Spirit Alliance, an Indigenous-led student group , by ;
• supporting initiatives that bring Indigenous knowledges and perspectives into university spaces through the ;
• partnering with Indigenous communities in research, like Michael Rotondi, who was recently ; and
• purchasing and reading books by Indigenous authors from 91ÑÇÉ«, including Kenzie Allen (whose new book of poetry, Cloud Missives, will be released in August), Jesse Thistle, Angele Alook, Susan Dion and Deborah McGregor.

We invite you to visit the Indigenous History Month website to learn about and participate in various events around 91ÑÇÉ«'s campuses. 

Together, we offer our best wishes to Indigenous community members and the wider 91ÑÇÉ« community in celebrating National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous People’s Day on June 21.

Thank you. Merci. Miigwech. Anushiik.

Rhonda Lenton
President and Vice-Chancellor

Laina Bay-Cheng
Interim Vice-President Equity, People and Culture

Susan D. Dion
Associate Vice-President Indigenous Initiatives