Linking Arms Together, a public symposium, will take place June 28, from 9am to 5:30pm, in Osgoode Hall-Moot Court, Kaneff Building, Keele campus.

Speakers will bring ideas to bear on the process of reconciliation using the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The symposium will also provide opportunities to reach out to other communities, educate the public and also create networks of solidarity, says key organizer Professor Peter Dawson of the Department of Sociology in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. The symposium is also organized and sponsored by the Centre for Human Rights at 91亚色 and the聽 Department of Equity Studies.

The symposium, whose title recalls the Mohawk teaching based on the sacred wampum that emphasizes the importance of co-operation and solidarity among aboriginal communities, marks the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which continues to be of legal importance to First Nations in Canada.

Some of the speakers will include the following:

Professor Emeritus Marlene Brant Castellano of Trent University, a longstanding member of the Native Studies department and an Officer of the Order of Canada, served as chair of the department from 1989 until 1991, during which time she became co-director of Research for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. She is a member of the Mohawk Nation, Bay of Quinte Band, who has also pursued careers as a social worker in child and family services. She also serves on the Institute Advisory board of the CIHR Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health and the College of Reviewers for Canada Research Chairs.

Professor John Milloy of Trent University is one of the country鈥檚 leading experts on residential schools. He was appointed director of Research, Historical Records and Report Preparation with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. In 2008, Milloy received approval from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to carry out an extensive research project that aimed to reveal what actually happened to the children who did not survive Canada鈥檚 residential school system. Previously, he served an adviser to the working group of church, Aboriginal and federal government representatives that laid out for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission a plan for filling in gaps in information about how many children died, what they died of and where they are buried. He is author of the book, A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986. In 2005, the Literary Review of Canada selected it as one of the 100 most important books in Canadian history.

A commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Marie Wilson has more than 30 years of professional experience as an award-winning journalist, trainer and senior executive manager. She has also been a university lecturer, a high school teacher in Africa, a senior executive manager in both federal and territorial crown corporations, and an independent contractor and consultant in journalism, program evaluation, and project management. She has lived, studied and worked in cross-cultural environments for almost 40 years, including Europe, Africa and various parts of Canada. As a journalist, she worked in print, radio and television as a regional and national reporter, and later as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's senior manager for northern Quebec and the three northern Territories. Wilson is the recipient of a CBC North Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Northerner of the Year Award.

Grand Chief Edward John, a Hereditary Chief of Tl'azt'en Nation on the banks of the Nak'al Bun (Stuart Lake) in Northern British Columbia, has dedicated his life to the pursuit of social and economic justice for Canada鈥檚 indigenous people. He has worked as a leader in Indigenous politics, business and community development and been a lawyer for over 30 years. He is currently serving his 10th consecutive term on the First Nations Summit Task Group and was recently reappointed for a second three-year term as a North American Representative to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (January 2014 to December 2016).

Romeo Saganash, NDP MP Abitibi 鈥� Baie-James 鈥� Nunavik 鈥� Eeyou, was raised in the small northern community of Waswanipi, Quebec, is a residential school survivor and a graduate of the University of Quebec at聽Montreal law school. He is fluent in Cree, both of Canada鈥檚 official languages. He was one of the negotiators of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As Deputy Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Cree, he also participated in the negotiation of the Charlottetown Accord, and in 1985, founded the Cree Nation Youth Council.

Ellen Gabriel was chosen by the People of the Longhouse and her community of Kanien鈥檏eh谩:ka Nation to be their spokesperson during the 1990 Oka Crisis; to protect the Pines from the expansion of a nine-hole golf course in Oka. For the past 22 years she has been a human rights advocate for the collective and individual rights of Indigenous peoples and has worked diligently to sensitize the public, academics, policing authorities and politicians聽 on the history, culture and identity of Indigenous peoples. She has been active at the international level participating at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues, negotiations on the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biodiversity and most recently, at the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Jennifer Preston is the program coordinator for Aboriginal Affairs for Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers). Her work in recent years has focused on Indigenous peoples' human rights at the international level, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She was actively involved in the intensive lobbying efforts to ensure the successful adoption of the Declaration at the United Nations in both Geneva and New 91亚色. She is a co-editor and contributor of Realizing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Triumph, Hope and Action (Purich Publishers, 2010).

Paul Joffe is a member of the Quebec and Ontario bars. He represents the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) and collaborates with numerous Indigenous and human rights organizations in different regions of the world. He specializes in human rights and other issues relating to Indigenous peoples at the international and domestic level. His active involvement in international standard-setting processes includes those relating to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; the draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the Organization of American States; and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989. He is a co-editor and contributor of Realizing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Triumph, Hope and Action.

Craig Benjamin works for Amnesty International in Canada as staff campaigner for the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. Amnesty International鈥檚 work in Canada includes the Stolen Sisters campaign though which Amnesty has worked with Indigenous women鈥檚 organizations to focus attention on the high rates of violence faced by Indigenous women; campaigns for recognition and protection of Indigenous peoples鈥� rights to land and water; promoting equitable access to essential services such as safe drinking water and family services; and promotion of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Benjamin represented Amnesty International at the UN Working Group on the Declaration in the final years of its work.

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It is part of inVISIBILITY: Indigenous in the City, a knowledge mobilization project directed by Professor Susan Dion of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Education, a national expert in urban Aboriginal education, which includes Carla Rice, Anna Hudson, Tanya Senk and Hannah Fowlie, and is funded by the Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada.

The project, in addition to being a 聽celebration of urban Aboriginal presence, its diversities and complexities, strives to create an indigenous space where urban Aboriginal peoples represent themselves, tell their own stories and invite people to attend, listen and converse.

鈥淚鈥檝e been attending Aboriginal art exhibits, film festival and celebrations in Toronto for years and I love meeting friends, family and Aboriginal colleagues at these events,鈥� says Dion. 鈥淎s an Aboriginal educator, I go to meetings with people who make policies that impact the lives of Aboriginal people, yet I rarely see these people at our events. I wanted an event that would bring communities together.鈥�

inVISIBILITY: Indigenous in the City is that event. 鈥淎s indigenous people we always represented ourselves, told our own stories and shared our teachings,鈥� says Dion. 鈥淗owever, up until recently most non-indigenous people have not had much interest in seeing and hearing our experiences and perspectives. I think that鈥檚 changing, I think people want to know us.鈥�

In collaboration with the TDSB Aboriginal Education Centre staff, Dion, Rice and Hudson have brought together a thought provoking and exquisite collection of visual art, performance video and digital stories, along with a speaker series that provides the public with multiple opportunities to come together, engage with content and have conversations.

Attend the opening reception at the John B. Aird Gallery, 900 Bay St. (at Wellesley) in Toronto June 27, from 5 to 8pm. Meet the artists and storytellers and experience Aboriginal visibility.

The art exhibition and speaker series will take place at the gallery, Monday to Friday, from 10am to 6pm. It will feature the work of five Aboriginal artists who address questions of urban Aboriginal identity and education. The exhibition includes a series of digital stories created by Aboriginal students, parents and teachers from TDSB.

The artists will include Jeff Thomas, an urban-Iroquois and self-taught photo-based artist; Vanessa Dion Fletcher, a Potawatomi/Lenape working in performance, video, printmaking and beading artist; Beth Kotierk, an Inuk born in Nunavut working in painting, installation, video and performance art; Nigit'Stil Norbert, a Gwichin/Irish/Russian from Yellowknife working in stop-motion, photography, beading and installion; and Walter Kahero:ton Scott, a Mohawk from Kahnawake working in print, video, sculpture and comic books.

Upcoming Speaker series:

June 28, from 4:30 to 6:30pm 鈥� artist talks

July 4, from 4:30 to 6:30pm 鈥� digital story screening with student, parent and teacher storytellers

July 11, from 4:30 to 6:30pm 鈥� film screening and discussion
July 18, from 2:30 to 4:30pm 鈥� guest lectures by Verna St. Denis and Jan Hare.

For more information about the gallery, contact Dale Barett at director@airdgallery.org and for the聽inVISIBILITY Project, contact Susan Dion at sdion@edu.yorku.ca.

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91亚色聽psychology Professor Debra Pepler, together with Shelley Cardinal of the Canadian Red Cross, has received over $2.4 million in funding over five years from SSHRC to lead a major national project: "Walking the Prevention Circle: Researching Community Capacity Building for Violence Prevention".聽 They are joined by Susan Dion, a 91亚色 education professor, and other researchers and partners. The project will examine how communities mobilize and build capacity through the Canadian and Australian Red Cross Societies' Walking the Prevention Circle (WTPC)聽鈥� a model for violence prevention in Aboriginal communities. The project will receive more than $1.2 million in matching funding from partnering organizations.

Debra Pepler

Pepler, a Distinguished Research Professor in the Faculty of Psychology and core member in 91亚色鈥檚 LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research, will lead a 10-member research team as they study the process of community capacity building.

鈥淭his grant provides an extraordinary opportunity to collaborate with communities in learning how they engage with the Red Cross community capacity-building process to share knowledge, promote stronger relationships, and move from the cycle of violence resulting from colonization to the circle of healing based in Aboriginal traditions,鈥� said Pepler.

Project partners include the聽Canadian Red Cross, Australian Red Cross, CAMH Centre for Prevention Science, Chiefs of Ontario, Prince Albert Grand Council, Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network (PREVNet), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Victoria Native Friendship Centre.

Susan Dion

Six 91亚色 researchers were also awarded more than $1.1 million in SSHRC funding through the Partnership Development Grants program, with more than an additional $1 million in total funding from matching partner contributions.聽The Partnership Development Program encourages applicants to work collaboratively with partners to develop research in the social sciences and humanities.聽This funding will support partnerships between 91亚色 researchers and Canadian and international universities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government departments, domestic and international associations, among others.

鈥淭he results of these recent SSHRC competitions are a testament to the exceptional track record 91亚色 has in leading interdisciplinary and collaborative research projects,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, 91亚色鈥檚 vice-president research and innovation. 鈥淭he project led by 91亚色 Professor Debra Pepler and Shelley Cardinal of the Canadian Red Cross, in collaboration with local and global partners, is designed to address and prevent the cycle of violence and improve the quality of people鈥檚 lives.鈥�

Robert Hach茅

The announcement was made on Friday, May 25聽by Gary Goodyear, federal minister of state for science and technology, while speaking at the launch of the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.聽 In total, more than $70 million is being awarded over a period of seven years to support 92 research teams across the country through SSHRC鈥檚 Partnership Grants and Partnership Development Grants.

鈥淥ur government鈥檚 top priority is jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. To remain at the forefront of the global economy, our government is investing in the people and ideas that will produce tomorrow鈥檚 breakthroughs,鈥� said聽Goodyear. 鈥淭hrough these investments, we are creating the best educated and most skilled workforce in the world and strengthening Canada鈥檚 research advantage.鈥�

鈥淭hese multi-sectoral research partnerships are key to innovation and to building knowledge for Canada鈥檚 future,鈥� said Chad Gaffield, SSHRC president.聽鈥淲ith this funding support, we are gaining insight about, and developing innovative solutions to today鈥檚 social, economic and cultural issues, while training the next generation of researchers and leaders.鈥�

For a complete list of Partnership Grant and Partnership Development Grant awards, visit the 听飞别产蝉颈迟别.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The conference will take place on Inclusion Day, Jan. 18, from 11:30am to 8pm, at 280N 91亚色 Lanes, Keele campus. Everyone is welcome to attend the free event.

This is the third annual Inclusion Day at 91亚色. Guest speakers will provide participants with internal and external community perspectives 鈥渢hat will no doubt enhance our path of continued learning聽about the wealth that diversity brings,鈥� says No毛l Badiou, director of 91亚色鈥檚 CHR.

鈥淚nclusion Day provides an occasion to highlight the diversity on our campus and the value and importance of ensuring that each and every member of our greater community, students, staff and faculty, is included in 91亚色's activities, whether in the classroom, during extracurricular events, or academic and administrative meetings,鈥� says Badiou.

Left: No毛l Badiou

This year's theme of "building allies for equity" is in keeping with CHR's goal of further enhancing the individual understanding of barriers faced by certain members of the 91亚色 community with a view to exploring ways that we can help eliminate these barriers, he says.

鈥淭he key in creating a more equitable community is to further each of our individual understanding of the incredibly rich diversity of our community and be empowered with knowledge about how to value this diversity by being more inclusive, as well as appreciative and respectful of our differences. It is a tall order, but one that can be accomplished by having a growing number of partners and supporters within our community.鈥�

Director of the City of Toronto鈥檚 Equity & Inclusion Office, Uzma Shakir will deliver the opening keynote address at noon, along with a panel comprised of 91亚色 students. A host of talks will follow throughout the afternoon.

The first sessions will include 91亚色 PhD psychology candidate Kaley Roosen (BSC Spec. Hons. 鈥�07, MA 鈥�09) and Access 91亚色 discussing disability awareness: The Power of Language, and Professor Faisal Bhabha and second-year law student Adrienne Lipsey of Osgoode Hall Law School looking at the meaning of religious accommodation. The Aboriginal Student Association at 91亚色 will host a workshop exploring notions of identity for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth and the impact of gender roles and access to cultural resources in urban Aboriginal communities. 91亚色 student Sana Siddiqui, an MSW student, will explore the historical and political roots of Islamophobia and its current manifestations through a variety of hands-on activities, video clips, case studies and interactive discussion. She will also offer strategies for building networks of allies against Islamophobia.

During the second round of sessions at 2:30pm, Jennifer Dalton (LLM 鈥�06, PhD 鈥�10), a visiting scholar with 91亚色鈥檚 Centre for Refugee Studies, will present 鈥淔rom Kelowna to Attawapiskat: Forging Aboriginal-Canada Alliances to Build Aboriginal Equity鈥�. She will discuss the continuing inequities that plague Aboriginal communities across the country despite the Kelowna Accord, which sought to bridge the inequity gap. This interactive workshop will emphasize the need to forge positive alliances between Aboriginal communities and the government. Bobby Siu from 91亚色鈥檚 Equity Studies Department will address 鈥淏uilding Allies for Equity in the Workplace: Some Considerations for Persons with Disabilities鈥�.

A third group of sessions will begin at 4pm, covering topics that look at the purpose of 鈥渧oice鈥� if no one is listening and relationships for creating change and inclusion. Ragini Sharma, a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education, will hold an interactive workshop Broadening the Vision, Deepening the Roots, from 4 to 5:15pm, where participants can talk about their experiences of religious diversity on campus and will be challenged to broaden their vision beyond an identity based solely on religion.

An evening reception with keynote speaker Tim McCaskell, a social justice advocate and author, will follow the final sessions.

For a full lineup of sessions and speakers, visit the Inclusion Day web page on the Centre for Human Rights website. To register, .

For more information, contact Nythalah Baker, CHR senior adviser, education & communications, at nythalah@yorku.ca or ext. 55682.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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This world premiere is the season opener for Toronto鈥檚 DanceWorks and kicks off Harbourfront Centre鈥檚 dance series NextSteps 11/12.

The show is co-produced by Native Earth Performing Arts and Signal Theatre, a company Greyeyes founded for this production.

Right: Ceinwen Gobert聽performs in from thine eyes

Greyeyes听诲别惫别濒辞辫别诲 from thine eyes in collaboration with Aboriginal writer Yvette Nolan. It is set to an original score composed by former 91亚色 theatre student Miquelon Rodriguez and Sharon Hann (BFA 鈥�06) designed the costumes.聽聽

The title is taken from a passage in the Koran: "Lift the veil from thine eyes鈥�. It refers to making the passage from this life into the next and seeing ourselves and others truthfully.聽聽

The six performers, including dance grad Shannon Litzenberger (MA 鈥�05), express the struggle to find meaning at the end of their lives as they confront their deepest fears, most cherished memories and each other.聽

鈥淭hese thoughts about mortality came from conversations with my mother before she passed,鈥� said Greyeyes. 鈥淚n my culture [Plains Cree], we don鈥檛 view death as an end. It is the next step on a journey. For me as an Aboriginal artist, it鈥檚 essential that my company communicates my worldview and cosmology.鈥澛�

The cast has been rehearsing on campus in the Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts over the summer and moves into the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre in the Centre for Film & Theatre next week for additional preparation.聽

Left: Michael Greyeyes

91亚色 theatre Professor James McKernan is serving as technical director and has involved the production in colleague Peter McKinnon鈥檚 research project on sustainability in live performance. 鈥淏uilding on existing data and tools already in use in the construction industry, we鈥檙e using from thine eyes as a test piece to create a budgeting tool that tracks the carbon footprint of a show, similar to the way designers track financial expenditures on their materials,鈥� said McKernan.聽聽

The design team has been designing a shadow production, tracking the materials they would have used were sustainability not a factor. At the end of the production, the two tracking documents will be compared, so the sustainability gains can be measured. The extra time and work involved in designing two editions of the show and sourcing the most sustainable materials available is where support for the project from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada has been most valuable, McKernan noted.聽

Left: James McKernan

鈥淲e鈥檙e learning that sustainability at this stage in the game is all about long-term planning,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e found that the eco-option is rarely more expensive 鈥� it鈥檚 just sometimes harder to find and more time consuming to buy. Hopefully, as the demand grows and as designers learn the best sources for these materials, it will become even easier to reduce the impact of a production on our environment.鈥澛�

from thine eyes runs Sept. 22 to 24 at Harbourfront Centre鈥檚 Enwave Theatre. For more information and tickets, visit the 听飞别产蝉颈迟别.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Expand the definition of art as a health tool, and consider it as an essential link, as a bridge between those who heal and those who need healing. The art becomes a shared language, and if culture gets involved the artistic process becomes symbolic. It builds trust, which fosters communication, which lays the foundation for a discussion about, for example, preventing HIV

That's how art is used by Sarah Flicker, a professor in [the Faculty of Environmental Studies] at 91亚色, who studies HIV prevention in aboriginal communities across Canada and uses art to get the interest of young natives.

Flicker is one of three professors who will be a part of "Caf茅 Scientifique," a public roundtable of sorts that will consider how the arts are being used in health programs these days [organized by the ].

. . .

Flicker starts by telling me that aboriginals represent three per cent of Canada's population, but have nine per cent of HIV infections 鈥� and at a younger age. Flicker's project is to find ways of having a meaningful conversation about HIV with young natives. Problem is, some native communities are not interested in "traditional research methods." Enter art.

鈥淔rom theatre to photography to carving to hip-hop,鈥� she says, when I ask her what types of arts her project has employed. She adds throat singing to the list, and graffiti at the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve near Montreal.

鈥淯sing the arts in our particular project has been tremendously successful,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun, it鈥檚 participatory, it helps build pride and self-esteem. . . It really helps them relate to culture and tradition, in a way that鈥檚 non-threatening.鈥�

Using contemporary or traditional art forms 鈥� created by the young natives, with the guidance of artists brought in by the project 鈥� enhances recall of the health information, she says. It also builds skills, as the artists pass on their own knowledge and inspirations, and many young natives have their first opportunity to handle photographic equipment or real artist鈥檚 brushes.

鈥淲e were just astonished with the creativity we had unleashed,鈥� Flicker says, as the research visited reserves from B. C. to Atlantic Canada. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 incredible is how the themes have resonated from community to another.鈥�

They resonated so well that the art of some communities is used in others to get the health message across 鈥� such as a hip hop song composed by young natives in Kettle Creak, near Sarnia. Another group made a stop-motion film, using photography to show how HIV was affecting their community. 鈥淚t鈥檚 in their words that art is healing,鈥� Flicker says.

You can see the art of her project at takingaction4youth.org. The Caf茅 Scientifique will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 23 at Mambo Nuevo Latino, 77 Clarence St. in the Byward Market. 鈥淭he idea is to make health research accessible to the public,鈥� Flicker says.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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