By Darren Sutherland
About 150 people turned out for a lively panel discussion earlier this month as the University of Ottawa marked Treaties Recognition Week for the first time. The panel examined past and modern treaty-making in Canada, including the negotiations that led to the Nunavut Agreement and the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement and paved the way for the ongoing Algonquin land claim in Ontario.
Panellists:
- Veldon Coburn is a member of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation, a Queen’s University PhD candidate and an instructor at Carleton University’s School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
- Mandy Gull, the second woman to be elected Deputy Grand Chief of the Cree Nation, is a member of the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi. She holds degrees in political science and public policy from Concordia University.
- Bruce Uviluq is an Inuk from Iqaluit, Nunavut. He graduated from the uOttawa Faculty of Law’s Common Law Section in 2017 and works as a legal negotiator for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the organization mandated to implement the Nunavut Agreement.
The November 8 discussion was livestreamed by CHUO. You can watch the panel discussion on the Mashkawazìwogamig Indigenous Resource Centre’s Facebook page.
The event was held in the presence of one of the historic 1923 Williams Treaties, on loan for the day from Library and Archives Canada. An exhibit in Morisset Library during Treaties Recognition Week (November 5 to 9) featured replica artifacts, including a wampum treaty and treaty medals.
Held the first full week in November, Treaties Recognition Week was introduced in 2016 to honour the importance of treaties and encourage Ontarians to learn more about treaty rights and relationships. For the first two years, the Week focused on elementary and secondary schools, and was extended this year to include events on university and college campuses.
Partners this year at uOttawa included the faculties of Social Sciences and Law, the Canadian Museum of History, and Library and Archives Canada. Ontario’s Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and uOttawa’s Institute of Canadian and Aboriginal Studies sponsored the events.
The Indigenous Affairs team is already brainstorming ideas for next year’s Treaties Recognition Week, so stay tuned!
Darren Sutherland is the Indigenous Community Engagement Officer at the Mashkawazìwogamig Indigenous Resource Centre.