Rice will read from his collection of short stories Midnight Sweatlodge

Ojibway writer and journalist Waubgeshig Rice will be reading from his short story collection Midnight Sweatlodge on May 17th at UBC Robson Square.

Midnight Sweatlodge (Theytus Books, 2011), is an emotionally charged fictional account of Aboriginal youth who visit an elder at a sweatlodge and recount their most troubling life experiences. It offers a textured portrait of contemporary aboriginal life, both the solid ground of traditional practices and the importance of full engagement in the wider world.

Rice is a broadcast journalist and writer. He grew up in Wasauksing, an Anishinaabe community on the shores of Georgian Bay. His articles, essays and columns have been published in national newspapers and magazines, and as a television journalist he has filed reports from across Canada. Midnight Sweatlodge is his first book. Waubgeshig lives and works in Ottawa, ON.

Rice will be joined by author Catherine Owen. In her book, Catalysts (Wolsak & Wynn, 2012), she examines with her characteristic fearlessness what drives her to write and the influences that shape her writing. From her childhood memories in suburban Vancouver to her willingness to risk all for a glimpse of her muse, these essays allow readers unparalleled insight into her creative life.

Owen has published seven previous collections of poetry including Frenzy (Anvil Press, 2009), which won the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry for 2009 and Seeing Lessons (Wolsak & Wynn, 2010). Her books and poems have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, BC Book Prize, ReLit Award, George Ryga Award for Socially Conscious Literature, and The Earle Birney Prize. Catalysts is her first compilation of prose essays and memoir. She also plays bass in the metal band Medea and works as a freelance editor and tutor. She lives in Vancouver, BC.

Admission is free and refreshments are served. Books will be available for purchase and signing. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square is located at 800 Robson Street (plaza level).

The Robson Reading Series is one of the longest-running reading series in Vancouver. We are a multi-genre series that features new and established Canadian authors. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, UBC Robson Square, the UBC Bookstore and Library at Robson Square and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.

They teach us to recognize and respect the Musqueam people, their language, history, culture and self-governance.

They embody the importance of right relationships.

During the early 1900s, Larry’s father, Hong Tim Hing, was one of many market gardeners from Guangdong, China who were hospitably welcomed to live and farm within the Musqueam community despite divisive and restrictive social conditions legislated by the Canadian government through the Indian Reserve system. Important relationships were formed between these farmers and families of the Musqueam Nation.

In the following two videos produced by Chinese Canadian Stories, a UBC initiative dedicated to collecting, digitizing, and sharing Chinese Canadian history, Larry shares an array of experiences being of mixed Chinese and Musqueam ancestry.

“Not quite belonging makes you strive or quit, so we didn’t quit.” –- Elder Larry Grant

“They’re completely Chinese, but their whole life, growing up, is here at Musqueam.”
– Elder Larry Grant

Today he serves the Musqueam Nation as the Language and Culture Consultant. At the University of British Columbia, Grant plays a key role in educating others about the first peoples who lived here. He is the Elder-in-Residence at the UBC First Nations House of Learning where he welcomes and connects with an array of visitors, students and staff from around the world. He is also an adjunct professor the UBC First Nations Language Program, helping to teach the first-year hən’q’əmin’əm’ language course which is held at the Musqueam reserve.

Dr Jan Hare

UBC Faculty of Education researchers Jan Hare and graduate student Nicola Friedrich studied the role of family literacy programming for Indigenous children and families taking part in Canada’s national Aboriginal early intervention program, Aboriginal Head Start (AHS).

“This study suggests that for families from diverse cultural and linguistic communities, there are multiple pathways to learning,” says Hare, who is presenting this research at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meeting in Vancouver. “Children become knowledge brokers, helping their parents navigate the expectations and norms within their families, schools and communities.”

“The residential school system disrupted the transmission of cultural knowledge and language from parent to child across the generations,” says Hare, an associate professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education. “Today, many Aboriginal parents living in urban areas are dislocated from their culture, language and identity.”

The AHS program in Canada serves Aboriginal children and families in more than 130 urban and rural communities and nearly 350 First Nations communities.

AHS focuses on health promotion, social support, nutrition, family involvement, school readiness and culture and language. The program was developed as an early intervention strategy to address the learning and developmental needs of young children living in urban, rural and First Nations communities.

Hare, who studied the outcomes of eight AHS programs in central and western Canadian cities, found that children were sharing what they learned about culture and language from AHS with their parents.

“The transmission of knowledge from child to parent is significant,” says Hare. “It flips the mainstream model that family literacy programs tend to be based on, where parents teach children.”

Duncan McCue

An innovative UBC Graduate School of Journalism project provides a hard-hitting look into efforts by Aboriginal communities to address such major health and social issues as suicide, sexual abuse, diabetes and the survival of traditional languages.

The series of original news stories that launches today at www.indigenousreporting.com was created by students in UBC’s inaugural Reporting in Indigenous Communities class, Canada’s only university journalism course dedicated to improving the quality of Aboriginal representation by the news media.

The eight multimedia stories – which will run on CBC radio and websites in B.C. this week – result from a unique partnership with Metro Vancouver Aboriginal communities, where UBC graduate students were assigned to cover important community news as “embedded” journalists.

“Far too often, news media portray Aboriginal people in ways that reinforce negative or inaccurate stereotypes,” says Duncan McCue, the award-winning CBC reporter and UBC Graduate School of Journalism adjunct professor who led the course. “By exposing the next generation of journalists to Aboriginal stories, cultures and protocols, we have produced a series that shows Aboriginal people not as victims, but as catalysts of positive change.”

The UBC journalism students learned the history, politics and unique cultures of Aboriginal peoples in Canada and abroad, and analyzed media representation issues. They also studied the online guide and checklist that McCue – one of the only Aboriginal mainstream reporters in Vancouver – created during a Knight Fellowship at Stanford University to help journalists respect Aboriginal cultures and resist stereotypes.

“We had to engage with the community to develop relationships and trust,” said student Kate Adach, who worked on a story about an Aboriginal suicide response team being developed by members of Sto:lo Nation near Chilliwack, B.C. “There is so much to learn about Indigenous history in Canada. It might seem daunting, but it is absolutely vital that reporters continue to engage, educate ourselves, and report on these important stories responsibly.”

The five Aboriginal course partners are the Squamish First Nation, Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, Tsawwassen First Nation, Sto:lo First Nation and the Metro Vancouver Aboriginal Executive Council.

“A course like this is long, long overdue, and helped to create a positive experience for our community and the students,” says Ernie Crey, an advisor to the Sto:lo Tribal Council. “Aboriginal people have an important story to tell and they are eager to tell it. It is important that the outside world understand what is going on.”

The national CBC program The Story from Here is scheduled to broadcast the entire series as a one-hour radio documentary on June 20.

Find out more about the CBC Special Series and get the full line up here.

The eight stories from UBC’s inaugural Reporting in Indigenous Communities class include:

• A Squamish Nation woman’s attempt to bring back the chocolate lily, a traditional staple food that could reduce diabetes
• A new Sto:lo Nation Aboriginal Suicide and Critical Incident Response Team, which aims to provide culturally-appropriate response to suicides
• A Tsleil-Waututh Nation daycare where teachers are reconnecting youth to traditional language and culture to improve health and happiness
• Efforts by the Squamish Nation and a provincial judge to rehabilitate offenders with mental health and addiction issues through a First Nations Court
• At Tsawwassen First Nation, how a young girl’s disclosure may signal a new attitude toward the disturbing problem of sexual abuse
• A unique support group in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where Aboriginal grandparents raising their grandchildren are learning to care for kids diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
• The Seabird Island Mobile Diabetes Clinic, which travels across southern British Columbia so patients can manage their disease from home
• Students training as Health Care Assistants in First Nation communities, in a course designed for Aboriginal learners at the Native Education Centre in Vancouver.

The students in the course include:

• Kate Adach (Toronto, ON)
• Krystle Alarcon (Montreal, QC)
• Sadiya Ansari
• Chelsea Blazer (Toronto, ON)
• Natalie Dobbin (Middle Sackville, NS)
• Malin Dunfors (Stockholm, Sweden)
• Lisa Hale (Vancouver, BC)
• Tyler Harbottle (Calgary, AB)
• Farida Hussain (Hyderabad, India)
• Meg Mittelstedt (Portland, OR)
• Lucas PowersJacqueline Ronson (Toronto, ON)
• Keith Rozendal (Houston, TX)
• Lindsay Sample (Barry, ON)
• Kendall Walters (100 Mile House, BC)

Douglas Channel. Photo by Thane Bonar

On May 5th and 6th the second annual Global Indigenous Conference will take place at the UBC First Nations Longhouse. This year’s theme is “Uniting Nations, Taking Action: Aboriginal Perspectives on Sustainability, Development, and Cultural Determination.” The conference will take place on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam Nation.

Over the course of the day, participants will hear from community members, academics and professionals in four key panel discussions: Aboriginal title and legal sovereignty, cultural self-determination, and sustainable development. The purpose of the event is to inspire dialogue, foster connections, and generate action plans.

Last year’s inaugural Global Indigenous Conference was an overwhelming success. For that event, the student organizing committee chose the theme of “Globalization and Indigenous Peoples,” which covered topics ranging from self-determination, activism and art, Indigenous health, Indigenous education, and more. The conference featured keynote speaker David Suzuki as well as Klaus Quicque and Antonio Fernandini, members of FENAMAD- an Indigenous Environmental activist organization in Peru.

Speakers at this year’s event will include Miles Richardson, former president of the Haida Nation, Art Sterrit, Executive Director of Coastal First Nations, Stewart Phillip, Grand Chief of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and Lucas Irar, Elder and school teacher from the Achuar community of Rubina, Ecuador.

Visit the conference site to register and learn more.

The new Musqueam house post at Allard Hall. Carved by Brent Sparrow Jr.

The ceremony started with the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Mary Anne Bobinski, thanking those that came to celebrate the house post. She also thanked those that helped get this project off the ground and continued with it throughout the years. The carving indeed represents the commitment and dedication of those who worked on it, but as the ceremony made evident, it symbolizes much more.

In speaking of the prominently placed house post, the Honourable Stephen Owen, UBC’s Vice-President, External, Legal and Community Relations, said that there is “no better symbol of strength of relationship.”

Dean of Law Mary Anne Bobinski and the artist Brent Sparrow Jr.

Cultural leader and band councilor, Howard Grant spoke on behalf of the artist, as is the practice with the Musqueam. Howard said that Brent was “honoured to carve this house post as a way of commemorating the institution and what they’re defending”. The land where UBC stands has long been known as a place of defense for the Musqueam. In the past, this area was a strategic fortification site, known as q’ələχən, where Musqueam warriors and their families resided to protect the land from marauders.

Howard Grant also expressed that Brent was thankful to the selection committee for choosing him to carve the house post as well as to those who were in attendance to witness the ceremony.

Musqueam Elder Larry Grant spoke in hən’q'əmin’əm’, a Coast Salish dialect, followed by an English translation. He welcomed the public to the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people and highlighted that the Musqueam have never formally surrendered or given-up the territory upon which the university sits.

Musqueam Elder Larry Grant

The Dean also highlighted that the law school has long been seen as a leader in First Nations legal education. This year, the law school celebrates 30 years since the First Nations Legal Studies Program was launched as the first program of its kind in Canada. The Dean went on to say that the law school has been supportive not only of changes to the curriculum, but also in terms of research and the First Nations Legal Clinic. The Clinic allows students to gain practical experience by providing legal advice and services to First Nations clients in its Gastown office.

The ceremony also included a traditional Coast Salish blessing. Thelma Stogan, a respected member of the Musqueam Nation, blessed the post using cedar boughs. She asked all those in attendance to pray in their respective fashion while she went around the post brushing it with the cedar boughs. Cedar boughs play a significant role with many First Nations people along the Northwest Coast, such as the Musqueam, who use it to bless and cleanse spaces and people.

The ceremony lasted only an hour, but this house post will stand in front of the law school for a lifetime. It’s open to all those that look upon Allard Hall and see the house post and to reflect on what it means, and the people upon whose traditional territory it stands.

Nearly 200 participants are gathered at the First Nations Longhouse this week to explore issues related to Indigenous and traditional knowledge, its creation, organization and access, in order to better understand the local and global issues under discussion in various parts of the world and by many types of cultural, heritage, and community groups and organizations.

The program includes distinguished speakers from around the world representing many viewpoints and interests. Keynote speakers for the event are Val Napoleon, Grand Chief Ed John, and Jonathan Franklin.

Through the sharing of knowledge and experiences, the meeting is intended to advance the understanding of traditional knowledge at both the local and international levels. The results will inform the development of legal instruments, policies and practices related to the organization of Indigenous and traditional knowledge around the world.

Indigenous communities and organizations operating within the world knowledge economy have particular needs and aspirations, but often also have the additional need to reconcile developing international systems with traditional community-based practices surrounding knowledge and its development, preservation, transmission, and protection. Negotiations of the relationship between traditional and world systems can be technically complex, but also occur within social and political contexts in which relations of power are rarely equal, and are increasingly mediated by local and international agreements. We are all impacted by and have an interest in these negotiations and their outcomes.

The IFLA 2012 Presidential Program is intended to provide IFLA, its members, and all organizations and individuals, with an investigation of these issues and guidance as to how institutions and communities can work together to develop the most useful and productive relationships.

For more information visit http://iflaindigenousknowledges2012.ok.ubc.ca/

A live webcast of the meeting is available here.

Dr. Eduardo Jovel

The UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS) has partnered with the Ustlahn’s Social Society, Squamish First Nation, to offer a new community-based experiential learning (CBEL) field course. The course will facilitate training in interdisciplinary and interprofessional CBEL to students interested in working with Aboriginal people through a community-centered experience.

Course structure:
There will be one week of interdisciplinary classroom and field instruction at UBC: June 4 – 8, and two weeks of CBEL hosted by the Ustlahn’s Social Society at Squamish First Nation: June 11 – 22. The field module will provide students with an opportunity to work alongside community members in advancing current food security initiatives including estuary restoration and conservation, and the re-establishment of indigenous foods and medicines.

Course Topics:
The course topics include: urban food security, ethnobotany, conservation biology, Aboriginal health research ethics, sustainability, restoration, environment and culture. This course is designed to enhance skills to reflect upon, recognize, and build on community assets and priorities, and to demonstrate effective engagement in collaborative work with Aboriginal communities. This course will be of interest to students wishing to improve their understanding of Aboriginal issues and perspectives, and to students seeking practical experiential learning in Aboriginal communities. The course will make use of inter-professional approaches to learning inclusive of traditional knowledge, social participation and action, and community-driven solutions to explore new possibilities for sustainable food production in urban settings.

Engaging Aboriginal Communities through Community-Based Experiential Learning: Field Course Collaboration in Food Security with Squamish First Nation
APBI 497B 001
3 Credits
Dr. Eduardo Jovel
Faculty of Land and Food Systems

Pre-requisites:
None

Location:
UBC Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (UBC Farm), Faculty of Land and Food
Systems, and Squamish First Nation (North Vancouver)

Course Duration:
June 4th – 22nd

Cost:
Students are responsible for their own transportation and food.

For More Information Contact:
Dr. Eduardo Jovel ejovel@mail.ubc.ca
Phone: 604-822-3338

These ecoliteracies speak to the complex social and ecological crises worldwide. Students will reflect on how they learn, think, feel, act, and write as they work toward the creation of sustainable learning communities — Indigenous, non-Indigenous, urban, rural, on-line, on-the-ground, classroom, or otherwise delineated — based on principles of respect, reciprocity, equivalency of epistemologies/methodologies/protocols, and shared dialogue.

This course will be of interest to education students seeking ways to introduce cross-cultural eco-sensibilities into their classroom teaching, as well as to students outside of education who are seeking a graduate course that addresses the multiple contexts, complexities, and complicities of the ecology—technology—Indigeneity/social justice interfaces.

CCFI 565B (941) ECOLOGY, TECHNOLOGY, INDIGENEITY and LEARNING: Contexts, Complexities, and Cross-cultural Conversations

Professor: Dr. Pat O’Riley
Phone: 604-822-5314
Email:
pat.oriley@ubc.ca

May 7 – June 15, 2012
Room: Scarfe 210
Time: Tues. & Thurs. 13:00 — 16:00

Indigenous peoples throughout their lifetime often reside in many geographical areas that are not their traditional homeland or territory, due to many reasons. However, in such a globalized world, the application of multimedia technology provides for immediate access and connection to linguistic and cultural knowledge.

This class demonstrates how song and dance are used to perpetuate one’s language and culture, based on my experience with learning and teaching hula (Hawaiian dance) in Hawaiʻi, Oregon, Arizona, and now in Vancouver, BC. Hula is a constant reminder of the many facets of language and culture that are deeply embedded in the mele (song), steps and motions that are often overlooked and under utilized as a form of education.

Students will engage in multiple microteaching lessons, which are short mini-lesson that exposes students to an immersive Hawaiian language environment, while learning Hawaiian history, culture, language, hula and mele. This wealth of knowledge is captured in a short span of time, which can be transferable to other Indigenous languages.

LLED 565D/951 – Living Our Indigenous Languages Through Performative Arts
Instructor: Candace Galla

Jul 3-Jul 20, 2012
Times: MTWRF 1:30 PM-4:30 PM