Connecting Our Spirits – A Gathering for Sixties Scoop Manitoba Indigenous Adoptees and People Place in Foster Care will include events open to media and the public
UW RELEASE – 2015/074
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Tuesday, July 21, 2015
WINNIPEG, MB – From Friday, July 24th to Sunday, July 26th, The University of Winnipeg campus will welcome approximately 100 Indigenous Canadians who were adopted or placed in foster care for a gathering hosted by the Manitoba Indigenous Adoptees Coalition (MIAC). The event includes a public symposium that will allow experts to share knowledge on issues related to Indigenous child welfare, featuring a discussion on the relationship between the Sixties Scoop and Canada’s residential school system, led by the keynote speaker, the Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
“This event is the first of its kind,” says Marcel Balfour, Vice-President of the MIAC. “It’s an opportunity to improve our understanding of the complex ways this practice has impacted our communities in the past, and in the present, and to strategize about how we should go forward in our healing journey. It’s also a chance for those of us who experienced this as children to connect, and share our experiences with each other.”
“We are proud to support the MIAC in hosting this gathering,” says Wab Kinew, UWinnipeg’s Associate Vice-President, Indigenous Affairs. “Though awareness of the impact of the Sixties Scoop is increasing, there is still more education that needs to be done. The University of Winnipeg is committed to the process of helping Canadians learn more.”
The first day-and-a-half of the gathering is open to the public, and includes sessions on a variety of topics, including Manitoba’s new open birth records related to adoptees and the parallel experience of Indigenous Australians. The remaining half of the gathering will be a more private opportunity for Indigenous adoptees and people place in foster care to reflect on discussions, share their experiences and participate in healing activities.
The gathering will begin with an Opening Ceremony and breakfast, at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, July 24th, followed by opening remarks and the keynote discussion. All events take place in Convocation Hall (second floor, Wesley Hall.) For more information, visit http://www.connectingourspirits.org/
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MEDIA CONTACT
Megan Benedictson, Communications Officer, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7129, E: me.benedictson@uwinnipeg.ca
