(image supplied)
There will be a free film screening of the documentary, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, tonight from 6:00 – 9:00 pm, in The University of Winnipeg’s Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall.
This event will include a smudging ceremony, and will open with songs from Kind Hart Women Singers; Raven, Skyla, and Katelyn Hart, from Nelson House (Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation – Treaty 5). This family vocal group sings in the Anishinaabe, Crée, Dakota, Lakota, and Oneida languages.
The award-winning film, directed by Tasha Hubbard, follows the family of the late Colten Boushie, a young Cree man fatally shot in a Saskatchewan farmyard, as they demand justice from Canada’s legal system.
The film screening is presented by Ivana Yellowback (BA 19, Sociology), Dr. Kimberley Ducey, associate professor, Department of Sociology, students in SOC-3333 (Liberation Sociology) and SOC-4413 (Race and Ethnicity), and the Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre.
“Hosting this film screening provides students with a tangible way to assist in progressive social change,” said Ducey. “Students are actively involved in the planning, especially alumna Ivana Yellowback, who is the heart and soul of the event.”
Yellowback is nehinaw and nîhithaw from Manto Sipi Cree Nation, and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan). For nearly a decade, she has worked in the community in multiple capacities, utilizing ininew/ithinew knowledges and epistemologies both on the ground and in academia.
“Ivana has been a huge inspiration and guide as we planned this event,” said Ducey. “She is a gifted young scholar and a genuine liberation sociologist in every sense of the meaning. I’m thankful for her willingness to share her knowledge with us.”
Post-screening Q&A provides insight into film
Ivana Yellowback will lead the panel in a post-screening question and answer period, alongside Brielle Linklater, Monty Withawick, and Meranda Mcleod.
Brielle Linklater is a two-spirit woman from Nelson House (Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation – Treaty 5) and land-defender/public intellectual who carries knowledge(s) from her elders and traditional territories.
Monty Withawick is an Anishinaabe man from Poplar River Anishinaabe Nation (Treaty 5) who studies sociology at UWinnipeg.
Meranda Mcleod facilitates Cree languages classes every Wednesday night at the Indigenous Languages of Manitoba Centre. She resides in Cross Lake (Pimicikamak Cree Nation – Treaty 5).
The panelists, professor, and students hope that sharing this important film will create space to better understand injustice in the Canadian legal system and inspire action.
“We want all who see the film to learn from Colten’s family, and to remember him,” said Ducey.
This screening is free and open to the public.
