With the current influx of new comers and refugees to the city, The University of Winnipeg presents a timely lecture entitled Newcomers and Treaty Relations on Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at 7:00 pm in Eckhardt Gramatté Hall featuring, Elizabeth Andrea, Christi Belcourt, and Isaac Murdoch. The panel will be moderated by CBC’s Nadia Kidwai.
This relevant panel discussion is an opportunity to explore and discuss with all Canadians, the legal obligations, and social framework within Treaty Relations, that made Canada possible, as well as an occasion to welcome new Canadians into a more inclusive community.
In addition to the panel discussion, Belcourt and Murdoch will be presenting Storytelling in the City on Tuesday, February 28, 2017 from 12:30 – 2:00 pm at Murdo Scribe at 510 Selkirk Ave, co-hosted by Co-hosted by The University of Winnipeg’s Urban & Inner-City Studies Speaker Series and Indigenous Studies Harry Daniels Lecture Series. Both events are free and open to the public.
Elizabeth Andrea, photo supplied
Elizabeth Aluk Andrea is South Sudanese-Canadian by nationality. She migrated to Winnipeg in June 1998 with family. She left her home village (Rumbek) in 1984 and went to Khartoum, northern Sudan for searched of better life and opportunities. During civil war between the South and North, Khartoum became insecure for South Sudanese so she moved to Egypt, Cairo in 1992. She spent 7 years in Cairo and in 1998 she got an opportunity to resettle in Canada Winnipeg, Manitoba. Currently, she is completing her studies at UWinnipeg, majoring in Urban Inner-City Studies and minoring in Conflict Resolution Studies.
Elizabeth love working with people. She is a strong advocator for women and children. She is co-founder and chairperson for the Manitoba Women for Women of South Sudan (MW4WSS) housed at the UW’s Global College. In her community, she was a former executive for the Sudanese People Liberation Movement (SPLM) chapter in Manitoba, Canada.
Christi- Belcourt, photo supplied
Christi Belcourt is a Michif visual artist with a deep respect for the traditions and knowledge of her people. Her ancestry is from Mânitow Sâkahikan, and she has lived along the North Shore of Lake Huron for 15-plus years. The majority of her work explores and celebrates the beauty of the natural world. Author of Medicines To Help Us (Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2007), and Beadwork (Ningwakwe Learning Press, 2010), Christi’s work is found within the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada; the Art Gallery of Ontario; the Gabriel Dumont Institute; the Indian and Inuit Art Collection; Parliament Hill; the Thunder Bay Art Gallery; and Canadian Museum of Civilization, First People’s Hall. Christi is a past recipient of awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Chalmers Family Fund, and the Métis Nation of Ontario. In 2014 she was named Aboriginal Arts Laureate by the Ontario Arts Council and shortlisted for the Premier’s Award in 2015 and 2016. She is currently the lead coordinator for Walking With Our Sisters.
Nadia Kidwai, photo supplied
Nadia Kidwai is originally from Cardiff, Wales and graduated from Oxford University with a MA in politics and history. Since arriving in Winnipeg in 2004, she has worked in various sectors with a passion for diversity, multiculturalism, and community empowerment through grassroots community development. She is a journalist (CBC Manitoba, Winnipeg Free Press), and co-founding the Canadian Muslim Leadership Institute. Kidwai is Chair of the Manitoba Women’s Advisory Council, advising the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, and a council member of Immigration Partnership Winnipeg. She is passionate about hosting “conversation cafes,” believing that the way forward for our society is through creating a safe space where people from diverse backgrounds and life experiences can come together and create meaningful dialogue.
Isaac Murdoch, photo supplied
Isaac Murdoch, whose Ojibway name is Manzinapkinegego’anaabe / Bombgiizhik is from the fish clan and is from Serpent River First Nation. Murdoch grew up in the traditional setting of hunting, fishing and trapping. Many of these years were spent learning from Elders in the northern regions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Murdoch is well respected as a storyteller and traditional knowledge holder. For many years he has led various workshops and cultural camps that focus on the transfer of knowledge to youth. Murdoch’s other areas of expertise include: traditional Ojibway painting, imagery/symbolism, harvesting, medicine walks and ceremonial knowledge, cultural camps, Anishinaabeg oral history, birch bark canoe making, birch bark scrolls, and youth and Elders workshops. He has committed his life to the preservation of Anishinaabe cultural practices and has spent years learning directly from Elders.
