4 The Leveller vol 7, no 5, February/March 2015
www.leveller.ca
NEWS
Is the ivory tower the new home of playground bullies?
Not in the Syllabus- Graduate Student Mental Health Campaign
To all graduate students at Carleton,
Have you ever witnessed or experienced belittling or degrading
behaviour at Carleton? Verbal abuse? Yelling? Homophobic, racist,
sexist or xenophobic remarks? Ever felt anxious or fearful to
encounter a particular professor, staff member or colleague? Ever
had a colleague tell you they felt that way?
Mental health is a serious issue affecting all students, but
what can we do about it? The GSA has helped to launch a graduate
student-specic mental health campaign, Not in the Syllabus, and wed
like you to take part.
Our survey asks graduate students to identify and describe
incidents related to bullying, harassment and mental health issues
that they have either personally experienced or witnessed at their
institutions. Your participation is greatly appreciated. The
information collected will help shape the rest of the campaign and
has the potential to positively impact future graduate students,
both across Ontario and specically at Carleton University.
Complete the survey: notinthesyllabus.ca
If youre interested in knowing more about the survey or want to
help promote it to your peers and colleagues, email
[email protected], or contact GSA VP Academic Michael Bueckert
([email protected]).
Not in the Syllabus is a joint project of the Canadian
Federation of Students-Ontario, the Public Service Alliance of
Canada Ontario and the Ontario University Workers Coordinating
Committee of CUPE. All information provided is condential,
anonymous, and secure.
Tuesday, Feb 3rd at noon 600 UC - ScienceThursday, Feb 5th at
noon 600 UC - Arts and Social ScienceTuesday Feb 10 at 1pm 2017
Dunton- International StudentsWednesday Feb 25 at noon 600 UC -
Engineering and Design
Wednesday March 4 at noon 600 UC- Public Affairs and
Business
Come eat free pizza and have an open discussion about issues
facing
graduate students
Is the ivory tower the new home of playground bullies?
Not in the Syllabus- Graduate Student Mental Health Campaign
To all graduate students at Carleton,
Have you ever witnessed or experienced belittling or degrading
behaviour at Carleton? Verbal abuse? Yelling? Homophobic, racist,
sexist or xenophobic remarks? Ever felt anxious or fearful to
encounter a particular professor, staff member or colleague? Ever
had a colleague tell you they felt that way?
Mental health is a serious issue affecting all students, but
what can we do about it? The GSA has helped to launch a graduate
student-specic mental health campaign, Not in the Syllabus, and wed
like you to take part.
Our survey asks graduate students to identify and describe
incidents related to bullying, harassment and mental health issues
that they have either personally experienced or witnessed at their
institutions. Your participation is greatly appreciated. The
information collected will help shape the rest of the campaign and
has the potential to positively impact future graduate students,
both across Ontario and specically at Carleton University.
Complete the survey: notinthesyllabus.ca
If youre interested in knowing more about the survey or want to
help promote it to your peers and colleagues, email
[email protected], or contact GSA VP Academic Michael Bueckert
([email protected]).
Not in the Syllabus is a joint project of the Canadian
Federation of Students-Ontario, the Public Service Alliance of
Canada Ontario and the Ontario University Workers Coordinating
Committee of CUPE. All information provided is condential,
anonymous, and secure.
Tuesday, Feb 3rd at noon 600 UC - ScienceThursday, Feb 5th at
noon 600 UC - Arts and Social ScienceTuesday Feb 10 at 1pm 2017
Dunton- International StudentsWednesday Feb 25 at noon 600 UC -
Engineering and Design
Wednesday March 4 at noon 600 UC- Public Affairs and
Business
Come eat free pizza and have an open discussion about issues
facing
graduate students
LAW COURTS OR LAND CLAIMS?
SILENCE NO MORE
High Expenses or Extinguishment for Aboriginal Title and
Rights
Speaking out against violence faced by Indigenous women and
children
Andy Crosby
Negotiation leads to ex-tinguishment, according to Indigenous
policy advisor Russ Diabo in a lecture deliv-ered to the Carleton
Univer-sity community on Feb. 5.
The presentation, Federal Comprehensive Claims Poli-cy vs.
Recognition of Aborigi-nal Title and Rights, laid out the
diametrically opposed positions of the Canadian government and
Aboriginal communities regarding In-digenous sovereignty over
tra-ditional territories.
I say versus because its not about recognition, its about
extinguishment termi-nation of [Aboriginal] title and rights, said
Diabo.
Diabo examined the his-tory of the Canadian govern-ments
Comprehensive Land Claims Policy (CLCP) back to the 1969 White
Paper on Indian Policy, which sought to eliminate Indian status,
abolish the Indian Act, con-vert reserve land to private property,
and gradually ter-minate existing Treaties.
Almost 50 years later, lit-tle has changed.
The key tenets of the pres-ent governments policies are the
extinguishment of Ab-original title, legal release of Crown
liability, elimination of reserves, removal of on-reserve tax
exemptions, and the respect of third party in-terests (industry and
private property holders).
The Supreme Courts
2014 Tsilhqotin decision reafrmed earlier Supreme Court cases
such as the 1997 Delgamuukw decision which afrmed Aboriginal title
and rights.
In response, the Harper government issued an in-terim policy
entitled, Re-newing the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy: Towards a
Framework for Address-ing Section 35 Aboriginal Rights.
According to Diabo, this policy is a mere restatement of
previous federal section 35 policies regarding extin-guishment of
Aboriginal title and municipalization of In-dian Bands.
However, the Tsilhqotin decision also found that the claimant
group bears the onus of establishing Aborigi-nal title.
I take issue with that, said Diabo, referring to the Tsilhqotin
decision as dan-gerous.
If you have Aboriginal title, the burden of proof is on you to
prove it, he said. Its expensive and will cost millions of
dollars.
The governments inter-pretation is, You havent proved it, youre
merely asserting it, according to Diabo. You have to go to court or
negotiate and the only avenue of negotiation is the Comprehensive
Claims Process.
In the question and an-swer portion, a student in the audience
questioned
whether or not there was a third way, direct action, out-side of
the courts or negotiat-ing tables. Diabo responded that communities
have to be incredibly organized to run sustained direct action
cam-paigns.
He gave the example of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake who were
organized and had lawyers present dur-ing their blockades of
High-way 117 north of Ottawa in 2008. The governments re-sponse was
to deploy riot po-lice to attack the blockades, as well as send in
helicopters to make arrests when timber operations were being
block-aded in the forest.
If the feds feel your de-mands arent reasonable, theyll remind
you that there are limits to assertions of sovereignty.
Furthermore, the govern-ment continues to expand its tool box in
dealing with those defending land and as-serting sovereignty.
Recently leaked RCMP documents sound the alarm on a highly
organized and well-nanced, anti-Canadian petroleum movement that
consists of peaceful activists, militants and violent
extremists.
The Bill C-51 anti-terror-ism legislation creates more tools to
protect critical in-frastructure, said Diabo. It doesnt just apply
to radical Muslims, but to Indigenous peoples and their supporters
threatening resource projects such as pipelines.
Matt Cicero stonesandsticksandwords.wordpress.com
A group of 25 people gathered at the University of Ottawa to
listen to grass-roots Indigenous activists reect on the ongoing
crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada as part
of the larger #shutdowncanada move-ment on Feb. 13.
The teach-in was a part of #shutdowncanada, a national day of
action em-phasizing direct action and a diversity of tactics. The
In-digenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa, a grass-roots
Indigenous solidar-ity collective, and Carleton
student Amanda Milson collaborated to organize the teach-in.
The decision to orga-nize a teach-in rather than a direct action
was made to respect concerns that a di-rection action might draw
attention away from the work done by Indigenous women and
two-spirits to receive justice for the miss-ing and murdered and
their families, according to event organizers.
The event began with a prayer by a Cree elder, Mary-Lou Iahtail.
Her daughter, the events main speaker Jocelyn Iahtail, shared her
struggle and activism against gender-based violence. She spoke
about the loss of
her unborn daughter, how she was beaten by her ex-husband and
the threats of violence she faced after pub-licly denouncing the
incest, sexual abuse and corruption in her community.
Through it all she em-phasized the importance of returning to
Waska Pima-tisiwaywin, or the circle way of being. Returning to
Was-ka Pimatisiwaywin means relearning and reinvigorat-ing
traditional teachings, Indigenous knowledge, and Indigenous
language and culture.
Iahtail also emphasized the deep impact of inter-generational
child warfare genocide, a form of trans-
Russell Diabo Photo: Peter Di Gangi
CONTINUED ON RIGHT
4 The Leveller vol 7, no 5, February/March 2015
www.leveller.ca
NEWS
Is the ivory tower the new home of playground bullies?
Not in the Syllabus- Graduate Student Mental Health Campaign
To all graduate students at Carleton,
Have you ever witnessed or experienced belittling or degrading
behaviour at Carleton? Verbal abuse? Yelling? Homophobic, racist,
sexist or xenophobic remarks? Ever felt anxious or fearful to
encounter a particular professor, staff member or colleague? Ever
had a colleague tell you they felt that way?
Mental health is a serious issue affecting all students, but
what can we do about it? The GSA has helped to launch a graduate
student-specic mental health campaign, Not in the Syllabus, and wed
like you to take part.
Our survey asks graduate students to identify and describe
incidents related to bullying, harassment and mental health issues
that they have either personally experienced or witnessed at their
institutions. Your participation is greatly appreciated. The
information collected will help shape the rest of the campaign and
has the potential to positively impact future graduate students,
both across Ontario and specically at Carleton University.
Complete the survey: notinthesyllabus.ca
If youre interested in knowing more about the survey or want to
help promote it to your peers and colleagues, email
[email protected], or contact GSA VP Academic Michael Bueckert
([email protected]).
Not in the Syllabus is a joint project of the Canadian
Federation of Students-Ontario, the Public Service Alliance of
Canada Ontario and the Ontario University Workers Coordinating
Committee of CUPE. All information provided is condential,
anonymous, and secure.
Tuesday, Feb 3rd at noon 600 UC - ScienceThursday, Feb 5th at
noon 600 UC - Arts and Social ScienceTuesday Feb 10 at 1pm 2017
Dunton- International StudentsWednesday Feb 25 at noon 600 UC -
Engineering and Design
Wednesday March 4 at noon 600 UC- Public Affairs and
Business
Come eat free pizza and have an open discussion about issues
facing
graduate students
Is the ivory tower the new home of playground bullies?
Not in the Syllabus- Graduate Student Mental Health Campaign
To all graduate students at Carleton,
Have you ever witnessed or experienced belittling or degrading
behaviour at Carleton? Verbal abuse? Yelling? Homophobic, racist,
sexist or xenophobic remarks? Ever felt anxious or fearful to
encounter a particular professor, staff member or colleague? Ever
had a colleague tell you they felt that way?
Mental health is a serious issue affecting all students, but
what can we do about it? The GSA has helped to launch a graduate
student-specic mental health campaign, Not in the Syllabus, and wed
like you to take part.
Our survey asks graduate students to identify and describe
incidents related to bullying, harassment and mental health issues
that they have either personally experienced or witnessed at their
institutions. Your participation is greatly appreciated. The
information collected will help shape the rest of the campaign and
has the potential to positively impact future graduate students,
both across Ontario and specically at Carleton University.
Complete the survey: notinthesyllabus.ca
If youre interested in knowing more about the survey or want to
help promote it to your peers and colleagues, email
[email protected], or contact GSA VP Academic Michael Bueckert
([email protected]).
Not in the Syllabus is a joint project of the Canadian
Federation of Students-Ontario, the Public Service Alliance of
Canada Ontario and the Ontario University Workers Coordinating
Committee of CUPE. All information provided is condential,
anonymous, and secure.
Tuesday, Feb 3rd at noon 600 UC - ScienceThursday, Feb 5th at
noon 600 UC - Arts and Social ScienceTuesday Feb 10 at 1pm 2017
Dunton- International StudentsWednesday Feb 25 at noon 600 UC -
Engineering and Design
Wednesday March 4 at noon 600 UC- Public Affairs and
Business
Come eat free pizza and have an open discussion about issues
facing
graduate students
LAW COURTS OR LAND CLAIMS?
SILENCE NO MORE
High Expenses or Extinguishment for Aboriginal Title and
Rights
Speaking out against violence faced by Indigenous women and
children
Andy Crosby
Negotiation leads to ex-tinguishment, according to Indigenous
policy advisor Russ Diabo in a lecture deliv-ered to the Carleton
Univer-sity community on Feb. 5.
The presentation, Federal Comprehensive Claims Poli-cy vs.
Recognition of Aborigi-nal Title and Rights, laid out the
diametrically opposed positions of the Canadian government and
Aboriginal communities regarding In-digenous sovereignty over
tra-ditional territories.
I say versus because its not about recognition, its about
extinguishment termi-nation of [Aboriginal] title and rights, said
Diabo.
Diabo examined the his-tory of the Canadian govern-ments
Comprehensive Land Claims Policy (CLCP) back to the 1969 White
Paper on Indian Policy, which sought to eliminate Indian status,
abolish the Indian Act, con-vert reserve land to private property,
and gradually ter-minate existing Treaties.
Almost 50 years later, lit-tle has changed.
The key tenets of the pres-ent governments policies are the
extinguishment of Ab-original title, legal release of Crown
liability, elimination of reserves, removal of on-reserve tax
exemptions, and the respect of third party in-terests (industry and
private property holders).
The Supreme Courts
2014 Tsilhqotin decision reafrmed earlier Supreme Court cases
such as the 1997 Delgamuukw decision which afrmed Aboriginal title
and rights.
In response, the Harper government issued an in-terim policy
entitled, Re-newing the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy: Towards a
Framework for Address-ing Section 35 Aboriginal Rights.
According to Diabo, this policy is a mere restatement of
previous federal section 35 policies regarding extin-guishment of
Aboriginal title and municipalization of In-dian Bands.
However, the Tsilhqotin decision also found that the claimant
group bears the onus of establishing Aborigi-nal title.
I take issue with that, said Diabo, referring to the Tsilhqotin
decision as dan-gerous.
If you have Aboriginal title, the burden of proof is on you to
prove it, he said. Its expensive and will cost millions of
dollars.
The governments inter-pretation is, You havent proved it, youre
merely asserting it, according to Diabo. You have to go to court or
negotiate and the only avenue of negotiation is the Comprehensive
Claims Process.
In the question and an-swer portion, a student in the audience
questioned
whether or not there was a third way, direct action, out-side of
the courts or negotiat-ing tables. Diabo responded that communities
have to be incredibly organized to run sustained direct action
cam-paigns.
He gave the example of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake who were
organized and had lawyers present dur-ing their blockades of
High-way 117 north of Ottawa in 2008. The governments re-sponse was
to deploy riot po-lice to attack the blockades, as well as send in
helicopters to make arrests when timber operations were being
block-aded in the forest.
If the feds feel your de-mands arent reasonable, theyll remind
you that there are limits to assertions of sovereignty.
Furthermore, the govern-ment continues to expand its tool box in
dealing with those defending land and as-serting sovereignty.
Recently leaked RCMP documents sound the alarm on a highly
organized and well-nanced, anti-Canadian petroleum movement that
consists of peaceful activists, militants and violent
extremists.
The Bill C-51 anti-terror-ism legislation creates more tools to
protect critical in-frastructure, said Diabo. It doesnt just apply
to radical Muslims, but to Indigenous peoples and their supporters
threatening resource projects such as pipelines.
Matt Cicero stonesandsticksandwords.wordpress.com
A group of 25 people gathered at the University of Ottawa to
listen to grass-roots Indigenous activists reect on the ongoing
crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada as part
of the larger #shutdowncanada move-ment on Feb. 13.
The teach-in was a part of #shutdowncanada, a national day of
action em-phasizing direct action and a diversity of tactics. The
In-digenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa, a grass-roots
Indigenous solidar-ity collective, and Carleton
student Amanda Milson collaborated to organize the teach-in.
The decision to orga-nize a teach-in rather than a direct action
was made to respect concerns that a di-rection action might draw
attention away from the work done by Indigenous women and
two-spirits to receive justice for the miss-ing and murdered and
their families, according to event organizers.
The event began with a prayer by a Cree elder, Mary-Lou Iahtail.
Her daughter, the events main speaker Jocelyn Iahtail, shared her
struggle and activism against gender-based violence. She spoke
about the loss of
her unborn daughter, how she was beaten by her ex-husband and
the threats of violence she faced after pub-licly denouncing the
incest, sexual abuse and corruption in her community.
Through it all she em-phasized the importance of returning to
Waska Pima-tisiwaywin, or the circle way of being. Returning to
Was-ka Pimatisiwaywin means relearning and reinvigorat-ing
traditional teachings, Indigenous knowledge, and Indigenous
language and culture.
Iahtail also emphasized the deep impact of inter-generational
child warfare genocide, a form of trans-
Russell Diabo Photo: Peter Di Gangi
CONTINUED ON RIGHT
4 The Leveller vol 7, no 5, February/March 2015
www.leveller.ca
NEWS
Is the ivory tower the new home of playground bullies?
Not in the Syllabus- Graduate Student Mental Health Campaign
To all graduate students at Carleton,
Have you ever witnessed or experienced belittling or degrading
behaviour at Carleton? Verbal abuse? Yelling? Homophobic, racist,
sexist or xenophobic remarks? Ever felt anxious or fearful to
encounter a particular professor, staff member or colleague? Ever
had a colleague tell you they felt that way?
Mental health is a serious issue affecting all students, but
what can we do about it? The GSA has helped to launch a graduate
student-specic mental health campaign, Not in the Syllabus, and wed
like you to take part.
Our survey asks graduate students to identify and describe
incidents related to bullying, harassment and mental health issues
that they have either personally experienced or witnessed at their
institutions. Your participation is greatly appreciated. The
information collected will help shape the rest of the campaign and
has the potential to positively impact future graduate students,
both across Ontario and specically at Carleton University.
Complete the survey: notinthesyllabus.ca
If youre interested in knowing more about the survey or want to
help promote it to your peers and colleagues, email
[email protected], or contact GSA VP Academic Michael Bueckert
([email protected]).
Not in the Syllabus is a joint project of the Canadian
Federation of Students-Ontario, the Public Service Alliance of
Canada Ontario and the Ontario University Workers Coordinating
Committee of CUPE. All information provided is condential,
anonymous, and secure.
Tuesday, Feb 3rd at noon 600 UC - ScienceThursday, Feb 5th at
noon 600 UC - Arts and Social ScienceTuesday Feb 10 at 1pm 2017
Dunton- International StudentsWednesday Feb 25 at noon 600 UC -
Engineering and Design
Wednesday March 4 at noon 600 UC- Public Affairs and
Business
Come eat free pizza and have an open discussion about issues
facing
graduate students
Is the ivory tower the new home of playground bullies?
Not in the Syllabus- Graduate Student Mental Health Campaign
To all graduate students at Carleton,
Have you ever witnessed or experienced belittling or degrading
behaviour at Carleton? Verbal abuse? Yelling? Homophobic, racist,
sexist or xenophobic remarks? Ever felt anxious or fearful to
encounter a particular professor, staff member or colleague? Ever
had a colleague tell you they felt that way?
Mental health is a serious issue affecting all students, but
what can we do about it? The GSA has helped to launch a graduate
student-specic mental health campaign, Not in the Syllabus, and wed
like you to take part.
Our survey asks graduate students to identify and describe
incidents related to bullying, harassment and mental health issues
that they have either personally experienced or witnessed at their
institutions. Your participation is greatly appreciated. The
information collected will help shape the rest of the campaign and
has the potential to positively impact future graduate students,
both across Ontario and specically at Carleton University.
Complete the survey: notinthesyllabus.ca
If youre interested in knowing more about the survey or want to
help promote it to your peers and colleagues, email
[email protected], or contact GSA VP Academic Michael Bueckert
([email protected]).
Not in the Syllabus is a joint project of the Canadian
Federation of Students-Ontario, the Public Service Alliance of
Canada Ontario and the Ontario University Workers Coordinating
Committee of CUPE. All information provided is condential,
anonymous, and secure.
Tuesday, Feb 3rd at noon 600 UC - ScienceThursday, Feb 5th at
noon 600 UC - Arts and Social ScienceTuesday Feb 10 at 1pm 2017
Dunton- International StudentsWednesday Feb 25 at noon 600 UC -
Engineering and Design
Wednesday March 4 at noon 600 UC- Public Affairs and
Business
Come eat free pizza and have an open discussion about issues
facing
graduate students
LAW COURTS OR LAND CLAIMS?
SILENCE NO MORE
High Expenses or Extinguishment for Aboriginal Title and
Rights
Speaking out against violence faced by Indigenous women and
children
Andy Crosby
Negotiation leads to ex-tinguishment, according to Indigenous
policy advisor Russ Diabo in a lecture deliv-ered to the Carleton
Univer-sity community on Feb. 5.
The presentation, Federal Comprehensive Claims Poli-cy vs.
Recognition of Aborigi-nal Title and Rights, laid out the
diametrically opposed positions of the Canadian government and
Aboriginal communities regarding In-digenous sovereignty over
tra-ditional territories.
I say versus because its not about recognition, its about
extinguishment termi-nation of [Aboriginal] title and rights, said
Diabo.
Diabo examined the his-tory of the Canadian govern-ments
Comprehensive Land Claims Policy (CLCP) back to the 1969 White
Paper on Indian Policy, which sought to eliminate Indian status,
abolish the Indian Act, con-vert reserve land to private property,
and gradually ter-minate existing Treaties.
Almost 50 years later, lit-tle has changed.
The key tenets of the pres-ent governments policies are the
extinguishment of Ab-original title, legal release of Crown
liability, elimination of reserves, removal of on-reserve tax
exemptions, and the respect of third party in-terests (industry and
private property holders).
The Supreme Courts
2014 Tsilhqotin decision reafrmed earlier Supreme Court cases
such as the 1997 Delgamuukw decision which afrmed Aboriginal title
and rights.
In response, the Harper government issued an in-terim policy
entitled, Re-newing the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy: Towards a
Framework for Address-ing Section 35 Aboriginal Rights.
According to Diabo, this policy is a mere restatement of
previous federal section 35 policies regarding extin-guishment of
Aboriginal title and municipalization of In-dian Bands.
However, the Tsilhqotin decision also found that the claimant
group bears the onus of establishing Aborigi-nal title.
I take issue with that, said Diabo, referring to the Tsilhqotin
decision as dan-gerous.
If you have Aboriginal title, the burden of proof is on you to
prove it, he said. Its expensive and will cost millions of
dollars.
The governments inter-pretation is, You havent proved it, youre
merely asserting it, according to Diabo. You have to go to court or
negotiate and the only avenue of negotiation is the Comprehensive
Claims Process.
In the question and an-swer portion, a student in the audience
questioned
whether or not there was a third way, direct action, out-side of
the courts or negotiat-ing tables. Diabo responded that communities
have to be incredibly organized to run sustained direct action
cam-paigns.
He gave the example of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake who were
organized and had lawyers present dur-ing their blockades of
High-way 117 north of Ottawa in 2008. The governments re-sponse was
to deploy riot po-lice to attack the blockades, as well as send in
helicopters to make arrests when timber operations were being
block-aded in the forest.
If the feds feel your de-mands arent reasonable, theyll remind
you that there are limits to assertions of sovereignty.
Furthermore, the govern-ment continues to expand its tool box in
dealing with those defending land and as-serting sovereignty.
Recently leaked RCMP documents sound the alarm on a highly
organized and well-nanced, anti-Canadian petroleum movement that
consists of peaceful activists, militants and violent
extremists.
The Bill C-51 anti-terror-ism legislation creates more tools to
protect critical in-frastructure, said Diabo. It doesnt just apply
to radical Muslims, but to Indigenous peoples and their supporters
threatening resource projects such as pipelines.
Matt Cicero stonesandsticksandwords.wordpress.com
A group of 25 people gathered at the University of Ottawa to
listen to grass-roots Indigenous activists reect on the ongoing
crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada as part
of the larger #shutdowncanada move-ment on Feb. 13.
The teach-in was a part of #shutdowncanada, a national day of
action em-phasizing direct action and a diversity of tactics. The
In-digenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa, a grass-roots
Indigenous solidar-ity collective, and Carleton
student Amanda Milson collaborated to organize the teach-in.
The decision to orga-nize a teach-in rather than a direct action
was made to respect concerns that a di-rection action might draw
attention away from the work done by Indigenous women and
two-spirits to receive justice for the miss-ing and murdered and
their families, according to event organizers.
The event began with a prayer by a Cree elder, Mary-Lou Iahtail.
Her daughter, the events main speaker Jocelyn Iahtail, shared her
struggle and activism against gender-based violence. She spoke
about the loss of
her unborn daughter, how she was beaten by her ex-husband and
the threats of violence she faced after pub-licly denouncing the
incest, sexual abuse and corruption in her community.
Through it all she em-phasized the importance of returning to
Waska Pima-tisiwaywin, or the circle way of being. Returning to
Was-ka Pimatisiwaywin means relearning and reinvigorat-ing
traditional teachings, Indigenous knowledge, and Indigenous
language and culture.
Iahtail also emphasized the deep impact of inter-generational
child warfare genocide, a form of trans-
Russell Diabo Photo: Peter Di Gangi
CONTINUED ON RIGHT
