Water Teachings and Interactive Activities Day 2 | National Indigenous Peoples Month
- Date
- June 06, 2025
- Time
- 10:00 AM EDT - 12:00 PM EDT
- Location
- SLC Amphitheatre, 1st floor of the Student Learning Centre (SLC) at 341 Yonge St.
- Open To
- Students, faculty, staff and community members
- Contact
- Indigevents@torontomu.ca
- Website
- https://www.torontomu.ca/indigenous/events/national-indigenous-peoples-month
Let’s Dive In!
Join us on June 6 for Day 2 of our celebration of World Oceans Week and National Indigenous Peoples Month.
Building on the momentum of Day 1, Day 2 offers more drop-in opportunities to connect with water, explore Indigenous water teachings and engage in interactive experiences focused on ocean sustainability and reconciliation.
This event honours the millennia-long leadership of Indigenous Peoples – particularly Indigenous women – as water stewards, knowledge keepers and guardians of the lands and waters of Turtle Island, including the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin.
This event underscores our collective responsibility under the Dish With One Spoon treaty to protect these vital waters, which provide 20% of the world’s freshwater. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn, reflect and take action to safeguard these critical ecosystems.
Day 2 event schedule
Morning drop-in activities | 10:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.
- Oceans, Freshwater and Us – Virtual Ocean Experience (Floor Map + AR)
- Wave of Change Collaborative Mural Activity
- Map Your Memories of Blue
- Seas the Day!
- Moccasin Identifier Project
Featured activities
Oceans, Freshwater and Us – Virtual Ocean Experience (Floor Map + Augmented-Reality Storytelling)
Travel across blue spaces, freshwater and saltwater using an immersive augmented reality floor map.
The “Oceans, Freshwater and Us” floor map works with an Ocean Week Canada augmented reality app (external link) and a tablet or smartphone connected to wifi. It can take you on a virtual adventure across Canada to learn about (PDF file) watersheds (external link) , rivers, lakes, (PDF file) oceans (external link) , Arctic sea ice, Indigenous communities, (PDF file) biodiversity (external link) and underwater wonders.
Wave of Change Collaborative Mural Activity
Contribute to a community mural using repurposed materials from the Free Store. Through this hands-on art activity, you’ll help create a visual representation of the connection between human actions and marine ecosystems. You’re also invited to add written reflections or personal messages to the piece, contributing your voice to a shared expression of care for the planet’s waters.
This activity is a creative way to explore your connection to ocean conservation and SDG 14: Life Below Water.
Map Your Memories
Blue spaces like the ocean have a way of making us happy and improving our mental health. Mark your favourite “Blue Happy Place” – a meaningful body of water or blue space – on a world map and share the memory behind it.
Stories will be displayed on the “Coast Line” clothesline as part of a collective reflection on the emotional and cultural importance of water.
Seas the Day!
The ocean is a social, cultural and spiritual space – a place of wondrous beauty, delight and sacredness, that resonates differently for everyone. World Oceans Day challenges us to reflect on our relationship with the ocean and how we can demonstrate our love for the sea by making ocean-friendly choices every day.
At this interactive station, Bristol board cutouts and markers will be provided, allowing participants to respond to the urgent call to action to protect the ocean by making sustainable choices and becoming ocean champions. Participant responses will be hung on the “Coastline” clothesline.
Moccasin Identifier
Ground your knowledge of treaty recognition.
The Moccasin Identifier project is an Indigenous-led initiative, founded by Carolyn King, with the objective to promote awareness of treaty recognition and understanding of the ancestral history of the land.
Participants will learn that TMU stands on territory whose treaty holders are the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and that we are situated on the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Ojibway, the Haudenosaunee and the Huron Wendat peoples.
Participants then ground their knowledge of treaty awareness by stenciling a Wendat, Anishnaabe, Seneca or Cree moccasin on a mural.
Prize draws throughout the day
Bring your smartphone or tablet for AR experiences
Light refreshments available
This event is part of Mzawe Kiing Anishinaabek Giizis | National Indigenous Peoples Month.
This month is a time for self-education, with a number of opportunities to celebrate and reflect on the contributions of Indigenous Peoples to the university community and beyond.
Aambe Bizhaak! / All are welcome!
About the organizers/team
Crystal Osawamick, Manager, Indigenous Events and Special Projects, University Events and Ceremonies, Office of the President
Juliet Dhanraj, Student Success Specialist at the School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP)
Sharmilla Raj, Sustainability Manager in the Sustainability Office, Facilities Management and Development
Erica Wilkinson, Sustainability Coordinator in the Sustainability Office, Facilities Management and Development
Accessibility
The university is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any accommodation requirements, please let us know in the registration form. You can also email Crystal Osawamick, Manager of Indigenous Events and Special Projects at crystal.osawamick@torontomu.ca.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please email Indigevents@torontomu.ca
