Indigenous Education and Treaties Recognition Week
November 4 to 8 is Indigenous Education and Treaties Recognition Week at TMU
Indigenous Education and Treaties Recognition Week will take place across the TMU campus from November 4 to 8, featuring educational panels, hands-on workshops, entertaining events and more. TMU students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to participate in programming to better understand the unique and diverse experiences of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, as well as treaty rights, treaty relationships and their relevance today. Indigenous Education and Treaties Recognition Week is just one facet of the larger work towards reconciliation, for which we are all responsible.
Upcoming events
Reconciliation in Business Conference
This one-day conference will consist of discussions designed to foster inclusion and appreciation of Indigenous perspectives and encourage adapting Indigenous ways of knowing in research and education. The event will feature an Indigenous marketplace, a feast, research presentations and an Indigenous business case competition.
November 3, 2024
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Past events
From November 7 to 9, 2023, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) community participated in events to honour Treaties Recognition Week. Events included talks, a read-in for educators, film screenings and the unveiling of Justine Wood’s beaded Saagajiwe Totem.
November 7 | International Inuit Day
November 8 | Talking Treaties: A Read-In for Educators
November 9 | A Celebration of Indigenous Remembrance and Treaties
November 9 | Film screening of Trick or Treaty? with Alanis Obomsawin
Participants were invited to engage with five wampum belts
During this week's events, participants were invited to engage with five wampum belts cared for by the Archives and Special Collections at TMU Libraries.
Kimberly Boissiere and Jeremie Caribou said, "Wampums are visual memory keepers, recording history and communicating ideas. Beaded patterns represent a person, nation, event, invitation, shared values, and understandings/agreements between two or more parties. Traditional wampum belts were used as covenants and petitions for understanding."
For more information about the wampum belts, please contact the Archives and Special Collections at asc@torontomu.ca.
Acknowledgements
Treaties Recognition Week committee
This year’s event is organized by a collective of Indigenous and non-Indigenous colleagues, led by Cher Trudeau, administrative coordinator, Indigenous Education Council and Indigenous Initiatives.
The committee includes staff from Gdoo-maawnjidimi Mompii Indigenous Student Services and Indigenous Initiatives in the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion; Indigenous Education Council in the Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic; the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching; the Ceremonials Office; the Indigenous Law School Students Association (ILSSA); Saagajiwe in The Creative School; TMU Libraries, Archives and Special Collections; Toronto Metropolitan Association of Part-Time Students (TMAPS); Toronto Met Students Union (TMSU); and Treaty Relations in Business Education (TRIBE).
From September 17 to 22, 2023, the TMU community participated in over 20 events, including a ribbon-skirt-making workshop, a drumming social, a two-spirit identity presentation, several beading and earring-making workshops, a Pow Wow fitness session, a tea with Elders, film screenings, an Inuit culture presentation, a tour of the Indigenous medicine garden and so much more.
Acknowledgements
This year’s Indigenous Education Week was led by Indigenous undergraduate students Mercedes Massingale (School of Social Work, Faculty of Community Services), Emma Yerxa (Criminology, Faculty of Arts) and Gabrielle McMann (School of Journalism, The Creative School) with support from Crystal Osawamick, manager of Indigenous events and special projects.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please email Crystal Osawamick, Manager, Indigenous Events and Special Projects, at indigevents@torontomu.ca and Cher Trudeau, administrative coordinator, Indigenous Education Council and Indigenous Initiatives, at cktrudeau@torontomu.ca.