Anishinaabe Indigenous Intergenerational Growing Old/Aging (AIIGO)

AIIGO Gathering will be an event to remember! In the morning, attendees will learn about the Trent University-Integrated Seniors Village (anchored by a non-profit Long Term Care Home) and hear from older and younger Michi Saagig Nishinaabeg (Anne Taylor, Bailley Taylor, Curve Lake First Nation; Sandra Moore, Hiawatha First Nation) sharing their visions of growing old intergenerationally in their communities. It’s a rare privilege to hear these important experiences and dreams. During lunch, TCAS Graduate Associates, Angela Easby (PhD candidate at the University of Guelph) and Heidi Burns (MA, Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies) will present on their research. After lunch (1:30pm), Keynote Speaker Dr. Sean Hillier (York U, Mi’kmaw Scholar, Member of Qualipu First Nation) will speak on “Indigenous approaches to aging: how we can achieve ‘living the good life’ during our later stages of life.”

AIIGO is organized by the Trent Centre for Aging & Society, and supported by the Canada Institues for Health Research (CIHR, Café Scientifique program), and the Office of the President, Trent University.

Below is information on speakers.

Alice Olsen Williams (Minaajimo-Kwe, woman who tells good stories) is a Curve Lake First Nation member known for her unbelievably beautiful quilt-work. Alice blends expressions of Anishinaabe beliefs, traditions and ideology, while combining reflections on social issues such as racism, healing, and violence against women. In the centre of her quilts are animals and birds which figure intimately in the lives of the Anishinaabeg. Her quilts and wall-hangings have been acquired by many museums and art galleries in Canada and the United States. She is founder of the Trent Quilters Society and Chair of the Kawartha Truth and Reconciliation Support Group.

Sandra Moore (Sam) is a Michisaagiig Ojibwe woman from Hiawatha First Nation. She is a wife, Mom and Grandma. Her Anishnaabe name is Mkwa Kwe Binnoojii – Bear Woman Child. Sandra spent over 30 years working for Anishnaabe people in Hiawatha First Nation for many of those 30 years in various capacities until she retired as Chief in 2012. Today, Sam not only creates Native art but she believes in teaching others how to create it, too. Sandra and Barry lived in Dawson City, Yukon in 2016-17 where Sam accepted the position of Director of Health & Social Services for the Tr’ondek H’wechin Self governing Nation. She serves as Councillor on the Hiawatha First Nation Elected Council.

Anne Taylor is a member of Curve Lake First Nation and Anishinaabe Knowledge Holder and Carrier. She is the Indigenous Education Advisor with the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board and has served as Curve Lake Community Anishinaabemowin Coordinator at Curve Lake First Nation. She is an artist, filmmaker, and curator.

Bailley Taylor is a member of Curve Lake First Nation, and first and foremost a proud mother. She is a Business Owner of KS Custom Dreams, and Drug and Alcohol Prevention Worker with the National Native Alcohol & Drug Abuse Program (NNADAP), and teaches Indigenous Studies at Fleming College.

Angela Easby is a TCAS Graduate Associate and Ph.D. candidate in the Social Practice and Transformational Change program at the University of Guelph, under the supervision of Dr. Kim Anderson. Angela is Métis and Anishinaabe on her mother’s side, and a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario with ancestral ties to Treaty 3 territory in northwestern Ontario. She grew up in central Ontario. Her PhD research focuses on Anishinaabemowin revitalization and mobility. She is an Anishinaabemowin learner, a runner, and a beadwork artist.

Heidi Burns is a TCAS Graduate Associate and MA candidate in Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies at Trent University. Her MA research centres on the connections between Manoomin (Wild Rice) gathering to inter-generational relationships, community relationships and well-being over life course. Out of a love for all things living she hopes through the collaborative community based project to better learn about the historical and contemporary ties with the local food medicine Manoomin, and to identify opportunities to support ongoing ecological restoration work led by First Nations community members that bring youth and elders together.

Presentation Title: "“Indigenous approaches to aging: how we can achieve ‘living the good life’ during our later stages of life.”

Dr. Sean Hillier (York U, Mi’kmaw Scholar, Member of Qualipu First Nation) is Associate Dean, Research & Innovation and associate professor in the Faculty of Health at York University. His collaborative research program spans the topics of aging, living with HIV and other infectious diseases, and One Health – all with a concerted focus on policy affecting health care access for Indigenous Peoples. Dr. Hillier has been successful in receiving funding from each of the three federal granting agencies and is the current Inaugural Associate Director of the $318M research project, Connected Minds: Neural and Machine Systems for a Healthy Just Society.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Peterborough Public Library, Friends of the Library Room, 345 Aylmer Street North, Peterborough, Canada