About this Event
This year’s symposium invites critical reflection and dialogue on the experiences, tensions, and possibilities of navigating Indigenous presence within spaces shaped by colonial histories and structures. Through conversations with scholars, community leaders, and knowledge carriers, we will explore how Indigenous peoples reclaim, resist, and transform institutions while carrying forward relationships, responsibilities, and teachings that challenge colonial systems.
The symposium will create space to reflect on belonging, survivance, resurgence, and the ongoing work of making institutions more accountable to Indigenous peoples and communities.
Join us for a day of learning, relationship-building, and collective reflection.
Agenda
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:15 AM
Opening Remarks
Host: Matthew Bisson (MC)
🕑: 09:15 AM - 10:00 AM
Keynote 1: Protecting Leaders, Serving Communities: Inside the Life of an Inuk
Host: Constable George Henrie
🕑: 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Q&A
🕑: 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM
Keynote #2: It's Just Chantal: What Happens When Trust Replaces Fear
Host: Sergeant Chantal Larocque
🕑: 11:00 AM - 11:15 AM
Q&A
🕑: 11:15 AM
Health Break
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Keynote #3: Healing Journeys, Systemic Change
Host: Malaya Zehr
🕑: 12:15 PM - 12:30 PM
Q&A
🕑: 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM
Lunch and Cultural Performancers
Host: Belle Bailey
🕑: 01:30 PM - 02:15 PM
Keynote #4: Decolonizing Journalism Education: Transforming Pathways for Indig
Host: Duncan McCue
Info: How can we reform post-secondary institutions to better meet the needs of Indigenous learners? Drawing on his experiences in journalism and teaching, Professor Duncan McCue offers practical insights into decolonizing academic spaces and creating more inclusive educational environments.
🕑: 02:15 PM - 02:30 PM
Q&A
🕑: 02:30 PM - 02:45 PM
Health Break
🕑: 02:45 PM - 03:45 PM
Keynote #5: Navigating Power: High-Level Advisory and Public Service
Host: Deliah Benard
🕑: 03:45 PM - 04:00 PM
Q&A
🕑: 04:00 PM
Closing
Event venue & nearby stays
Richcraft Hall, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Canada
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.