Miigwetch

While APRC came to a close earlier today, by no means does that mean the learning and sharing has to end too.

During the closing ceremonies a series of speakers delivered powerful and heartfelt messages to the thousand-plus delegates in attendance and each and every one of them spoke to the importance of continued research and the pro-active sharing of information.

Roland Bellerose, Founder, President and CEO of i-powwow Enterprises Ltd., shared his vision of Canada in the year 2018 and it includes his latest venture, i-POWPOW.com.

The long-time publisher of Aboriginal Times Business Magazine plans to launch his new website, which in his words, will be a meeting place where “our elders, our children, our leaders, our business community, our government and our students can access Aboriginal any time, any where.”

“Imagine such a meeting place, where we could share our stories and our teachings, observe our histories and traditions and our languages. Imagine that we had a platform where we could find a way to exercise our current rights and implement effective governance that would allow us to diversify our communities and work in harmony.”

This is i-POWWOW.com.

By the response of the audience, Mr. Bellerose may be on to something. And I wish him, well.

Manny Jules, Chairman of the First Nations Tax Commission and Mark Dockstander, Chair of the recently launched First Nations Statistical Institute echoed the words of Bellerose with both highly-respected men calling for continued research, continued knowledge sharing and most importantly, continued passion.

Making those three things a reality is what APRC is all about.

And Jerry White promised that what is already “the largest Aboriginal policy research conference in the world” will be even bigger, on a global scale, in 2012.

Already boasting representatives from Canada, United States, Russia, Czech Republic, Norway, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Taiwan, the next APRC is looking to make 2012 ‘a world conference’ with approx. 30 to 40 per cent of the attendees made up of international delegates.

Before welcoming Dan and Mary Lou Smoke, the spiritual leaders of APRC, the conference co-organizer said, “Thanks to all of you for bringing your ideas, your controversies and your energies to this conference.”

And while the Smoke’s captivated the audience with songs and words the way only the Smokes can, with this academic set, perhaps the strongest message was delivered by Dan BEFORE his closing prayer.

“I’d love to see a first-year course at every Canadian university and college that every student had to take: First Nations Studies 101.”

Cue the applause.

And as the near-hypnotic Ahkwesasne Women Singers lift our spirits away from the traditional lands belonging to the peoples of the Ottawa Algonquin Nation, I say my good-bye.

And “Miigwetch.”

Like the beat of a drum

DAY 3: A highlight of today’s APRC activities was the presentation of a photojournalism essay delivered by Marc Fonda of INAC.

This incredible photographic journey depicting the well-being of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples led directly into a plenary session chaired by INAC’s Dan Beavon, who is also an adjunct professor at Western, on the same subject.

Someone else exploring well-being on this day was Robert Todd, a man whose passion is native art and spiritual craft. Robert has been on-site all week teaching hand drum making to the delegates.

After meeting him earlier in the week and promising I would return, I settled in for a workshop. Alas, Robert’s classes have proven quite popular so I wasn’t able to participate but for the next hour and a half, I sat and watched and laughed with some of the newest and finest drum makers this side of the Rideau Canal. 

The process begins by steaming a piece of cleaned ash wood into a ring. This was done in advance for our participants. Secondly, a piece of deer hide was cut in a circular fashion, a few centimetres larger than the circumference of your piece of wood. With a super-powered hole punch, or at least super-powered muscles, the drum makers next punched 14 sets of two holes, equally spaced, around the edge.

With the inside of the animal facing up, (Robert’s words, not mine), you lay the cut of hide down on the table and place the ash wood ring down in the centre of it.

This is where it gets tricky as one woman from Newfoundland, in particular, quickly learned. Starting at 3 o’clock on the hide, you then start weaving a long, thin piece of dampened hide back and forth across the back of the drum. Each time, the thinner piece of hide was drawn ‘out’ the hole on the right and ‘in’ the hole on the left, all the while, making sure each draw of the hide went back to the opposite set before moving one set forward in a counter-clockwise motion. (Robert later confessed to the group that the process was likely trickier than it needed to be because he taught them all to make left-handed drums because he himself was left-handed.) 

Once complete, sooner for some, not so soon for others, Robert worked his way around the room tightening the hide to ensure the tension was just right. The next step was tying an intricate knot in the centre of the weave to create a handle for the drummer to hold.

Ta-da. One beautifully hand-crafted hand drum.

And these instruments are beautiful. But drums are not for decoration warns Robert. They’re tools and they need to be used. And played. And enjoyed.   

But before the playing can begin, we’ve missed one thing.

And you don’t need to be a member of the White Tail Cree Singers to know what that

The drumstick was easy compared to the drum. But just as beautiful. A straight piece of birch wood was topped with a piece of golden hide, filled with wool and tied off with a piece of sinew.

And voila, the band was ready to play and enjoy. And they did both.

This drum making workshop, quite truly, was no different than any of the far more academic sessions happening throughout the week here in Ottawa.

As Robert explains it, sharing with people is important because it preserves traditional art and teachings by simply passing them on. It creates an exchange of both ideas and experience.

Sounds pretty good, right?

Like the beat of a drum.

That’s $71 billion with a “b”

Some of the countries most promising academic talent was celebrated earlier today at APRC as eight Canadian university graduate students received $2,000 bursaries through the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.

The foundation is led by its CEO & President Roberta Jamieson. In 1976, this Western Law alumna became the first Aboriginal woman to become a lawyer in Canada. She went on to become Ombudsman of Ontario and later the Chief of the Six Nations of The Grand River – quite an amazing person. 

But before I share some more details on the luncheon (and yes, the fish was excellent!), I’d be remiss if I didn’t look back at last night and the happenings of the Aboriginal Book Fair, an event designed to promote publications on Aboriginal issues and launch new books and journals.

Emceed by Patricia Neri – Director General, Department of Canadian Heritage – the evening not only served as a kickoff for some highly-praised academic works but also a showcase for some incredible performers.

Big Western connection this night as Jerry White released “Aboriginal Education: Current Crisis – Future Alternatives” with post doc candidates Julie Peters and Nicholas Spence while Dan Beavon launched the journal “Canadian Issues” with Jack Jedwab and Daniel Jetté of the Association of Canadian Studies.

Erik Anderson also shared details of “Canada’s Relationship with Inuit: A History of Policy and Program Development.”

Internationally renowed speaker Madeleine Dion-Stout, considered a leader within the Canadian nursing profession, was also hand with the official debut of her latest book, “Restoring the Balance: First Nations Women, Community and Culture.”

Sixty-something years young, Dion-Stout attended Blue Quills Residential School for three years growing up as a member of Kehewin First Nation in Alberta.

I actually was lucky enough to chat with her later in the evening and when I asked why a gathering, such as APRC, of like-minded individuals was so important to the world’s First Nations populations, she quipped perhaps the key was that every one ISN’T like-minded.

“It is very important to bring different perspectives to a conference. It’s important in knowledge exchange to hear other people’s perspectives, ideas and views. The way they view the world with their own world view, which are two different things. For that reason, APRC is a highly-instructive, highly informative conference.”

Interspersed with the presenters were a wide range of performances including a hoop dance by Lisa Odjig, the daughter of renowned artist Daphne Odjig, who was bestowed an honorary degree by Western last year. A ceremonial chicken dance, nothing like the wedding standard, and an interpretative presentation by a Russian singer/dancer were other highlights but my personal favourite was the Inuit Throat Singers.

If you’ve never seen or heard this, it’s quite a remarkable. No doubt a predecessor to modern day beatboxing, throat singing is the delivery of melodic sounds, which start in the lungs, pass by the vocal chords and resonate through the lips. The best part, like a good old-fashioned staring contest, is singers face off until one cracks a smile or giggles.

Awesome.

Keith Thompson, President of Thompson Educational Publishing, was also honored by conference organizers for his commitment to the promotion and delivery of Aboriginal texts and his sheer mastery as an editor and publisher.

As we speak to those being honored, I return to earlier today when eight students crossed the stage of the Confederation Ball Room, here at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, to gather their cheques for their award-winning papers on Aboriginal policy and research. 

Jerry said of the recipients: “This generation of graduate students is going to be the next crop of researchers, who are going to carry on the work of the APRC.”

Dr. Jamieson also delivered a poignant message to the delegates about Aboriginal youth. 

“Remember that Aboriginal people will account for nearly 30 per cent of Canada’s annual natural population increase between 2001 and 2017. The current unacceptable gap between high potential and low achievement won’t close by itself, indeed it will widen and be passed along to the next generation. That’s a costly burden for Canada to bear.

“If we are going to change that picture, we need an investment of resources and energy to realize that the potential of our young people is not an act of kindness – it is essential and it is message we have to get out.”

She noted a recent research study by the Centre for the Study of Women:

“If we could close then gap between the education of First Nations, Inuit and Native children and youth as compared to the Canadian population generally, there would be $71 billion added to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years.”

That’s $71 billion with a “b.”

The journey begins

DAY 1: Western’s leadership was front and centre at the openings of the third tri-annual Aboriginal Policy Research Conference (APRC) being held this week in the nation’s capital.

I am Jeff Renaud, Senior Media Relations Officer at The University of Western Ontario and I will be posting throughout the week from Ottawa’s Westin Conference Centre and updating readers back in London and around the world on the happenings of this conference boasting more than 1,100 delegates from Canada, the United States, Russia, Thailand and Taiwan.

There are also 50 Aboriginal students from across Canada in attendance. Their spots were supported by APRC sponsors Nexen, Motivate Canada, First Nations Bank and First Air.  

I should also note and more importantly, thank the peoples of the Ottawa Algonquin Nation. It is their traditional lands we walk on today and all this week. 

Western co-hosted the first APRC in 2002 with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC).

In 2006, The National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) joined as a partner.

APRC brings together Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal researchers and policy makers, in an effort to showcase the wide range of high-quality research that is being conducted at universities, both in Canada and abroad.

Incredibly, more than 200 papers were submitted for the conference, a testament, says co-organizer and NAFC Executive Director Peter Dinsdale, “to the tremendous capacity which exists.”

And for the first time, 20 Aboriginal organizations have joined as partners. Each is hosting a workshop in a variety of disciplines including drumming and weaving.

Elders Dan and Mary Lou Smoke, respected First Nations leaders known in London and southwestern Ontario as the co-hosts of “Smoke Signals” on CHRW, officially opened the conference this morning.

Mary Lou, a member of Ojibway Nation, led the delegation in the singing of Water Song while Dan, a member of Seneca Nation, shared a traditional Thanksgiving address in both Seneca and English.

“Grandfather, grandmother, hear our sacred vows. Hear our sacred prayers. We have come together in the sacred circle of creation. No life form of any colour is any better than any other life form. We are all equal in our gifts and our purpose.”

The White Tail Cree Singers from North Bay were up next. The Juno-nominated drum group’s blend of traditional-style singing and contemporary lyrics was a real eye-opener. Especially at 9:15 in the morning.

The group once opened for country/western legend Tammy Wynette but on this day, the introductory drum session was for Western President Paul Davenport.

“This is an occasion for visionary thinking and for setting our horizons in terms of what we think is possible. I am particularly proud that this conference can trace its roots and many of its participants to The University of Western Ontario.”

Jerry White, Western’s Associate Dean (Planning), Faculty of Social Science and a founding APRC co-organizer was also recognized.

Dan Beavon, INAC’s Director of Strategic Research, an award-winning adjunct professor at Western, and another founding APRC co-organizer also gave greetings as did NAFC President Vera Pawis Tabobondung.

 “Way back in the seventies, we weren’t allowed to have our smudges. We weren’t allowed to bring our medicines. We weren’t allowed to share who we are as a people. Who we are in our contributions. And really to share how we got here.

“So I believe this policy research conference allows us that opportunity.”

Closing the opening festivities was critically acclaimed fiddler Sierra Noble and her friends in guitar and dance. Sierra will be with us all week, playing us in and out of sessions, panels and presentations.

Before I head off to the afternoon festivities and a book fair and launch later this evening, I want to leave you with some questions posed by Peter Dinsdale in his opening remarks.

“How is it possible in a country as rich and progressive as Canada that such disparity exists? How can we behind excuses while nearly 50 per cent of all Aboriginal people in Canada are not graduating from high school? How can we accept grinding poverty in First Nation, Metis and Inuit communities while such privilege exists all around? How can we stand by while too many communities lack clean water, adequate housing and other basic services we expect of any industrial nation, never mind our own?

“It is minds in this room which can fix these issues. It is our great responsibility to use the gifts we have been given to impact meaningful change. It is easy to be cynical. It is much more difficult to have hope.

“As we have seen down south, hope can prevail. And so can we. By being here. By participating. By opening minds you are putting hope into action.

“It is time to begin the journey.

“Miigwetch.”

Welcome to our new blog!

Welcome to our blog about the Aboriginal Policy Research Conference, coming March 9-12 in Ottawa, Ontario!

We will be blogging the event to keep you up to speed and date on what happens, the people, the sights, and the sounds of this terrific event!

To learn more, visit the official APRC website - http://www.aprc-crmpa.ca/