June 5-7, 2023    |     Shaw Centre, Ottawa, ON

June 5-7, 2023

Shaw Centre, Ottawa, ON

Welcome!

To start the Gathering on June 5, Know History is hosting a workshop at 12:30pm and the LAC workshop begins at 2:30pm.

A Meet & Greet takes place 5:00-7:00pm.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) and the First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centres (FNCCEC) are hosting the Indigenous History and Heritage Gathering (IHHG). This gathering, presented through the gracious support of Know History, is one of the many important events held during Indigenous History Month. It brings together diverse groups who are working to amplify the distinct stories of Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island.

Who Should Attend

Community members developing history and heritage projects including commemorative histories, renaming projects, historical claims, and the search for missing children and unmarked burials associated with residential schools.

Professionals working with Indigenous communities including museum staff, historians, language experts, legal teams, scholars with a residential school focus, and government agencies.

Space is limited, please register in advance.

Program At A Glance

Hosts

Professor Claudette Commanda

Claudette Commanda

CEO, FNCCEC

Professor Claudette Commanda is an Algonquin Anishinabe from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation located in the province of Quebec.  An alumni of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Common Law and Faculty of Arts, Claudette has dedicated the last 35 years promoting First Nations people, history, culture and rights in various capacities as a University of Ottawa student, professor, member and chair of the Aboriginal education council; and via public speaking events.

Stephanie Scott​

Stephanie Scott

Executive Director, NCTR

Stephanie Scott is the Executive Director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. She was born and raised in Winnipeg, MB and her mother is from Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation, Treaty 1 territory, she is also an intergenerational and sixties scoop survivor. Before accepting the role of Executive Director, she had spent 5 years with the NCTR as Director of Operations.

Keynote Speakers

Tanya Talaga

Tanya Talaga

Author, Journalist, President of Makwa Creative

Tanya Talaga is an Anishinaabe journalist and speaker. Talaga’s mother’s family is from Fort William First Nation and Treaty #9 territory. Her father was Polish-Canadian.

For more than 20 years, she was a journalist at the Toronto Star and was part of teams that won two National Newspaper Awards for Project of the Year. She is now a columnist at The Globe and Mail.

Kimberly Murray

Kimberly Murray

BA, LL.B, LL.M, IPC

Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools

Kimberly Murray is a member of the Kahnesatake Mohawk Nation. On June 8, 2022, Ms. Murray was appointed as Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools.

Speakers

Nadir Andre

Nadir André

Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Laura Arndt

Laura Arndt

Secretariat Lead, Survivors’ Secretariat

Dr. Lauren Beck

Dr. Lauren Beck

Professor, Hispanic Studies, Visual & Material Culture, Mount Allison University

Jason Bennett

Jason Bennett

Archivist, Library and Archives Canada, Government Archives Division

Jesse Boiteau

Jesse Boiteau

Senior Archivist and acting Head of Archives, NCTR

Darlene Brander

Darlene Brander

CEO, Wanuskewin

Keith Carlson

Dr. Keith Carlson

Research Chair in Indigenous and Community-Engaged History, University of Saskatchewan

Victoria Deleary

Victoria Deleary

Senior Program Advisor, Library and Archives Canada

Elder Jim Desrochers

Métis Residential School Survivor from Île-à-la-Crosse

Caroline Dromaguet

Caroline Dromaguet

President and CEO, Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum

Karine Duhamel

Senior Advisor, Know History

Edna Elias

Edna Elias

Former Commissioner of Nunavut

Crystal Fraser

Dr. Crystal Fraser

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts and Native Studies, University of Alberta

Heather George

Heather George

Executive Director, Woodland Cultural Centre

Simon Gibson

Simon Gibson

Senior Vice President, National Leader, Legal Expense Insurance, Aon

Brenda Gunn

Brenda Gunn

Academic and Research Director, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR)

Roberta Hill

Roberta Hill

Survivor and Board of Directors Member, Survivors’ Secretariat

Dillon Johnson

Dillon Johnson

Executive Council Member, Tla’amin Nation

Chad Kicknosway

Chad Kicknosway

Grass Dancer from Bkejwanong First Nation

Kirstin Kozar

Kristin Kozar

Interim Executive Director and Oral Testimony Program Co-Lead at the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, University of British Columbia

Kristina Lillico

Kristina Lillico

Director General of the ATIP Branch, Library and Archives Canada

Sebastien Desnoyers-Picard

Sébastien Desnoyers-Picard

Vice-President, Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC)

Hon Justice Tony Mandamin

The Honourable Leonard S. Tony Mandamin

Retired Judge of the Federal Court, Trial Division

David McAtackney

David McAtackney

Research Manager and Oral Testimony Program Co-Lead at the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, University of British Columbia

Dr. Bruce McIvor

Dr. Bruce McIvor

Partner, First Peoples Law

Dr Naxaxalhts’i, Albert (Sonny) McHalsie

Dr Naxaxalhts’i, Albert (Sonny) McHalsie

Cultural Advisor/Historian and Honorary Doctorate of Law, University of Victoria

Janis Kahentóktha Monture

Janis Kahentóktha Monture

Executive Director & CEO, Canadian Museums Association

Jean-Pierre Morin

Jean-Pierre Morin

Departmental Historian, Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

Stanley Peltier

Stanley Peltier

Ojibwa Language Teacher/Philosopher

Madeleine Redfern

Madeline Redfern

Chief Operating Officer at CanArctic Inuit Networks

CHRIS ROINE

Chris Roine

Counsel, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Andrew Ross

Andrew Ross

Acting Director of Client Services, Library and Archives Canada

Ryan Shackleton

CEO, Know History

Carl Smith

Tourist Operator, Brokenhead, Sky Wind Tours

Johanna Smith

Johanna Smith

Director General of the Outreach and Engagement Branch, Library and Archives Canada

Jean Teillet

Jean Teillet

Senior Counsel, Pape Salter Teillet

Adeline Webber

Adeline Webber

Chair, Yukon Residential School Missing Children Project

We are honoured by the participation of these confirmed speakers. Please check back with us regularly as more are being added.

Professor Claudette Commanda

Claudette Commanda

CEO, FNCCEC

Professor Claudette Commanda is an Algonquin Anishinabe from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation located in the province of Quebec. An alumni of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Common Law and Faculty of Arts, Claudette has dedicated the last 35 years promoting First Nations people, history, culture and rights in various capacities as a University of Ottawa student, professor, member and chair of the Aboriginal education council; and via public speaking events.

She is a professor for the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Women’s Studies; Faculty of Education; Faculty of Law; and the Aboriginal Studies Program, teaching courses on First Nations Women; Native Education; First Nations People and History; Indigenous Traditions; and Decolonization. In addition, she is the Chief Executive Officer of the First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centres, a national organization which protects and promotes First Nations culture, languages and traditional knowledge. She is inducted into the Common Law Honour Society; served two terms on the Board of Governors for the First Nations University of Canada; and three terms on the Kitigan Zibi band council. In 2017, Claudette is the first First Nation appointed Elder in Residence for the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa; and the first person of a First Nation heritage to be appointed to the Board of Governors for the University of Ottawa. She is the Special Advisor on Reconciliation, for the Dean, Faculty of Law. Claudette is a proud mother of four and a grandmother to ten beautiful grandchildren. In March 2020, Claudette received the 2020 INDSPIRE Award for Culture, Heritage and Spirituality. On November 9, 2022, she became the Chancellor for the University of Ottawa.

Stephanie Scott​

Stephanie Scott

Executive Director, NCTR

Stephanie Scott is the Executive Director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. She was born and raised in Winnipeg, MB and her mother is from Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation, Treaty 1 territory, she is also an intergenerational and sixties scoop survivor. Before accepting the role of Executive Director, she had spent 5 years with the NCTR as Director of Operations. She oversaw all budgeting and financial commitments of the NCTR, along with human resources activities and special project initiatives to educate all Canadians to advance reconciliation. Prior to joining the NCTR team, Stephanie worked with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as the Manager of Statement Gathering: she was responsible for the gathering and documenting of almost 7000 audio and video recorded statements from Survivors, their families and those affected by residential schools in Canada. In addition to this role while at the TRC, Stephanie served as Executive Assistant to the Chair of the TRC where she learned invaluable leadership skills. Over the last 25 years, Stephanie has enjoyed a long and successful career operating her own television production business, which she still oversees part-time sharing the lives and history of Indigenous peoples for Canadians and abroad. Through her past and current work with residential school Survivors, Stephanie experiences first hand their strength, courage and inner power as they overcome challenges and pass these teachings onto the next generation.

Tanya Talaga

Tanya Talaga

Author, Journalist, President of Makwa Creative

Tanya Talaga is an Anishinaabe journalist and speaker. Talaga’s mother’s family is from Fort William First Nation and Treaty #9 territory. Her father was Polish-Canadian.

For more than 20 years, she was a journalist at the Toronto Star and was part of teams that won two National Newspaper Awards for Project of the Year. She is now a columnist at The Globe and Mail.

Her first book, Seven Fallen Feathers, is a national bestseller, winning the RBC Taylor Prize, the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, and the First Nation Communities Read Award: Young Adult/Adult. The book was also a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize and the BC National Award for Nonfiction.

Her second book, All Our Relations: Finding The Path Forward, is also a national bestseller, finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize and a finalist for the British Academy’s Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding.

Last year, HarperCollins Canada acquired world rights, all languages, to three works of non-fiction by Talaga, with the first book, set to publish in 2023. The book will focus on the legacy of residential schools in Canada.

Talaga is the founder of Makwa Creative., a production company in Tkaronto focused on amplifying Indigenous voices through documentary films, TV, and podcasts such as AuntieUp! Makwa’s first film, Mashkawi-Manidoo Bimaadiziwin (Spirit to Soar) explores what has changed in Thunder Bay since the deaths of the Seven Fallen Feathers. At the same time, Tanya founded the Spirit to Soar Fund, which supports local Indigenous youth living in and around Thunder Bay with resources, cultural programming, and community connection and support. Talaga holds five honorary doctorates.

Kimberly Murray

Kimberly Murray

BA, LL.B, LL.M, IPC

Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools

Kimberly Murray is a member of the Kanehsatake Mohawk Nation. On June 8, 2022, Ms. Murray was appointed as Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools.

Prior to this new role, she was the Executive Lead for the Survivors’ Secretariat at the Six Nations of the Grand River, working to recover the missing children and unmarked burials at the Mohawk Institute.

Ms. Murray was also the Province of Ontario’s first ever Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Indigenous Justice, from April 1, 2015, to August 2, 2021, where she was responsible for creating a unit to work with Indigenous communities on revitalizing their Indigenous laws and legal orders. In 2018-2019, Ms. Murray chaired the Expert Panel on Policing in Indigenous Communities, which produced the report Toward Peace Harmony, and Well-Being: Policing in Indigenous Communities.

From 2010 to 2015, Ms. Murray was the Executive Director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada where she worked to ensure that Survivors of Canada’s Indian Residential School System were heard and remembered, and to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

From 1995 to 2010, Ms. Murray was staff lawyer and then Executive Director of Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto. She has appeared before all levels of courts on Indigenous legal issues. She has acted as counsel at numerous coroner inquests and public inquiries – including the Ipperwash Inquiry in Ontario and the Frank Paul Inquiry in British Columbia.

Ms. Murray is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2017 National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Law and Justice. In 2015, the Indigenous Bar Association granted Ms. Murray the Indigenous Peoples’ Counsel (IPC) designation.

Nadir Andre

Nadir André

Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Nadir is a member of the Matimekush-Lac John First Nation and has sound experience in Indigenous law. He services many Indigenous clients, as well as corporations seeking to do business with Indigenous communities and Indigenous businesses in Québec and the rest of Canada.

Nadir is actively involved in certain comprehensive and specified land claim negotiations in Northern Québec. He also specializes in matters connected with natural resource development involving Indigenous communities and businesses in Québec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Northern Ontario.

Laura Arndt

Laura Arndt

Secretariat Lead, Survivors' Secretariat

Laura is the daughter, niece, granddaughter of Indian Residential School Survivors. She is Mohawk, Bear Clan and a member of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. She leads the work at the Survivors’ Secretariat, a non-political, not for profit, under the direction of a Survivor-comprised Board of Directors and Survivors Group. The Survivors’ Secretariat is focused on unmarked burials on 600 acres of land associated with the Mohawk Indian Residential School.

Prior to this, she has been Chair, Liberal Arts & Sciences at Centennial College, Director of Strategic Development, at the Provincial Advocate for Children & Youth where she created Feathers of Hope, was part of the Inquest into the deaths of First Nations Youth In Thunder Bay, wrote submissions for Ontario’s Office of the Chief Coroner’s Review of Deaths in Pikangikum First Nation, First Nation Representation on Ontario Juries, and the OIPRD Broken Trust-Indigenous People and the Thunder Bay Police Service.

Dr. Lauren Beck

Dr. Lauren Beck

Professor, Hispanic Studies, Visual & Material Culture, Mount Allison University

Dr. Lauren Beck holds the Canada Research Chair in Intercultural Encounter and is Professor of Visual and Material Culture Studies at Mount Allison University, New Brunswick where she teaches courses about maps, decolonization, empire, and food. She researches place names, from Canada to Chile, as well as how identity connects with visual culture from different worldviews. She is the author of Canada’s Place Names and How to Change Them (2022), and co-author of the recipe and culinary history book, Mitji: Let’s Eat! Mi’kmaq Recipes from Sikniktuk (2023). Her forthcoming works include the essay collection, Bridging Indigenous Studies and Hispanic Studies, and a thematic issue of the Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, titled Re-Presenting Identities, Resistance and Transformation in the Globalized South: A Multidisciplinary Collective Approach to Decolonization. She is currently researching the bead ecosystem prior to and following the European invasion of the Americas.

Jason Bennett

Jason Bennet

Archivist, Library and Archives Canada, Government Archives Division

Jason Bennett is a senior archivist in the Government Archives Division at Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Shortly after joining LAC in 2007, Jason joined the Indigenous Records Portfolio team and currently serves as custodial archivist for historical records (often called “RG10 records”) created by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs / Indigenous Services Canada. Since that time, Jason has worked on a number of projects related to Residential Schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and most recently Day Schools. Jason continues to work in support of initiatives related to LAC’s Indigenous Heritage Action Plan.

Jesse Boiteau

Jesse Boiteau

Senior Archivist and acting Head of Archives, NCTR

Jesse Boiteau is the Senior Archivist and acting Head of Archives at the NCTR. His family is of French Canadian, Metis, and Scottish ancestry, and calls Winnipeg home where he lives with his wife Stephanie and Children Remi and Stevie. He completed his Masters in Archival Studies at University of Manitoba, focusing on the intersections between Western archival theory and practice, and Indigenous notions of archives and memory to shed light on how the NCTR can accommodate and blend multiple viewpoints in its processes. Jesse works within a close archives team to process the records collected by the TRC, make new collections available online, acquire new records, and respond to access requests from residential school Survivors, their families, and communities. He is also continually researching ways to leverage new technologies to honour the experiences and truths of Survivors through innovative and participatory archival practices.

Darlene Brander

Darlene Brander

CEO, Wanuskewin

Darlene Brander is the Chief Executive Officer of Wanuskewin Heritage Park. Darlene worked at Wanuskewin from 1998 to 2000, where she was an Aboriginal Awareness Education Manager. Since that time, her career has included progressively responsible positions with not-for-profit organizations, gaming institutions, municipal governments, and First Nations organizations. The return to the park in 2019, in the CEO capacity, allowed Ms. Brander to honour Wanuskewin’s past, thrive in the present, and realize it’s future. A Band Member of the Red Earth Cree First Nation, Darlene holds a B.Ed. from the University of Saskatchewan, as well as a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) designation. An active community member, Ms. Brander sits on several boards including Discover Saskatoon and Hospitality Saskatchewan. Darlene has served as Past Chair of the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners and the Canadian Association of Police Governance.

Keith Carlson

Dr. Keith Carlson

Research Chair in Indigenous and Community-Engaged History, University of Saskatchewan

Professor Keith Thor Carlson holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous and Community-engaged History at the University of the Fraser Valley, where he has additionally been appointed Director of the new Peace and Reconciliation Centre. He has been partnering with the Stó:lō communities helping to document and interpret history and cultural traditions since 1992. His research is designed and executed collaboratively with Indigenous communities so as to best meet community-identified priorities. Individually or with partners Carlson has authored or edited 12 books and over 50 articles, including A Stó:lō-Coast Salish Historical Atlas (2001), and The Power of Place the Problem of Time: Aboriginal Identity and Historical Consciousness in the Cauldron of Colonialism (2010).

Victoria Deleary

Victoria Deleary

Senior Program Advisor, Library and Archives Canada

Victoria Deleary is the Senior Program Advisor responsible for the Listen, Hear Our Voices funding initiative at Library and Archives Canada. She studied archives and records management, and has utilized that knowledge in the areas of First Nations advocacy and historical research. She has contributed to the development of a reconciliation framework for the Canadian archival community through the Response to the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Taskforce. Victoria’s professional goals are to contribute to creating space for First Nations, Inuit and Métis perspectives in Canada’s archives, and supporting the use of archival practices for the benefit of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. She holds a Masters in Information Studies from the University of Toronto.

Victoria is the youngest daughter of Jim and Margaret Hill, and was raised in St.Thomas, Ontario. She is Haudenosaunee through her paternal relatives and belongs to the Onyota’aka nation. Her maternal grandparents immigrated to Canada from England in the 1930s.

Caroline Dromaguet

Caroline Dromaguet

President and CEO, Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum

Caroline Dromaguet is President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum. With a focus on fostering collaboration and innovative thinking, Caroline has over 20 years of experience in numerous aspects of museum work. Building on the Museum’s long history of engagement with and repatriation to Indigenous communities across the country, under Caroline’s leadership, the Museum has strengthened its commitment to advancing reconciliation and to recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Caroline is committed to creating a healthy, respectful and diverse organization, and recently implemented a new Vision and Values for the Museums, which underpin the Museum’s work to reflect the rich and diverse histories and stories that continue to shape our country.

Karine Duhamel

Senior Advisor, Know History

Karine Duhamel is Anishinaabe-Métis and an off-reserve member of Red Rock First Nation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Allison University, a Bachelor of Education from Lakehead University and a Master’s degree and PhD in History from the University of Manitoba. She was formerly Adjunct Professor at the University of Winnipeg and Director of Research for Yerch Law Corporation. She also served as Curator and Manager of Public Programs at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. From 2018 to 2019, she was Director of Research for the historic National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, drafting the Final Report, directing the Legacy Archive, and managing the Forensic Document Review Project. In 2020 and 2021, she chaired the Data Sub-Working group that created the MMIWG National Action Plan Data Strategy. She is now a full time public servant working to support Indigenous research across the country. Dr. Duhamel is also a Dialogue Fellow at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University and an Affiliate at the Centre for Human Right Research at the University of Manitoba. She serves as an elected member of the Canadian Historical Association, as a Speaker for the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba and has recently been appointed to the International Commission for Missing Persons Panel of Experts.

Edna Elias

Edna Elias

Former Commissioner of Nunavut

Ms. Elias, Commissioner of Nunavut from 2010 through 2015, is a resident of Kugluktuk, Nunavut and beneficiary of the Nunavut Agreement. She has experience working in language and cultural projects throughout the Kitikmeot region, and spent more than 14 years as a teacher and principal in Nunavut schools. As the appointed Federal Government representative of the Crown for Nunavut, Ms. Elias travelled the territory and spoke extensively on the importance of Inuit culture, education, and the preservation of heritage. She is a trained interviewer and interpreter/translator in Inuinnaqtun.

Crystal Fraser

Dr. Crystal Fraser

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts and Native Studies, University of Alberta

Dr. Crystal Gail Fraser (she/her) is Gwichyà Gwich’in (with English and Scottish heritage), originally from Inuvik and Dachan Choo Gę̀hnjik, Northwest Territories. Crystal is an Assistant Professor in History and Native Studies at the University of Alberta. Her award-winning research focuses on the history of student experiences at Indian Residential Schools in the Inuvik Region, 1959 to 1996. Crystal’s work makes a strong contribution to how scholars engage with Indigenous research methodologies and theoretical concepts, our understanding of Indigenous histories during the second half of the twentieth century, and how northern Canada was unique in relation to the rest of the settler nation. Crystal serves on national and international committees; she is a member of the Governing Circle of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, a director for Gwich’in Council International, and was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Residential School Missing Children and Unmarked Graves in 2022.

Heather George

Heather George

Executive Director, Woodland Cultural Centre

Heather is a mother, gardener, beader, curator and PhD Candidate of Euro-Canadian and Kanien’kehá:ka descent. Heather’s home community is Akwesasne, most of her professional career has been spent working in Six Nations of the Grand River. Much of Heather’s personal and professional work has been directed at gaining a better understanding of the culture and history of her nation. Her thesis work examines the historical and philosophical underpinnings of contemporary museum practices across Haudenosaunee communities. Heather’s curatorial practice combines historical documents, storytelling, material culture and contemporary art with the understanding that there is no one way to tell a story, she seeks to connect with audiences through a wide variety of engaging, immersive and gently disruptive approaches. Heather is currently on leave from her position as Curator of Indigenous Histories at the Canadian Museum of History, working as a Guest Curator at Woodland Cultural Centre. Additionally she recently took on the role of president of the Canadian Museums Association at an exciting time as work begins on a new national museum policy and implementation of UNDRIP.

Simon Gibson

Simon Gibson

Senior Vice President, National Leader, Legal Expense Insurance, Aon

Simon Gibson is the SVP and National Leader of Legal Expense Insurance at Aon. Simon is recognized as one of the global experts in Legal Expense Insurance. Having spent the last twenty years in legal and insurance practice, Simon has a unique perspective when it comes to this field from a practical litigation perspective, an underwriting and risk management viewpoint.

He has spent time working in the U.K, U.S.A and for the last 11 years in Canada, where he has been involved in the development of Legal Expense Insurance. Most notably Simon has been at the forefront in developing insurance solutions for Indigenous Communities across Canada in order to provide Access to Justice.

Brenda Gunn

Brenda Gunn

Academic and Research Director, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR)

As a proud Metis woman, University of Manitoba law Professor, and Academic and Research Director at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), Brenda Gunn combines academic research with activism pushing for greater recognition of Indigenous peoples’ inherent rights as determined by their own legal traditions.

After earning a JD at the University of Toronto and an LLM in Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy at the University of Arizona, Brenda worked at a community legal clinic in Guatemala on a case of genocide submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. She has also worked with Manitoba First Nations on Aboriginal and treaty rights issues. Brenda continues to be actively involved in the international Indigenous peoples’ movement.

She developed a handbook that is one of the main resources in Canada on understanding the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and has delivered workshops on the Declaration across Canada and internationally. She has also provided technical assistance to the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In 2013, Brenda participated in UN training to enhance the conflict prevention and peacemaking capacities of Indigenous Peoples’ representatives, which continues to impact her research.

She aims to do research that will contribute to building a more just world for her daughter, her nieces and all their relations.

Roberta Hill

Roberta Hill

Survivor and Board of Directors Member, Survivors' Secretariat

Roberta Hill is from the Turtle Clan of the Mohawk Nation and member of Six Nations of the Grand River. Alongside a 32-year career as a nurse, Roberta is an active member of her community and is committed to creating a better life for her children and grandchildren. Roberta dedicates much of her time to the Woodland Cultural Centre’s Education Department and shares Canada’s dark history of Indian Residential Schools with visitors. She is also a strong advocate for the Mohawk Village Memorial Park in their efforts to create a space for healing.

Dillon Johnson

Dillon Johnson

Executive Council Member, Tla’amin Nation

Dillon is from the Tla’amin Nation, where he is serving his fourth term as an elected leader. He proudly carries a Tla’amin name, toqʷanən (toh-kwon-non), which is the place name of a historical village within Tla’amin territory. He has also been providing community, economic and financial planning advice and services to First Nations governments and organizations for 15 years as a consultant with Temixw Planning Ltd. He is an MBA graduate from the University of Western Ontario and holds the Certified Aboriginal Financial Manager (CAFM) designation from AFOA Canada. He also serves as Vice-Chair for the First Nations Financial Management Board.

Chad Kicknosway

Chad Kicknosway

Grass Dancer from Bkejwanong First Nation

Chad Kicknosway is an Ojibway, Bear Clan, Grass Dancer from Bkejwanong First Nation located in southern Ontario. He is currently the senior policy advisor and manager of Indigenous Initiatives at Library and Archives Canada. Chad holds two Honours of Bachelor of Social Sciences in Sociology and Political Science, as well as law degrees from Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. Chad’s primary focus of his studies has been in First Nations identity, cultural identity, and social and legal construction of identity. His specializations in law are Aboriginal law and Constitutional law.

Kirstin Kozar

Kristin Kozar

Interim Executive Director and Oral Testimony Program Co-Lead at the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, University of British Columbia

Kristin is a proud member of the Hwlitsum First Nation and served on council for 6 years. She is a 2018 Masters of Library and Information Studies graduate, concentrated in First Nation curriculum. She has previously worked at what was formerly known as UBC Aboriginal Health and has worked on a project where she researched and analyzed how to use Blockchain to have Indigenous peoples and community’s autonomy over their own records. Kristin’s special interest is in Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Residential School records.

In her role as the Interim Executive Director, Kristin brings her lifetime journey of advocating for Indigenous rights and Indigenous focused engagement. She further brings experience in policy development, community relationship building, and strategic planning.

Kristina Lillico

Kristina Lillico

Director General of the ATIP Branch, Library and Archives Canada

Kristina Lillico is the Director General of the ATIP Branch at Library and Archives Canada. She holds an honours degree in History from Queen’s University and a Masters’ in Public Administration in Management from Dalhousie University. She has been with LAC since 2004, and has worked in many different areas at LAC, including Partnerships, Policy, Grants and Contributions, Private Archives, Government Archives, Information Management initiatives, and Regional Services. Since 2016 she has been working with the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) team at LAC, first as the Director and now as the Director General.

Sebastien Desnoyers-Picard

Sébastien Desnoyers-Picard

Vice-President, Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC)

As the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada’s (ITAC) Vice-President, Sebastien Desnoyers-Picard has spent his career developing strong partnerships and relationships with industry leaders across the globe and is passionate about raising awareness of the many opportunities for Indigenous tourism. Sebastien’s prior work as the Chief Marketing Officer of ITAC was instrumental in developing Destination Indigenous and the award winning “The Original Original” campaign. Prior to joining ITAC, Sebastien spent 10 years serving the Quebec Indigenous tourism industry, first as General Manager with Tourism Wendake and then as a marketing advisor with Quebec Indigenous Tourism. Throughout his career, Sebastien’s work with media has helped produce award winning stories in France, Germany, Canada and the USA. In 2019, Sebastien was recognized with the Explore Canada Award of Excellence, based on nominations from the media. As a member of the Huron-Wendat Nation and past Chief in his community, Sebastien is a strong advocate for Indigenous rights and traditional way of life, which he still practices with his kids. His number one goal in his work with ITAC is to support an inclusive, thriving and prosperous indigenous tourism industry across the country.

 

Hon Justice Tony Mandamin

The Honourable Leonard S. Tony Mandamin

Retired Judge of the Federal Court, Trial Division

Born in 1944, an Anishinaabe member of the Wiikwemikoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Educated at University of Waterloo (B.A.Sc. – Electrical Engineering 1971), Faculty of Law, University of Alberta (LL.B. 1982). Masters in the Faculty of Native Studies University of Alberta based on Masters Thesis on Indigenous Restorative Justice. (MA. – Native Studies Faculty, University of Alberta 2021)

Called to the Alberta Bar in 1983. Established the Law Firm of Mandamin and Associates in 1985 representing First Nations, Aboriginal organizations and individuals. Appeared as counsel before the Alberta Queen’s Bench and Provincial Courts and before the Supreme Court of Canada (R. v. Badger), Saskatchewan Court of Appeal (R. v. Wolfe) and the Indian Claims Commission (Cold Lake First Nations Primrose Claim).

Faculty Co-ordinator for Aboriginal Justice Seminars at the Banff School of Management 1991-94 and Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta School of Native Studies 1988-92. Commissioner and Chairperson of the Edmonton Police Commission (1991-1995) and President of the Canadian Native Friendship Centre in Edmonton, Alberta (1990).

Provincial Court Judge in the Provincial Court of Alberta (1999 – 2007). Presided in the Tsuu T’ina Court which involved a First Nation peacemaker justice initiative and in the Siksika Court at Siksika which also involved traditional Indigenous mediation. Appointed Judge of the Federal Court April 27, 2007. Chaired the Federal Court Aboriginal Law Liaison Committee. Retired from Federal Court August 19, 2019.

Awards: 1996 Aboriginal Justice Award by Aboriginal Law Students Association, University of Alberta; 1999 Four Eagle Feathers (traditional Indigenous award) presented by Family, First Nations, and Indigenous individuals; 2018 Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa by Law Society of Ontario; 2019 Indigenous Peoples’ Counsel by Indigenous Bar Association.

At present, Counsel with Witten LLP, Edmonton. Most recently serving as Scholar-in-Residence at Wahkohtowon Law and Governance Lodge at the University of Alberta.

Resides in Edmonton, Alberta with spouse Joyce Mandamin.

David McAtackney

David McAtackney

Research Manager and Oral Testimony Program Co-Lead at the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, University of British Columbia

David is originally from Belfast in Northern Ireland, but has lived and worked on the traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples since 2012.

He is a Masters of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) graduate from UBC’s School of Information, First Nations Curriculum Concentration.

David has worked in a variety of social science and health science research roles, on projects involving Indigenous communities and organizations. At the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, he leads all research initiatives and programming related to Residential Schools, Day Schools, Indian Hospitals, and other institutions and systems of colonial oppression in Canada. He also co-leads the Centre’s Oral testimony Program, which supports the recording of Survivor truths.

Dr. Bruce McIvor

Dr. Bruce McIvor

Partner, First Peoples Law

Dr. Bruce McIvor is a partner at First Peoples Law LLP. His work includes both litigation and negotiation on behalf of Indigenous Peoples across Canada. Bruce is recognized nationally and internationally as a leading practitioner of Aboriginal law in Canada. His collection of essays entitled Standoff: Why Reconciliation Fails Indigenous People and How to Fix It (Nightwood Editions) was published in the fall 2021. Bruce is a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation.

Dr Naxaxalhts’i, Albert (Sonny) McHalsie

Dr Naxaxalhts’i, Albert (Sonny) McHalsie

Cultural Advisor/Historian and Honorary Doctorate of Law, University of Victoria

Dr. Naxaxalhts’i is the Cultural Advisor/Historian at the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre, in Chilliwack BC, and has worked for the Stó:lō as a researcher in cultural heritage and aboriginal rights and title issues since 1985. Naxaxalhts’i currently offers placenames tours to communities and the general public through stolotourism.com. Naxaxalhts’i is also a published author, with many credits to his name, including as co-author of the book I Am Stó:lō: Katherine Explores Her Heritage (1997), focusing on his family and his daughter. He contributed to and served on the editorial board of the award-winning publication A Stó:lō Coast Salish Historical Atlas (2001). He was also the author of We Have to Take Care OF Everything That Belongs to Us in Be of Good Mind (2007), and the foreword in Keith Thor Carlson’s The Power of Place, The Problem Of Time (2010). Naxaxalhts’i has also been featured in many television documentaries. A member of the Shxw’ow’hamel First Nation, Naxaxalhts’i is a proud father of two girls and six boys, and has thirteen grandchildren. He continues to fish at his ancestral fishing ground at Aseláw in the Stó:lō Five Fishery in the lower Fraser River canyon.

Janis Kahentóktha Monture

Janis Kahentóktha Monture

Executive Director & CEO, Canadian Museums Association

Janis Kahentóktha Monture is Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River. Janis recently has been appointed as Executive Director and CEO of the Canadian Museums Association. Prior to this Janis returned as the Executive Director of Woodland Cultural Centre, one of the largest First Nations-run cultural centres/museums in the country. Previously, Janis was appointed the Director of Tourism and Cultural Initiatives for the Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation. Janis attended the University of Western Ontario where she attained a Bachelor of Arts in History and received a Museum Studies diploma from Algonquin College. Janis continues to volunteer in her community at Six Nations and in Brantford, and is a recipient of the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers designated by the Governor General of Canada.

Jean-Pierre Morin

Jean-Pierre Morin

Departmental Historian, Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

Since 2000, Jean-Pierre Morin is the departmental historian for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Indigenous Services Canada specialising in the history of government policy and administration of Indigenous and Northern Affairs and the history of treaty-making. He is currently working on a comprehensive history of the administration of federal Indigenous affairs as well as developing new historical learning tools for federal public servants.

Jean-Pierre Morin has published several articles in academic journals and compilations, and contributed to several websites with blog posts at ActiveHistory.ca, historyandpolicy.org, and History@Work. His book Solemn Words and Foundational Documents: An Annotated Discussion of Indigenous-Crown Treaties in Canada, 1752-1923 was published by the University of Toronto Press in 2019.

Since 2015, he has been an adjunct research professor in the History Department of Carleton University teaching classes on Indigenous History, Politics of Commemoration, and Historical Research in Policy Development.

Stanley Peltier

Stanley Peltier

Ojibwa Language Teacher/Philosopher

Elder Stanley Peltier is a member of the Wikwemikong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island. He is proud to be Odawa Anishinaabe and is Deer Clan. He is proud to have spoken Anishinaabemowin his entire life, and his fluency has retained the ancient ancestral interpretation of the language itself. He understood the meaning of “Get an education”, for which our ancestors meant, “Get to learn about the Zhaaganaash and his thinking, and not get assimilated.” He has researched Anishinaabemowin for the last 25 years and can properly interpret the language in the same way as our ancestors, no Anglicized and blending of ideologies. He continues his Western education, working on Med, and will write a book on “The Pedagogical Framework from Anishinaabemowin” for his doctorate, in the near future. He has been a member of the Three Fires Mediwewin Society for thirty years (30), and is a community Elder. He is currently teaching at the Faculty of Education, Lakehead University in Ojibwe Western Dialect and Advanced Ojibwe. He invites you to come and learn to speak in the same manner as our ancestors.

Madeleine Redfern

Madeline Redfern

Chief Operating Officer, CanArctic Inuit Networks

Madeleine Redfern is an Indigenous woman involved in high-tech and innovation. Actively involved in transformative technologies in telecommunications, transportation and energy.

Currently Madeleine is the President of Amautiit: Nunavut Inuit Women’s Association, President of Ajungi Consulting Group; Chair of Nunavut Legal Services Board; Advisor to Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Former Trudeau Foundation Board Member (former Trudeau Foundation Mentor); Co-Chair with Gordon Munk Arctic Security Program; Board member of Maliiganik Legal Aid. Madeleine is from Iqaluit, Nunavut and a graduate of the Akitsiraq Law School with an LLB from the University of Victoria. She was the first Inuk to be given a Supreme Court of Canada clerkship.

As a businesswoman and a strong social advocate for transformative initiatives, Madeleine has a great deal of governance and volunteer experience with Indigenous and Inuit organizations, including, but not limited to, Inuit Non-Profit Housing Corporation; Tungasuvvingat Inuit Community Centre, and one of the founding members of Wabano Aboriginal Health Centre and Inuit Head Start in Ottawa. Madeleine was also the executive director of the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, a commission that reviewed the “effects of federal government policies on Eastern Arctic Inuit” between the 1950s and 1980s.

Madeleine’s advocacy, professional, and governance work shows her dedication and passion towards the development and delivery of programs assisting Indigenous, Inuit, northerners and Canadians that reflect their values, needs, and priorities. Madeleine received the Indspire Award for Public Service to acknowledge and celebrate all her hard work, commitment and contributions.

CHRIS ROINE

Chris Roine

Counsel, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Chris is the western regional lead for BLG’s Indigenous Law Group. He represents business, government, and First Nations organizations on a range of matters.

Chris currently is advising multiple First Nations across the Prairies on claims relating to annuities, agricultural benefits (“cows & plows”), treaty land entitlements, and other matter.

Prior to joining BLG, Chris served as the Director General for the western negotiations branch of Crown-Indigenous Relations. In that role, he led a large team of federal negotiators at more than 60 sets of tables across British Columbia and the Yukon.

BLG is Canada’s largest full-service law firm, with over 800 lawyers in five offices across the country. BLG has a dedicated national Indigenous law group, including Indigenous partners.

Andrew Ross

Andrew Ross

Acting Director of Client Services, Library and Archives Canada

Andrew Ross is the Acting Director of Client Services at Library and Archives Canada. He directs the Reference, Access to Collections and Regional Services teams, who work with clients from across the country to provide access to LAC’s archival and published records. He is of settler origin from Ottawa, on the traditional unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin.

Ryan Shackleton

CEO, Know History

Ryan is the founder of Know History, Canada’s largest historical research firm. Ryan has 20 years of experience working as a public historian and has led large complicated research files for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit governments. He has worked on Truth Commissions, Residential School Files, and more recently has been supporting the work of the Office of the Special Interlocutor, the Survivor’s Secretariat, Akwesasronon Shonataten:ron, the Council of Yukon First Nations, and other First Nations researching their Missing Children and Unmarked Burials. Ryan is an expert in developing research plans, gaining access to historical documents, and organizing research teams. In addition to his expertise in archival strategies Ryan has also conducted extensive fieldwork with more than 200 oral history interviews and Traditional Knowledge and Land use interviews.

Ryan has spent his career working with Indigenous communities on museum exhibits, expert reports, and the documentation of community knowledge. He works to ensure community ownership and access to their history through negotiating access at archives and museum institutions. He is also passionate about ways that technology can support community ownership and the telling of Indigenous history from an indigenous perspective. Ryan lives in Ottawa, with his wife and two young children.

Jean Teillet

Jean Teillet

Senior Counsel, Pape Salter Teillet

Ms. Teillet is an author, women’s rights advocate, and Indigenous rights lawyer. In October of 2022 she wrote a report on Indigenous Identity Fraud. She has appeared at the Supreme Court of Canada twelve times in Indigenous rights cases. Ms. Teillet’s popular history, The North-West is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel’s People, the Métis Nation was one of the Globe & Mail’s top 100 books of 2019 and won the Carol Shield’s and Manitoba Day awards. She is the author of Métis Law in Canada and has written for academic journals, the Globe & Mail and Macleans. A frequent public speaker throughout Canada and internationally, Jean has been awarded the highest honour of her people, the Order of the Métis Nation. The Indigenous Bar Association has awarded Jean its highest honour, Indigenous Peoples Counsel. She has three honorary doctorates (University of Guelph, Windsor University and Law Society of Ontario). In recognition of decades of work with midwives, Jean has been made an honorary lifetime member of the Association of Ontario Midwives. She is a member of the Manitoba Metis Federation and is the great grandniece of Louis Riel.

Johanna Smith

Johanna Smith

Director General of the Outreach and Engagement Branch, Library and Archives Canada

Johanna Smith is Director General of the Outreach and Engagement Branch at Library and Archives Canada where she has worked for 16 years. She is responsible for leading LAC’S programming, exhibitions, online content, events, partnerships, stakeholder relationships, external consultations and Indigenous initiatives. She has led reference services across Canada, major digitization partnerships as well as strategic policy and legal files such as working with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the acquisition of digital records and publications, Access to Information and Privacy as well as the development of international standards related to archives and recordkeeping. She is co-chair of the International Council on Archives’ Expert Group on Research Services and Outreach. Prior to LAC, Ms. Smith worked as an archivist at the International Monetary Fund and was the archives advisor for Nova Scotia. She holds a Masters in Information Studies from the University of Toronto.

Adeline Webber

Adeline Webber

Chair, Yukon Residential School Missing Children Project

Adeline Webber is a member of the Kukhhittan Clan of the Teslin Tlingit Nation. Her Tlingit name is Kh’ayade.

Since retiring from the federal public service Adeline continues to be actively involved in local and national issues. In 2018, she was appointed as Yukon Administrator by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Adeline has a personal interest in documenting the history about her residential school. She led a number of projects which include the book Finding Our Faces, planned and organized a former student reunion and erected a permanent monument in Whitehorse, Yukon. The book of photographs and stories are envisioned to shine a light on the gaps of this memory in order to bring back harmony to families and communities.

In September 2021 she was appointed as the Chair of the Yukon Residential Schools and Missing Children Working Group. The work over the next few years involves research of historical and contemporary data and knowledge encompassing the search for children who went missing from numerous Yukon Residential Schools as well as commemorations and memorial projects.

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