Biindigen's Indigenous History Month Challenge 2022
We challenge you to come learn with us!
June is National Indigenous History Month and Biindigen, Western’s Indigenous Learning Circle, created a full month of activities and resources for the Western community to learn and unlearn about Indigenous histories, cultures and Peoples.
In the calendar below, you will find something to celebrate or learn about Indigenous Peoples in Canada for almost every day of the month. Some events are in person, may cost money and/or require registration, and we included a few resources for your kiddos too.
Share your learning and experiences on Twitter with the hashtag #WesternUBiindigen
Faculty, staff and grad students, please join Biindigen on June 23 at the Forest City Gallery between 11am-2pm, register here.
If you have any questions about the calendar please contact OII’s Curriculum & Pedagogy Advisor via email (saramai.chitty@uwo.ca). Please note that unless indicated, Western University, Western Libraries and the Office of Indigenous Initiatives are not organizing any of the linked events and attendance is at your own risk.
Other organizations and institutions have also created Indigenous History Month Programming you may find interesting, find more information below:
- ♦ McGill University Indigenous History Month Webinars
- ♦ ImagineNative Indigenous History Month Programming
- ♦ Downie Wenjack Indigenous History Month Program
This year's banner was created by a summer student ally at Western Libraries, and is inspired by the Woodland art style.
A message from Atlohsa for the 30 Day Challenge: "Not sure what to do or how to support Indigenous? Call for volunteers, committee members, and supporters of Atlohsa! We have a busy summer and fall as we host two major fundraisers and more. All funds raised benefit Atlohsa's programs and services. Please contact communications@atlohsa.com. Miigwech!"
Week One
We encourage you to pick a book by an Indigenous author to read for the month of June. You can check out Biindigen's Indigenous Reading Picks for 2022 or check out the London Public Library's Reading List .
WEDNESDAY JUNE 1
Kick off Indigenous History Month, by learning about the Indigenous Peoples where you live, or where you grew up, or where you are traveling for vacation this summer.
Western University’s Writing your own Land Acknowledgment Guide: More Than Words
♦ Find out the local First Nation communities near you
♦ Find out the Treaties that cover the territory(ies) you live in
♦ First Nations profile interactive map
♦ Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada
Watch: CBC Indigenous Video “How to Talk about Indigenous Peoples” (2:37)
THURSDAY JUNE 2
Watch: WAMPUM TALK: We Are All Treaty People (45:50)
In this video from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Dakota Brant explains Treaties, specifically the Dish with One Spoon Treaty and what it means to be a Treaty person.
Orange Shirts: Atlohsa launches their 2022 Relighting the Fire of Hope Campaign with the sale of Orange Shirts which feature a design by local youth artist, Shenoa Simon. All proceeds support Atlohsa's programs and services. Get your shirts while they last!
FRIDAY JUNE 3
Today marks the anniversary of the release of the MMIWG2S Report.
Listen: ‘Taken’ Podcast about MMIWG2S episode here.
IMAGINEnative is running programming throughout June for Indigenous History Month, including “Feature Fridays” click here to see the free videos and games available and program schedule throughout the month.
In person event: St Clair College Student and Alumni Pow Wow
SATURDAY JUNE 4
Check out Insect as Idea at the McIntosh Gallery, exhibit runs until June 18, 2022.
In-person Event: Local Indigenous-led indie rock band Status/Non Status at London Music Hall (opening for VOIVOD)
SUNDAY JUNE 5
In-Person Event: Indigenous Cultures Day at Fanshawe Pioneer Village 10am-4pm
"Join knowledge keeper, and five times great grand-daughter of Chief Jean-Baptise Assiginack, Brenda Collins in the afternoon for the Kindness Project, a workshop about finding ways to give kindness everyday, using Indigenous ways of knowing. Learn how to do loom beading, with crow beads, and take home your own kindness project hanger, so that everyday you can remember the lessons learned during the workshop. Workshops will begin at 1:00, 1:45. and 2:30. Workshops are walk-in, all are welcome.
View the #hopeandhealingcanada Project, by Métis artist Tracey-Mae Chambers. This work part of several installations across Canada, and illustrates connections between Indigenous, Métis, and Inuit peoples within Canada, and addresses the decolonization of public spaces. This installation will be at our site for the remainder of the season.
Ska-Nah-Doht Village and Museum will be present with a mini version of their “Building a Longhouse in the 21st Century” pop-up exhibit, as well as artifacts from their collection for visitors to see and touch."
Week Two
MONDAY JUNE 6
Read: The Office of Indigenous Initiatives’ 2021 Progress Report
Colour: Urban Iskwew Colouring Pages
TUESDAY JUNE 7
Online Webinar: An Anti-Colonial History of Colours - Luiza Pradovia, Futuress Org
“In this talk, artist and researcher Luiza Prado offers a critical analysis of colors, materials, and hues—unearthing colonial narratives.
A blue work shirt. A golden ring, a promise. Smooth, solid, reddish wood. A copper wire, connecting two places. Khaki trousers in a desert landscape. Charcoal, burning bright. White, whipped egg whites.
What paths might have been traced for certain materials, pigments and hues to color and be present in the environments of the everyday? How do these things travel across lands and oceans, interwoven in the fabric of colonial history? In this talk, artist, researcher and writer Luiza Prado will offer a critical analysis of these stories, unearthing colonial routes and thinking of the possibilities opened up by the rejection of colonial narratives.”
12pm EST - Free, Registration Required
Read: Civic-Indigenous Placekeeping and Partnership Toolkit
WEDNESDAY JUNE 8
Listen: Biindigen’s Indigenous History Month 2022 Playlist
Tell us your favourite songs off the playlist on social media using #WesternUBiindigen
THURSDAY JUNE 9
Check out the Indigenous Knowledges Climate Atlas
Read a CBC News article about the Atlas here.
Climate Justice and Indigenous Rights are inextricably linked. Read the Yellowhead Institute's Red Paper here.
FRIDAY JUNE 10
Watch: Sigwan by Alanis Obomsawin on NFB (15min)
In person Event: Sub Drop (Indigenous members, surf punk) open for Ridgeway at the Palasad
SATURDAY JUNE 11
Online Exhibit: National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation – The Bentwood Box
SUNDAY JUNE 12
Virtual Tour: Living Traditions: The Kwakwaka’wakw Potlatch on the Northwest Coast
Week Three
MONDAY JUNE 13
Play any of these online, PC Indigenous Video Games (fun for you or the kids) on this list compiled by A Tribe Called Geek.
Pillar Non-Profit Indigenous Treaty Series Begins (10am-12pm, $) Registration Required.
TUESDAY JUNE 14
Insect as Idea Lunchtime Guided Tour 12pm
Limited to 15-20 participants, email avince5@uwo.ca to reserve your spot.
Can’t make the tour? You can still check it out on your own time!
Read: Manidoons, Manidoosh: Bugs in Ojibwe Culture - Wendy Makoons Geniusz
WEDNESDAY JUNE 15
Check out some Indigenous Tiktokers sharing language, comedy, day to day life, food, stories and facts
♦ Ira Timothy
♦ James Vukelich
♦ Crystal Harrison
♦ David Blacksmith
♦ Iniqunaq
♦ Fawn Wood
♦ Tonia Jo Hall
THURSDAY JUNE 16
Read: Calls to Action Accountability: A 2021 Status Update on Reconciliation A SPECIAL REPORT · DECEMBER 2021 BY EVA JEWELL AND IAN MOSBY
Explore: CBC Beyond 94
FRIDAY JUNE 17
In-Person Event: Ombigiizi @ Palasad (Anishinaabe Musicians)
“OMBIIGIZI – pronounced om-BEE-ga-ZAY, meaning s/he is noisy – is a collaboration between Zoon (Daniel Monkman) and Status/Non-Status (Adam Sturgeon), Anishnaabe artists who explore their cultural histories through sound. An amalgam of their unique Indigenous heritages and personal musical architectures, Daniel and Adam imbue their lyrics with their families' storytelling, revealing truths and finding common ground amidst their differences.” (https://www.killbeatmusic.com/ombiigizi)
ImagineNative Feature Friday: 10:00 am EST Release (Online)
Mothers of the Land | Sembradoras de vida
Alvaro Sarmiento, Diego Sarmiento | 74min
Alvaro and Diego Sarmiento’s MOTHERS OF THE LAND accompanies five women from the Peruvian Andean highlands in their daily struggle to maintain a traditional and organic way of working the land.
Available worldwide tickets here.
SATURDAY JUNE 18
In person event: 59th Annual Aamjiwnang Pow Wow Saturday 18 & Sunday 19
Gates open at 10 a.m.
$8.00 admission, Children 6-12 $5.00, under 5 and seniors free.
Dancing, drumming, signing, authentic food and vendors. Everyone welcome!
GRAND ENTRY 12 p.m. & 6 p.m. Saturday & 12 p.m. Sunday
SUNDAY JUNE 19
Can’t make it to the Pow Wow?
Take the Woodland Cultural Centre Virtual Tour: http://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/tours/
Week Four
MONDAY JUNE 20
Listen: Fresh Banana Leaves – An Indigenous Approach to Science (NPR Shortwave Episode 14m29)
Participate: Day II - Pillar Treaty Series 10am-12pm ($) Registration Required.
Indigenous Solidarity Showcase @ Rezonance Printing June 20-July 4
From their Instagram:
"Recognizing the importance of Indigenous Solidarity is not just for a day. June 20th to July 4th we will be hosting a Solidarity Showcase to exhibit the incredible local Indigenous talent that Rezonance has collaborated with in the past or want to highlight the importance of their role in our community.
We’ll be announcing a few more artist pop ups in the next few days but we are so excited to have ✨ @ms.antonesbeadwork ✨ for our opening night and July 1st! Janet is an incredibly creative, talented, and bright light in the community and brings so much joy and laughter wherever she goes and it is an honour to have her pop up on our Opening Night!
🗓From: June 20th to July 4th
⏰Time: Mon-Fri - 10am - 5pm
and Sat - 12pm - 5pm
📍Where: 629 Dundas Street East
Support local Indigenous artists directly and come see all the cool work we’re doing at our shop! We’ll even have some orange shirts to snag for July 1st ;) 🧡"
Watch: History Unfinished: Reclaiming our Place.
"The Women’s History Project is inviting you to participate in our second online webinar, History Unfinished: Reclaiming our Place.
Together with the Canadian Research Institute on the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), this virtual Indigenous Women’s Circle will honour Indigenous women activists, chiefs, and storytellers. Tune in on Monday, June 20, 2022 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
This special 2-hour event coincides with the National Aboriginal Day. Guest speakers will highlight their personal journeys as activists and chiefs. In the first hour, this online event will combine pre-recorded videos with live storytelling. After a short break, special guests will participate in a Q&A session.
Host: Dawn Lavell-Harvard, Director, First Peoples House of Learning, Trent University
Featuring:
Courtney Montour, Kanien’kehá:ka filmmaker of "Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again"
The Honourable Lillian Dyck, O.C., retired senator and member of Cree Gordon First Nation
Chief Emily Whetung, Anishnaabe Kwe, Curve Lake First Nation, lawyer
Jeanette Corbiere Lavell, Wikwemiknog First Nation, educator, advocate and founding member of the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA)
Pam Palmater, Mi'kmaq lawyer, professor, and activist
Sharon McIvor, Member of the Lower Nicola Band, Indigenous women’s rights activist, co-chair of the Feminist Alliance for International Action
Sponsored by Trent University. First Peoples House of Learning"
TUESDAY JUNE 21 - Happy Indigenous People’s Day!
♦ Listen Live: Radio Western: Indigenous People’s Day Radio
♦ Atlohsa Peace Awards - Do you know someone who has made an outstanding contribution in the spirit of truth and reconciliation? Nominations open June 21, 2022 for the 2022 Atlohsa Peace Awards. Click here for more info.
Indigenous Solidarity Day 2022 @ The Green (In Person)
Come visit the Indigenous Student Centre and the Office of Indigenous Initiatives at our booth!
WEDNESDAY JUNE 22
Read: Laotsyá:n OII Newsletter June 2022 Issue
Watch: Choose from the many videos available on the Turtle Lodge Youtube Channel, including Tipi Tales, teachings from a variety of Elders, and messages from late Elder Dave Courchene
THURSDAY JUNE 23
Exhibit Opening: Baagaakige, an immersive art exhibit centred around a Black Ash Hat made by the Great, Great Grandmother of Anishinaabe storyteller and artist, Summer Bressette, of Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation. A collaborative installation featuring audio and images collected by Summer, as well as graphic design by Katie Wilhelm, the exhibit seeks to engage participants in concepts of land-based learning, art vs artifact, intergenerational resilience and resistance.
Location: Forest City Gallery (1025 Elias St); co-presented by the Office of Indigenous Initiatives
For more information click here.
Biindigen: Indigenous Learning Circle
Forest City Gallery Exhibit 11:00am-1:00pm
Limited registration, sign up today ; In person event
Please arrive promptly at 11am to do the walk through with Summer, and bring your lunch, as once we are finished we are headed to Boyle Community Park to share strawberry drink and learn from Summer and Katie about their collaboration
♦ Bring your lunch, we will gather at the Boyle Community Centre Park or in the Boyle Community Centre if it rains
♦ You can take the #2 Dundas from campus and get off at Dundas and Egerton, walk north up Charlotte St (7min walk from the bus stop); limited parking is available at the gallery and across the street at Anderson Craft Ales, bike or carpool where possible
Watch: Indigenous Expressions Film Series: Ash to Baskets (7m39)
FRIDAY JUNE 24
All about Languages:CBC Original Voices
Oneida Language Resources
Anishinaabemowin
Anishinaabemowin for the kids
The Lenape Talking Dictionary
SATURDAY JUNE 25
WordsFest: Monsters, Demons, and Stories of Place
Featuring: Jason Dickson, Jenna Rose Sands, and Tom Cull
2PM @ Museum London | Free with registration | In Person 9limited tickets) OR Online (Zoom)
"How do our collective stories haunt our sense of place? What if those stories and places present us with our monsters, both past and present? How does poetry, language, and art act as a space to confront our monsters and exorcise our demons?
Join us at WordsFest as we explore the poetics of place in three London artists: poet Jason Dickson will read from his new Demon Book, a little collection of "creepy poems" written in the voices of "demonically possessed small town Ontarians”; Cree Anishinaabe artist Jenna Rose Sands will investigate the role of place in her work to change the language and ideas around Indigenous issues; and former London Poet Laureate Tom Cull will explore the place of monsters in his work."
Visit: Ska-Nah-Doht (Longwoods Conservation Area)
Map from Western University:
SUNDAY JUNE 26
Listen: Start a new podcast, with an episode of ‘This Place,’ a 10 part CBC Podcast series with host Rosanna Deerchild chronicling 150 years of resistance and resilience. Listen here.
Week Five
MONDAY JUNE 27
Check out: Online Indigenous Zine Library
Participate: Day III - Pillar’s Treaty Series 10am-12pm ($) Registration Required.
TUESDAY JUNE 28
Peetooteewiit (Indigenous Voices): Treaty Knowledge Sharing with Al Day. 4pm-5:30pm. Online (Zoom). Register here.
Nanfan 1701 Treaty
The Nanfan Treaty of 1701 is one of the lesser known treaties of the area but there is much confusion and misunderstanding over what is covered under this treaty. Some say it only covered hunting and fishing rights, but a deeper study shows that it was a lot more than that. Join Peetooteewiit as we discuss with Al Day, the complexities and try to come to a solid understanding of this important treaty.
Al Day
Al is of the Anowal (Turtle) Clan and his On^yota a:ka (Oneida) name is Lutahawit. Currently, he sits as Shonuhses, one of nine traditional Chiefs of the On^yota a:ka Lotiyaneshu (Oneida Nation Council of Chiefs). Al has been involved member of the Oneida community in sports and community service organizations, including over fifty years in leadership positions. He has represented Oneida and N’Amerind on numerous boards and agencies. Al was instrumental in the establishment of a number of regional and local organizations whose goals are to contribute to the well-being of Indigenous Peoples.He has served as a policy analysis for Indigenous organizations in the United States and Canada, has participated in negotiations with federal, provincial and state governments in both Canada and the United Sates.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 29
Multisensory Moments: Christi Belcourt's Wisdom of the Universe
“In this [Art Gallery of Ontario] program, Demilade Olaleye, Harkirat Kaur, Maryem Abbas and Rosa Chu present an inclusive, multisensory translation of Christi Belcourt's Wisdom of the Universe (2014). Her artwork is broken down into its elements and a tangible model is presented to allow the audience to experience the piece through the sense of touch. Auditory sounds and visuals are incorporated to create an immersive and educational experience. Join us on this journey as we engage our senses to explore the painting and collectively honour Mother Earth.”
THURSDAY JUNE 30 - Congratulations, you did it!
Read: Unsettling Canada Day on Londonfuse
Written in June 2021, after headlines of the 215 children's graves were detected on the former location y of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in B.C., OII's Indigenous Curriuculum and Pedagogy Advisor, Sara Mai Chitty, wrote her reflections on what it means to "celebrate" Canada Day, from her positionality as Anishinaabe-Settler, in a post-Truth and Reconciliation Report era.
