Office of Aboriginal Initiatives | Newsletter
PROFESSOR PROFILE
Premiere Issue • October 2013
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Dr. Carole Leclair is grateful for her connections to her roots and culture Every few years Dr. Carole Leclair makes the journey back to Vassar, Manitoba. It is the place in her memory and imagination that still nourishes her Red River Metis roots and culture. “That tiny village and the stories of generations of Metis kinship inflect and influence everything I do as an academic and as an urban Aboriginal person, “ she said. “I carry those old ones in my heart, in gratitude for what they continue to teach me”
Carole teaches in the Indigenous Studies option at the Brantford campus. She is currently involved in the process of changing the option to a program, which will result in a significant increase in the delivery of Indigenous curriculum at Laurier. She is one of the founders of the Hamilton Metis Women’s Circle (metiswomenscircle.ca), a group that has been in the forefront of delivering Metis/Indigenous education in the region by holding cultural events, hosting speakers and working with youth, including in high schools in Hamilton.
PROFESSOR PROFILE
Dr. Kathy Absolon-King or Minogiizhigokwe or Shining Day Woman Kathy Absolon-King is Anishinaabe kwe from Flying Post First Nation and her Anishinaabe name is Minogiizhigokwe which means Shining Day Woman. She has been a social worker for many years and loves working in education as a means to creating change. Kathy is committed to teachings of the land and facilitates connections and relationships back to the land. Her teachings and practice are influenced and guided by the teachings of Creation. Kathy attained her PhD from University of Toronto, O.S.I.E. in 2008 and has a passion
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY
for Indigenous research methodologies. She is the author of the recently published book (2011) Kaandossiwin. How we come to know. Recent courses she has taught include Wholistic Healing Practices, Indigenous Research Methodologies and Indigenous Knowledges & Theory.
FSW Culture Camp
In early September incoming students to the Faculty of Social Work MSW Aboriginal Field of Study program are welcomed with a weeklong Culture Camp. The camp “prepares them for the year ahead by introducing them to the tools, medicines, philosophies and ceremonies used in wholistic healing practices.”
Laurier hosts High School Friendship Lacrosse Tournament Over 70 high school students from Six Nations and Mississaugas of the New Credit participated in the fourth annual High School Friendship Lacrosse Tournament at Laurier’s Waterloo campus on Friday, October 4. In addition to a skills training session with professional lacrosse coaches from the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team, the Haudenosaunee National Women’s Lacrosse Team, and Laurier’s men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, the high school students toured the campus, met with Laurier students and members of the Laurier Aboriginal Student Association.
Weejeendimin Fall Feast The local Aboriginal community gathered at the Victoria Park Pavilion on Sunday September 22, 2013 to share in a community feast. The traditional feast takes place every spring and fall and is hosted by the Weejeendimin Native Resource Centre.
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