Watch the video recording below:
Jessica Wood, known as Si Sityaawks (Woman who creates change), from the Gitxsan and Tsimshian First Nations with roots among the Tahltan and Nisga’a Nations, engaged in dialogue for a 5-part series called Matriarch Illuminations in November and December 2020. Jessica Wood is the current Policy Practitioner Fellow at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia and she will host fellow Matriarchs from across Turtle Island.
Students, staff, faculty and community members were invited to pour themselves a cup of tea and sit around the virtual table to listen.
Format: A 45 min discussion, 15 min Q&A from 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm on various evenings on Zoom
Audience: All are welcome. Questions will be prioritized from Indigenous, Black and People of Colour attendees.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Academic Director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at UBC
Theme: “Making Law and Policy – Matriarch Traditions”
Student Host: Lilian Shams-Amiri, Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Guest Speaker Bio: Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Aki-kwe, is the Academic Director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at UBC. She is a Canadian lawyer, former judge, legislative advocate for children’s rights and a professor at UBC’s Allard School of Law. She holds a law degree from Osgoode Hall at York University, a master’s degree in international law from the University of Cambridge, and a doctorate of law from Harvard Law School. As a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Aki-kwe was the first Treaty Indian to be named to the judicial bench in Saskatchewan. She has served as a Representative for Children and Youth for BC, and continues to draft legislation, provide legal advice and speak to all levels of government.
Learn about a new report led by independent investigator Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond that has found ‘widespread’ anti-Indigenous racism in B.C. health system.
Learn more about the Matriarch Illuminations series here.
For technical assistance, please email lindsay.marsh(at)ubc.ca
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