Indigenous Awareness Week

Indigenous STEM Round Table and Lab Tour

10 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. 
AH100 

The Round table will discuss opportunities for Indigenous Students to get engaged with research opportunities on campus. There will be five participants in the Round Table including undergraduate student Thunder Crowshoe and postdoctoral fellow Habin Gabir from Professor Borries Demeler's Biochemistry lab, Sheridan Macaulay from Niitsitapi Circle of Excellence in Work-Integrated Learning, Professor Shawn Bubel Co-Chair of the Department of Geography and Environment, and Professor Michelle Hogue from the Indigenous Student Success program. 

Short presentations will be followed by an audience Q&A. The Round Table will run from 10:00-10:50am and will be followed by a lab tour of Dr. Demeler's lab for those interested. 

Kwak'wala Colouring Books + Fun Jams

10 a.m. - 12 p.m. 
Iikaisskini Gathering Centre W650 

An informal drop-in space to colour, hear Kwak’wala language, and share some relaxed songs and stories. Hosted by Singer of Thunderbird Songs - Foster Wright.

Iiksisawaato’p Kainaiwa O’tookátákssin: Maana’pii ki niita’piitsitapii saatstakssin 

10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. 
L1050 

Three researchers/authors Nato’yi’kina’soyi /Dr. Hali Heavy Shield (FFA-Indigenous Art), Apooyak'ii / Dr. Tiffany Hind Bull-Prete (Canada Research Chair - Sociology) and Dr. Carol Williams ( Professor Emerita – WGST/History) will present short excerpts from their book chapters from a manuscript-in-progress titled, Iiksisawaato’p Kainaiwa O’tookátákssin: Maana’pii ki niita’piitsitapii saatstakssin | We Visit with Kainaiwa Beadwork: A New Way and the Real Way of Design. This project arose from a travelling exhibit originally organized for the Galt Museum (2021-2022). Other collaborators on this SSRHC-funded project include Itsoyaik’anasoyakii /Kalli Eagle Speaker, Oonistaaki /Tanya Luhan Wadsworth, Miistamohkspiiakii /Torry EagleSpeaker, Faye Heavy Shield, and Joanne Schmidt and Calista Burnett who steward the Blackfoot belongings housed at The Glenbow Museum.

Reflections on the First Nation Principles of OCAP® for Research in Blackfoot Contexts

11 a.m. - 12 p.m. 
L1168

This talking circle brings together students and faculty who have recently completed the Fundamentals of OCAPÒ (principles of Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) course by the First Nations Information Governance Centre to share reflections on the application of the principles for research and the goal of data sovereignty in Blackfoot contexts. 

The participants will ground this reflection on their work with the Kainai Ecosystem Protection Association (KEPA) in partnership with the Niitsitapi Circle of Excellence Work Integrated Learning Program (NCEWIL) and the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy at the ULethbridge.  

ArtNOW Presents: Api'soomaahka

12 p.m. - 1 p.m. 
Recital Hall UCA 

Join the Faculty of Fine Arts for an Art NOW lecture discussing the practice and works with Blackfoot artist Api'soomaahka (William Singer III).

See full details

Raising Spirit in Blackfoot Territory 3.0: Gender and Generational Justice

12 p.m. - 3 p.m. 
AH100 

Please join Raising Spirit Team; Opokaa’sin, the Blackfoot Women’s Empowerment Project; the Blackfoot Gender Justice Collective; and the Centre for Feminist Research for Raising Spirit in Blackfoot Territory 3.0 as we reflect on the foundational relationships, teachings, and interventions generated out of the Raising Spirit Project. We will gather to imagine its future horizons, carrying this work forward in service of Blackfoot gender and generational justice.

Double Ball

2 p.m. - 4 p.m. 
Main Gym, North Court, Co-op Centre for Sport & Wellness  

Student Mentors (SEARS) with Shane McDougall will host this sports-focused educational event centred on Rez Ball and Indigenous cultural traditions. Students will participate in a Double Ball game while learning about the cultural significance, values, and community context behind the sport. 

Building Brains Together: Play Builds Brains!

3 p.m. - 4 p.m. 
Science Commons Atrium 

Building Brains Together is a community outreach project through the Neuroscience department at the University of Lethbridge. Our vision is to build a healthy and resilient society by reaching out to our community with research-based information about healthy brain development as well as the lifelong nurturance of executive functions of the brain through PLAY! Traditional games of the First Nations people were practiced in a holistic way of living that fostered skills of mastery for survival, and some were played at ceremonies. Their traditional education included kinesthetic, physical, mental, social, and emotional development of skills that were enhanced naturally though traditional game play. Our research has shown how playing games every day can strengthen executive functions and transfers to many games of every nationality.

Skoden Film Screening

7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. 
Recital Hall 

Piiksinaasin, Faculty of Fine Arts is hosting a screening of #skoden, a Canadian documentary film directed by Damien Eagle Bear. The film is a portrait of Pernell Bad Arm, a homeless Kainai man in Lethbridge, Alberta, who attained viral internet fame in the 2010s when an image of him confronting a photographer briefly became an anti-Indigenous racist meme, before being reclaimed by Indigenous youth as a symbol of pride and resistance.

See full details