SATURDAY, OCT 21 @ 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM (Registration @ 9:00 AM)
REGINA, First Nations University of Canada (Multi-Purpose Room) 1 First Nations Way
FREE, but Registration Required. | Registration Deadline Monday, Oct. 16
Register here: bit.ly/WatershedReconciliationYQR
Lunch included! | Limited transportation support available | Child-minding on-site.
**Please note: this day includes an element of experiential learning through a community walk. Please let us know of any mobility limitations and we will do our best to make accommodations. Questions: Contact SCIC - 306.757.4669 [email protected]
Facebook Event | Download the Poster
The Reconciliation in the Watershed workshop explores ecological justice and Indigenous rights through a reconciliation lens, connecting the struggles of our local watershed to those of communities worldwide. Blending reflection with hands-on environmental experience, this full-day workshop will build understanding of our place in the watershed, identify ecological justice issues affecting where we live, and make connections with Indigenous rights on the path towards reconciled relationships.
By the end of the Reconciliation in the Watershed workshop you will be able to:
- Identify your watershed and the major issues related to its protection;
- Make connections between local ecological issues and Indigenous rights;
- Identify ways to renew your relationship with your immediate watershed and practice reconciliation; and
- Make connections between local watershed issues and larger Canadian and global struggles for justice.
Everyone is welcome to this day of learning, relationship-building, and action. Connections to our watershed and issues affecting our communities will be highlighted with local guests. We will also spend time mapping our local area together using a decolonizing approach, and building relationships with individuals and organizations working to protect our local watersheds.
DRAFT AGENDA* (subject to change)
*Final agenda will be sent to all registered participants)
9:00 – 9:30 | Registration
9:30 – 10:00 | Water Ceremony/Opening Reflection
10:00 – 10:15 | Welcome and Introductions
10:15 – 10:45 | Reconciliation in the Watershed
10:45 – 11:00 | Break
11:00 – 12:00 | Decolonizing the Watershed
12:00 – 1:00 | Lunch
1:00 – 1:30 | Shoreline Walk and Outdoor Reflection
1:30 – 2:30 | Understanding Threats to the Local Watershed
2:30 – 2:45 | Break
2:45 – 3:30 | Practicing Reconciliation in the Watershed
3:30 – 4:00 | Closing Reflection
This event is made possible through a partnership between KAIROS Canada, the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation (SCIC), Regina Public Interest Research Group (RPIRG), the Office of the Treaty Commissioner, First Nations University Students' Association, and local groups working to protect our watersheds.
Presenters and Local Guests
Dodie Ferguson: Dodie Ferguson was raised on the Cowessess First Nation in Southeastern Saskatchewan. A member of an agriculture family, the importance of land stewardship was taught to Dodie at an early age. She is an active Member of Cowessess First Nation and is a Member of their Lands & Resources Committee. Dodie has been an active member of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) in Regina, currently serving on CUPW's National Human Rights Comittee & facilitating a variety of educational workshops for the Prairie Region. Dodie also represents the Regina & District Labour Council and is a current Vice President, representing Indigenous people within the community of Regina.
Beth Lorimer: Beth is the Ecological Justice Program Coordinator with KAIROS Canada. Beth is a social and ecological justice advocate with more than 10 years experience in sustainable development. She has worked with academia, civil society and government, including and most recently Status of Women Canada. Her work has focused primarily on freshwater management, climate justice, gender, and urban issues.
MORE TO COME!
Notes on accessibility, location:
Click here for a satellite image of the campus, parking, walking pathways and the approximate area we'll be checking out.
All portions of the workshop, except for the walk, will be held at the First Nations University in the Multi-Purpose Room. There is a ramp onto the sidewalk around the building, and the Multi-purpose room is on the first floor. Entry to both the building and room are all on one level floor.
**The shoreline walk/outdoor reflection will be approximately 30 minutes. It will leave from the back entrance to First Nations University and connect to the evenly paved pathway along Wascana lake. There will be stops along the way to include discussion. Please see below a satellite image of the pathways and the approximate area we'll be checking out.
Parking: Free parking is available in Lot 12M, located southeast of the building. There is metered accessible parking close to the entrances of First Nations University. If your vehicle has an accessibility card or sticker, these meters free for use.
Washrooms: There are washrooms just around the corner from the Multi-purpose room, and they have larger stalls to accommodate most wheelchairs.
Background
"We won’t save a place we don’t love; we can’t love a place we don’t know; and we can’t know a place we haven’t learned."
Wherever we live in creation we are part of a watershed, an interdependent eco-system nested in a larger eco-system, which is also a watershed. We all have a relationship with the bodies of water that sustain our lives and we too are living parts of a watershed.
In Canada, our watersheds continue to be threatened by mining, fracking, oil exploration, pipeline development, agriculture, water bottling, and more. The impacts of colonialism and industrialization have alienated us from our watersheds by creating political boundaries that ignore watershed boundaries and turning our water and natural resources into commodities. Colonialism has also damaged the relationship between non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples, who affirm the interconnectedness of our watersheds, continue to offer gracious welcome to settlers and seek partnership in a just transformation of the land.
It's time to repair these relationships and build relationships of ecological integrity with our local watersheds and between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. To do so, we need to go in to our watersheds and listen to the voices of Indigenous peoples who were its first protectors and stimulate learning, affection, and ultimately a commitment to protect our water. The Reconciliation in the Watershed workshop is a great place to start!
To learn more about Reconciliation in the Watershed program across Canada, visit www.kairoscanada.org/reconciliation-watershed or contact Beth Lorimer at 416-463-5312 ext 225 or [email protected].