In June, we commemorate National Indigenous History Month 2021 to recognize the history, heritage and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada.
Variants found in this population may predispose to brain aneurysm
A new study has found that an Inuit population in Canada’s Arctic are genetically distinct from any known group, and certain genetic variants are correlated with brain aneurysm.
Indigenous Studies is once again running our summer field course, INDG 450, from July 8th until August 5th. This course focuses on Rotinonhsonni land-based pedagogies, Ohén:ton Karihwátehkwen (words before all else) as well as stories to engage in various topics of Indigenous Studies. Land-based practices, guest speakers, trips around the city and in community, will be used to engage student in the learning process.
The Indigenous Studies Program has presented 6 students with awards in the past year
Graduate Awards
We are honoured to announce that Skawennati will serve as our Indigenous Knowledge Holder for 2019. Kahnawake-born artist Skawennati makes work that addresses history, the future, and change from her perspective both as an urban Mohawk and a cyber punk avatar. She is co-director of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace at Concordia University. Skawennati's work imagining Indigenous futures and ensuring the existence of Indigenous people in cyberspace.
On September 25th, as part of Indigenous Awareness Weeks 2018, the Indigenous Studies Program hosted four incredible Inuit women in involved in the arts: Heather Igloliorte (ᓯᕈ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᐅᖅᑎ), Niap Saunders (ᓂᐊᑉ ᓴᓐᑐᔅ), Nina Segalowitz (ᓂᓇ ᓯᒐᓗᕕᑦᔅ), and Beatrice Deer (ᐱᐊᑐᐊᔅ ᑎᐅ). After presentations by each of the panelists, a warm and earnest discussion was had with the audience. A recording of the event was made and can be accessed here, there are also pictures of the event available through our Facebook page.
This weekend, Christa Scholtz (Chair, Indigenous Studies Program & Associate Professor of Political Science) wrote a letter to the editor of the Montreal Gazette:
"Original Meaning Isn't Everything"
Re: McGill Redmen should keep their name (Martin Patriquin, Oct 18)
Martin Patriquin suggests McGill University should keep the name of the men's varsity team, the Redmen. He writes that a decision to do otherwise would be "cowardice", an unprincipled abdication to political correctness. I disagree.
Indigenous Awareness Week has been expanded this year to Indigenous Awareness Weeks, now spanning the last two weeks of September.
“I saw how much good work had been done with IAW, and, as the events started rolling in and we started building partnerships with the different faculties and departments at McGill, I realized how difficult it was going to be to cram everything into one week,” Janelle Kasperski (Equity Educational Advisor in Indigenous Education) told the McGill Reporter.
We are very excited to announce that Gabrielle Iakotennikonhrare Doreen, our faculty lecturer, will be leading McGill first ever landbased education field course this summer.
Molly Swain and Chelsea Vowel landed their spaceship at McGill for a live show of their podcast Métis in Space in February. They are self-described as "unapologetically Indigenous, unabashedly female & unblinkingly nerdy". Their podcast reviews a sci-fi movie or television episode featuring Indigenous people, tropes and themes from a decolonial perspective.
This week the Indigenous studies program made the news in the McGill Daily and the Eastern Door!
The Indigenous Knowledge Holder Series this year was a major success! Ryan McMahon, CEO of Makoons Media and builder of Indian & Cowboy, spent the week at McGill contributing to our community. The Indigenous Knowledge Holder Series is the Indigenous Studies Program's flagship series.
On February 1st, Professor Allan Downey, chair of the Indigenous studies program, released his first full-length monograph: The Creator’s Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood. The text examines how lacrosse, a game that historically has been a central element of many Indigenous cultures for centuries, has come to play an important role in the shifting politics of Indigenous efforts to assert self-determination.
Traveling and harvesting on the land and sea is of vital importance to Indigenous communities in the Canadian Arctic and subarctic, with links to food security, cultural identity, and wellbeing. A new study by the Climate Change Adaptation Research Group at McGill University however, finds that economic transitions, social shifts, and climate change are dramatically affecting the safety of Inuit during these activities.