Join us for a philosophical and artistic evening with two Indigenous artists to celebrate Canada’s Indigenous History Month! Listen to their living experiences, thoughts, and beautiful and original works, and have a dialogue to learn more about indigenous cultures, peoples, history, and presence!
Sponsored by the Department of Canadian Heritage, the East and West Learning Connections proudly brings to you an intriguing dialogue featuring living experience sharing and original literature and music presentations by two renowned indigenous artists and scholars, Armand Ruffo and Tara Williamson.
When: Friday, June 30, 2023, at 7:30-9:30 P.M. Eastern Time
Free English online event with Chinese and other languages live transcripts
Zoom registration link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAuc-CvqTwoEtVyNmwIO7LxJFyz-ugVZVu7#/registration
Zoom will open 15 minutes prior. Please be on time. Thanks!
Guest Speaker and Event Introduction
Armand Garnet Ruffo is an Anishinaabe writer from Treaty # 9 territory in northern Ontario, where he was raised and visits regularly, and a member of the Chapleau Fox Lake Cree First Nation. He currently lives in Kingston, where he is a professor in the Department of English and Creative Writing at Queen’s University. A recipient of numerous awards, including an Honourary Life Membership Award from The League of Canadian Poets, he is recognized as a major contributor to both contemporary Indigenous literature and Indigenous literary scholarship in Canada. In 2020, he was awarded the Latner Canada Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize for a body of work. That same year, he edited An Anthology of Indigenous Literatures in Canada for Oxford University Press.
For many years Ruffo has been interested in what contemporary historians call “hidden histories.” In this presentation, he will discuss this concept and provide examples from his own creative work. Addressing historical events and figures, such as the poet and bureaucrat Duncan Campbell Scott, “architect” of the residential school system, and the English “imposter” and conservationist Grey Owl (Archie Belaney), Ruffo’s work will “flip the gaze” and provide an alternative perspective on Canadian history from an Indigenous perspective.
Tara Williamson is a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and was raised in Gaabishkigamaag (Swan Lake, Manitoba). She is a singer/songwriter with 2 EPs and 1 full-length album under her belt that have garnered acclaim across Turtle Island, including an Indigenous Music Award nomination for Best Pop Album in 2017. Her newest album, Enough, was released in June of 2021. Tara also holds degrees in social work, law, and Indigenous governance, is the co-Research Director of the Indigenous Law Research Unit at the University of Victoria, a Research Fellow with the Yellowhead Institute, and is a member of the Board of Directors for Folk Music Ontario.
Tara will speak about how her life experiences have influenced her music and how music and storytelling are connected to Indigenous law. She will also perform her beautiful songs, and share the history and stories around the songs.
Everyone is welcome to join us in the dialogue!
For inquiries, please contact info@eawlc.org. Thanks!