The IEN hosts events such as social gatherings, a speaker series, and an Indigenous Student Celebration. Traditional medicine teachings and drop-in’s with Gokoomis Dr. Jacque Lavalley are also offered.
Information about upcoming events is sent out through our listserv. Email ien@utoronto.ca to be added and kept up to date.
OISE Indigenous Student Celebration
Each year the IEN hosts the OISE Indigenous Student Celebration to honor graduates and celebrate the achievements of Indigenous students that year.
Social Events
Social events are a chance for Indigenous students to connect at OISE. Examples include the 2022 Winter Social, which featured a musical performance by Lacey Hill and a crochet lesson from Lyndsay Taibossigai, with supplies being mailed out to participants.
Speaker Series
For the 2022-2023 IEN Speaker Series we invited local scholars to share their work and visions for Indigenous, Black and Black-Indigenous education and research.
Events in this series included:
- Dr. Megan Scribe and PhD Candidate Sefanit Habtom discussing their work on Abolition and Solidarity.
- Dr. Garrett-Walker and graduate student Kayla Webber discussing their lived experiences as well as their research on Black and Indigenous solidarity.
- Dr. Michelle Daigle speaking on Indigenous Movement & Relational Geographies of Care: The Liberatory Politics of Indigenous Water Relations
Traditional Medicine Teachings
Gokoomis Jacque(line) Lavalley offers ongoing support to the IEN through traditional teaching and supports to students, staff, faculty and IEN community members outside of the university. The IEN hosts regular drop-in sessions and medicine teachings each term (done virtually until further notice). Registration information for the medicine teachings is sent out though our listserv. Email ien@utoronto.ca to be added to the attendee list to join the drop-in circles.
Past Events
Fall 2020
The Indigenous Education Network’s read-along series invites families to enjoy children’s books written and read by Indigenous authors. The series is available to watch on the IEN’s YouTube channel.
- Nicole Ineese-Nash and Nyle Johnston read Learning Ojibway with Numbers and Animals
- Brenda Wastasecoot reads Granny’s Giant Bannock.
Traditional Ojibwe Teacher and Gokoomis, Jacque(line) Lavalley will be holding two-hour drop-in sessions biweekly, starting on September 23rd from 6-8pm via Zoom. Students, staff, faculty and community members are welcome to drop in for traditional teachings, conversation and student support. Email ien@utoronto.ca to indicate your interest in attending the drop-in sessions.
Dr. King will speak about her book The Black Shoals: Offshore Formations of Black and Native Studies. This will include discussion on how scholarly traditions within Black Studies, that examine Indigenous genocide alongside slavery in the Americas, have forged ethical and generative engagements with Native Studies—and Native thought. Co-sponsored by OISE’S Department of Curriculum Teaching and Learning, Indigenous Education Network and the OISE Visiting Scholars Funding Program.Watch the recorded lecture on the IEN’s Youtube channel.
Indigenous Education Week 2020 will host several events online from November 16 -20, focusing on the theme of Grassroots and Community-Building Initiatives. We want to acknowledge a year of resistance, and where injustices and systemic barriers are being exposed and countered. From Youth to our Elders, we celebrate the work of those who are actively changing the wold for better, for everyone!
View the complete schedule and registration page.
Hosted by SJE Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en and the Indigenous Education Network. This online roundtable was organized to mark the 30th anniversary of the Kanehsata’kehró:non resistance to the siege of Kanehsatà:ke. The event is intended to honour and build solidarity with the long-standing Indigenous resistance to settler colonialism by making links between the Kanehsatà:ke and Wet’suwet’en struggles, while also making connections to the Haudenosaunee Landback movement and the assertion of Mi’kmaq fishing rights, and bring attention to Indigenous-led land and water defense actions across Turtle Island and internationally. This event is inspired by the Unist’ot’en Solidarity Brigade’s call for action on July 11th. There will be a component that directs attendees to donate funds to land and water defense movements. Speakers Include: Sandra Owén:nakon Deer, Kanien’kehá:ka, McGill University. Pamela Palmater, Mi’kmaw, Eel River Bar First Nation, Chair of Indigenous Governance, Ryerson. Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, Gidimt’en Camp Spokesperson of the Wet’suwet’en people. Starla Myers, Kanienka:haka Journalist, Real People’s Media Skyler Williams, Kanien’kehá:ka Land Defender, Spokesperson for 1492 Land Back Lane at Six Nations of the Grand River.
Indigenous Education Week: OISE Lunch ‘n Learn with Rick Hill Sr. on the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Youtube video.
Wampum belts are visual memory keepers that mark significant events and codify agreements. For Indigenous Education Week this year, the Dean’s Advisory Council on Indigenous Education (DACIE) and the Indigenous Education Network (IEN) hosted a Lunch ‘n Learn session that welcomed OISE Staff, Faculty and Students to learn about the Dish With One Spoon wampum. This wampum marks an agreement originally made between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe, and extended to other communities over time. It models how relationships should be formed and maintained in the lands and waters that include Tkaronto. A representation of the Dish With One Spoon wampum has been incorporated into the OISE lobby, and so we encourage our colleagues and the OISE community to learn more and consider how these philosophies might guide how you live and work on this territory.
Winter 2021
Join our virtual celebration to honour Indigenous students at OISE, including 2020 award recipients, 2021 graduates and the 2020 IEN Student Co-Chair. We can’t wait to celebrate your achievements!
Pandemic Parenting Roundtable Discussion Youtube video.
The Pandemic Parenting Roundtable with OISE Graduate Students, moderated by Tasha Spillett. Tasha Spillett (she/her/hers)draws her strength from both her Inninewak (Cree) and Trinidadian bloodlines. She is a celebrated educator, poet, and emerging scholar. A priority of the IEN’s work is thinking deeply about how we can create spaces to build stronger relations between Indigenous, Afro-Indigenous and Black people, and to combat racial violence and how it manifests within academia. Through this roundtable discussion we will focus in on the intersecting experiences of students from these communities who are balancing graduate student life with their family responsibilities. We will celebrate the important work they are doing to raise children in Black and Indigenous communities, and talk about possibilities for making OISE and other academic spaces more safe, caring, and responsive to their needs
Spring/Summer 2021
Traditional Ojibwe Teacher and Gokoomis, Jacque(line) Lavalley will be holding two-hour drop-in sessions biweekly, starting on April 29th from 6-8pm via Zoom. Students, staff, faculty and community members are welcome to drop in for traditional teachings, conversation and student support. Email ien@utoronto.ca to indicate your interest in attending the drop-in sessions.