Annual Event Showcases Indigenous Research
News Release Release Date: October 25, 2017 10:10 a.m.
The Regina Indian Industrial School, graphic novels by First Nations creators and mental health and wellness among Indigenous populations are all topics that will be part of the University of Regina’s Indigenous Research Day, happening on the evening of Wednesday, October 25 and all day Thursday, October 26.
Also scheduled is a talk about more than 589 archival photos of Saskatchewan First Nations and Métis peoples, dated between 1873 and 1979.
“In fall 2016, while searching for a book in the basement of First Nations University of Canada, I stumbled upon a dusty box full of binders that were filled with hundreds of black and white photos,” says Dr. Andrew Miller, associate professor of Indigenous Studies at First Nations University of Canada.
Miller says the photos, which he learned are copies of negatives housed at the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, are “little windows into a past that many of us aren’t familiar with.”
Miller is working closely with different First Nations communities so they have the chance to describe the people, histories and stories in the pictures in their own voices. The photos will also soon be available online, allowing more people the opportunity to see and comment on them.
Wayne Goodwill, an elder from Standing Buffalo First Nation, is someone who provided Miller with more details.
“Mr. Goodwill recognized his great-grandmother, Martha Tawiyaka, in a photo from 1898,” says Miller. “She lived to be 106 and at six years old witnessed Sitting Bull’s last Ghost Dance in Canada, an event she said she knew, even then, was historic.”
Miller says his collaborative community-based research has First Nations people “reclaiming history and telling the world what it is and what it means.
Dr. David Malloy, Vice-President (Research), says Indigenous-centred scholarship is fundamental to the University.
“Our scholars, in partnership with Indigenous peoples and communities, are engaging in respectful, ethical, and just work,” says Malloy. “Indigenous Research Day is a meaningful way to showcase some of what has emerged from these important relationships.”
Indigenous Research Day activities kick off on Wednesday evening with a screening of RIIS from Amnesia, a film about the Regina Indian Industrial School cemetery, directed by Saskatchewan filmmakers Janine Windolph and Trudy Stewart.
The film will be followed by the launch of a book by Dr. Douglas Stewart, professor emeritus in the Faculty of Education, entitled, The Regina Indian Industrial School (1891-1910): Historical Overview and Chronological Narrative.
On Thursday, Miller will present his project called, “Glimpsing the Past: Visual Repatriation of Saskatchewan First Nations Photographic Archive,” along with more than 20 other scholars who will present Indigenous-centred research.
Event: Indigenous Research Day activities open with an evening film screening & book launch
Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Education Auditorium, 106.1
Event: Indigenous Research Day
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2017
Time: Prayer and greetings at 9:00 a.m. in the RIC Atrium. Presentations begin at 9:30 a.m. and run throughout the day until 3:30 p.m. Presentations run 45 minutes.
Location: Throughout the University: RIC Atrium, RIC 119, and in the Dr. John Archer Library.
For more detailed information about these events, check out the Indigenous Research Day schedule of events: www.uregina.ca/research/indigenous-research-day.html.
About The University of Regina
The University of Regina—with campuses located on Treaty 4 and Treaty 6 territories, the ancestral lands of the Cree, Saulteaux, Dakota, and Lakota nations and the homeland of the Métis—is a comprehensive, mid-sized university that traces its roots back to the creation of Regina College in 1911. Today, more than 15,000 students study within the University's 10 faculties, 25 academic departments/schools, 18 research centres and institutes, and three federated colleges (Campion College, First Nations University of Canada, and Luther College). The University of Regina has an established reputation for excellence and innovative programs that lead to undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees. In 2017, the University of Regina was ranked in the Top 200 Best Young Universities in the world by Times Higher Education.