In conjunction with the 13 day event in honour of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women, The First Peoples’ House, KANATA – McGill’s Indigenous Studies Community, and the Aboriginal Law Association Present:

“Voicing the Earth Body”

Introduction to sound scape creation and the looping pedal. We explore our voices as tools for deepening our connection to the mother earth and to our own legacies.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 5pm-7pm
Yellow Door, 3625, Rue Aylmer

Moe Clark
Métis interdisciplinary spoken word artist Moe Clark fuses her unique understanding of performance narrative with traditions of circle singing and spoken word. With a background in voice, spoken word, and visual arts, she employs a looping pedal to add multi-layered vocal structures to her performance. Her poetic songs resonate with the power to heal, to celebrate spirit and to connect with authentic purpose. After her debut album release “Circle of She: Story & Song” (April ’08) Moe toured extensively across Canada and made debut performances in Europe and South America 2009-2010. Most recently she released Intersecting Circles, a video poem created from an award-winning poem (2007 CBC Calgary Poetry Face-Off). In collaboration with Algonquin theatre artist Émilie Monnet, they formed Bird Messengers Collective in 2009, with a mission to create living mythologies that draw from the roots of traditional Aboriginal stories but are yet adapted for contemporary transmission. When Moe isn’t busy performing she facilitates voice, performance and writing workshops in local communities and collaborates in realms of artistic production, composition and festival creation. She believes in the power of transformation and the continuum of the oral tradition through active involvement in communities, both locally and internationally.

http://www.myspace.com/moeclarkspokenword

For more information, please contact: mcgillnativestudiesjournal@gmail.com or paige.isaac@mcgill.ca

AN EVENING OF MUSIC: A Fundraiser for KANATA – McGill’s Indigenous Studies Journal

Saturday, March 12, 2011 Doors at 8pm
Yellow Door, 3625, Rue Aylmer
Suggested donation: 3$

Demiel Pepin

Demiel hails from a small French Canadian town. After moving to Montreal and leaving behind her piano and saxophone for a few years, Demiel has dabbled in playing the guitar which has resulted in a few handfuls of minimalist songs.

www.myspace.com/demielpepinmusic

Vivian Kaloxilos

Vivian Kaloxilos is a singer/songwriter from Montreal who is currently enrolled in environmental studies at McGill. Her musical accomplishments range from playing in a popular folk/pop band as lead singer to her well established solo career. Noted for her eclectic, wide-ranging taste in music and her ardent environmental/sociopolitical ideals; combining the two in the aforementioned medium to produce a brand of music that is distinctly unique from the mainstream. A musician with a message, her aspirations are simple: to captivate her audience with her dynamism while informing and enlightening them to the environmental asphyxiation that has been imposed upon us by the forces of avarice and tyranny.

www.myspace.com/viviankaloxilos

….

The Yellow Door Coffeehouse

The Yellow Door coffeehouse is an alcohol-free alternative to the bar scene. All ages are welcome. We are proud to serve fair trade coffee. We are located at 3625 Aylmer just north of Prince Arthur, south of Avenue des Pins, in McGill’s ghetto. Take the green line to metro McGill, or catch the 24 bus on Sherbrooke or the 144 on des Pins Avenue.

Aboriginal Law Association Presents:
13 DAYS OF EVENTS TO HONOUR ABORIGINAL WOMEN
Tuesday, March 8th to Sunday, March 20th 2011

13 days of events, spanning over the 13 days following International Women’s Day! Aiming to raise awareness about missing and murdered women, and to celebrate aboriginal women in general.
Attend, spread the word, and self-inform!

Reports estimate that between 583 – 3000 indigenous women have gone missing or have been murdered in Canada since the 1980s. Indigenous and non-indigenous women continue to go missing every day. These disappearances often remain unreported, under-investigated, and unsolved.

Events include (See individual event postings for more info):

Tuesday, March 8, all day:
Celebrating our Sisters Photo Exhibit
Bring pictures of the women in your life and contribute to the display celebrating International Women’s Day!
All photos will be returned at end of display.

Thursday, March 10, 6-8p.m.:
“Stolen Sisters: A critical discussion about missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada” with Craig Benjamin (Amnesty International Canada), David Hugill (author of Missing Women, Missing News), Gladys Radek and Bernie William Poitras (Walk4Justice). Moderated by Professor Colleen Sheppard, Director of the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism.
-McGill Faculty of Law, 3644 Peel Street, New Chancellor Day Hall, room 312-316

Monday, March 14, 10-11:30a.m.:
“A Solidarity Teach-In: Fighting Systemic Violence Against Native Women in Canada,” facilitated by Missing Justice.
-McGill First Peoples’ House, 3505 Peel St
http://www.missingjustice.ca/

Monday, March 14, 5:30-7:00p.m.:
Film Screening of “Finding Dawn,” a compelling documentary that puts a face to the issue of missing and murdered women.
-McGill Faculty of Law, 3644 Peel Street, Moot Court.
http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=52581

Tuesday, March 15,5-7pm.:
Spoken Word Performance and Workshop with Moe Clark: “Voicing the Earth Body,” an introduction to sound scape creation and the looping pedal.
-Yellow Door, 3625, Rue Aylmer
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205379499477035

Tuesday, March 15,8:30-9pm.:
Health on Earth Radio Show, with special guests –
Tune in to McGill’s campus radio station, CKUT 90.3 fm!
http://www.ckut.ca/listen.php

Wednesday, March 16, 2-4:30p.m.:
Film Screening of “For the Next 7 Generations,” the story of the International Council of Indigenous Grandmothers.
-McGill Faculty of Law, 3644 Peel Street, New Chancellor Day Hall, room 102.
http://www.forthenext7generations.com/ or    http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=196785090339416

Friday, March 18, 2p.m.:
Empty Shoe Vigil in front of the Parliament buildings (Ottawa) with speakers Kristen Gilchrist, Bridget Tolley and Lindsay Mossman.
-Bus departing McGill Faculty of Law at 9:30am, Vigil at 2 pm (Ottawa).
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=182431998466835

Sunday, March 20, 6p.m.:
“Mamu Chu Chi Nan- Fundraising Dinner for the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal.” (Tickets for a minimum donation of $75)
-Restaurant Le Nouveau Palais, 281 Bernard Ouest.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156175114435915

———————
This 13-day program of events is being organized in collaboration with student-led organizations at McGill’s Faculty of Law (Aboriginal Law Association, Human Rights Working Group, Women’s Caucus, Nurses for Global Health), the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, the First Peoples’ House, KANATA, the Aboriginal Health Interest Group, and Montreal community groups (Missing Justice, Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, CKUT).

For a poster (pdf file) with all the events in the series click on the link below:  13DaysToHonourAboriginalWomen

Cinema Politica (McGill) is screening Tracey Deer’s Club Native on January 18th

Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Location: Leacock 26, 855 Sherbrooke Street West Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T7

CLUB NATIVE
Tracey Deer / Canada / 2008 / 78 min
“Club Native is a candid and deeply moving look at the pain, confusion and frustration suffered by many First Nations people as they struggle for the most important right of all: the right to belong.

On the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake, located just outside the city of Montreal, Canada, there are two firm but unspoken rules drummed into every member of the community: Do not marry a white person and do not have a child with a white person. The potential consequences of ignoring these rules-loss of membership on the reserve, for yourself and your child-are clear, and for those who incur them, devastating. Break the rules, and you also risk being perceived as having betrayed the Mohawk Nation by diluting the “purity” of the bloodline.

In Club Native, filmmaker Tracey Deer uses Kahnawake, her hometown, as a lens to probe deeply into the history and contemporary reality of Aboriginal identity. Following the stories of four women, she reveals the exclusionary attitudes that divide the community and many others like it across Canada. Deer traces the roots of the problem, from the advent of the highly discriminatory Indian Act through the controversy of Bill C31, up to the present day, where membership on the reserve is determined by a council of Mohawk elders, whose rulings often appear inconsistent. And with her own home as a poignant case study, she raises a difficult question faced by people of many ethnicities across the world: What roles do bloodline and culture play in determining identity?”

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rPi1RG3m1Q
Cinema Politica (McGill) website: http://www.cinemapolitica.org/mcgill

McGill Aboriginal Health Interest Group presents: Welcome Back Meeting and Movie Night!

Date: Wedneday, January 19, 2011

Time: 5:00-6:30pm

Location: First Peoples’ House of McGill 3505 Peel Street Montreal, Quebec

“Come one, come all!

5pm Meeting + Snacks!

5:30pm Movie: “Qallunaat: Why White People are Funny” + remaining
snacks!

It’s a new year for AHIG and we’re inviting you to contribute to our
upcoming events, especially the planning of the second annual Cultural
Competency in Aboriginal Health Training Workshop, to be held in the
spring. This workshop will focus on preparing med students for rural
family med rotations in Canada’s North. The event was a stunning
success in 2010 and we’re looking for your input and collaboration.
Come on down to the meeting and share with us your thoughts for the
workshop as well as other events this spring!”