TORONTO, June 26, 2013 – Former students of Indian Residential Schools, members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and representatives of the United Nations and human rights organizations will all converge at York University for a symposium aptly titled Linking Arms Together, to join hands in upholding Aboriginal rights, June 28.
Speakers will bring ideas to bear on the process of reconciliation using the past, present and future and share ideas on the reconciliation process based on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Among the speakers are, TRC Commissioners Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild, Romeo Saganash, MP (Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou), Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Grand Chief Edward John, and activist Ellen Gabriel.
The symposium will also provide opportunities to reach out to and educate members of other communities and also to create networks of solidarity, according to key organizer Professor Peter Dawson in the Departments of Equity Studies and Sociology, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies.
The symposium, whose title recalls the Mohawk teaching based on the sacred wampum that emphasizes the importance of co-operation and solidarity among Aboriginal communities, marks the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which continues to be of legal importance to First Nations in Canada.
WHAT: Linking Arms Together, a public symposium
WHERE: Osgoode Hall-Moot Court, York University, Keele Campus, (building number 32 on the map)
WHEN: Friday, June 28, 2013, 9:00am-5:30pm
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Media Contact:
Gloria Suhasini, York University Media Relations, 416 736 2100 ext. 22094, suhasini@yorku.ca
