LITTLE CURRENT—The Canadian justice system has a poor track record when it comes to dealing with the Anishinaabe and other Indigenous peoples, but the Wiikwemkoong Justice program is taking proactive steps to overcome the historical issues of colonization through education by hosting the Wiikwemkoong Justice Cultural Awareness Days conference.
This year Awareness Days was held at the Manitoulin Hotel and Conference Centre in Little Current on Thursday, March 1 and Friday, March 2 and was attended by legal professionals from as far away as Wawa, Timmins and Toronto—including two judges, Justice Patrick Boucher, Northeast region senior justice and Superior Court Justice Patricia Hennessy.
“Every year we host a conference,” said Graham Trudeau, Wiikwemkoong community justice program worker. “The conferences alternate—every second year we host the Wiikwemkoong Justice conference and the other year we host the Cultural Awareness Days.”
The goal of the Cultural Awareness Days conference is to build awareness of Anishinaabe culture among justice professionals through interaction with guest speakers and workshops that include understanding cultural teachings, residential school effects and basic language greeting.
Each day, different interactive workshops were held. On Thursday, Dorothy Fox presented ‘Now I understand;’ Brian Peltier presented the Anishinaabe creation story; artist Leland Bell presented ‘Art Inspiration,’ Gertie Manitowabi presented ‘Making Sweetgrass Braids,’ a trio of presenters made up of Muriel Assinewai, Gladys Wakegijig and Harvey Bell Jr. spoke on ‘The Value of Ceremonies’ and Phyliss Williams presented ‘The Importance of Laughter,’ a key element of Anishinaabe culture and interaction.
On Friday, Ken Maracle presented ‘Wampum Teaching;’ Harvey Bell Jr. presented ‘Four Medicines,’ providing a number of examples of local medicines that have proven efficacy in dealing with many common medical issues; Greater Sudbury Police Aboriginal Woman Violence Prevention Coordinator Lisa Osawamick presented on ‘Aboriginal Women Violence,’ highlighting the work that has been accomplished in the Looking Ahead to Build the Spirit of Our Women—Learning to Live Free From Violence project and the collaborative conference on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls hosted by Sudbury’s N’Swakamok Native Friendship Centre and the Greater Sudbury Police; Valerie Lavallee presented a workshop on grief in conjunction with Doreen Trudeau-Peltier who presented on resiliency; and Harvey Bell Jr. returned to present ‘The Eight Pointed Star Teaching.’
“It was very informative,” said Louise Huneault, director general of the Northeastern Office of Legal Aid Ontario, who was attending the conference along with several members of the new Advocacy North initiative involving the 11 Legal Aid clinics in Northern Ontario. “This has been an important addition to our knowledge base that will help us to better serve our clients.”
“A lot of the people we serve throughout the North are First Nations,” said Angie Lynch, who is heading up the new Speakers Schools and Peer Support initiative that is part of the Advocacy North initiative. “Understanding some of the culture and history will help us bridge that gulf that exists between communities because of what has happened in the past.”
The importance of creating a culturally aware justice system is highlighted by the comments made by Justice Hennesey, when she ruled on the precedent setting livestreaming of the Robinson Huron Annuities case. “Collectively, as Canadians, we suffer a deficit in understanding our history and our relationship with our Indigenous neighbours,” stated the Honourable Justice Hennesey in the release accompanying her decision to allow live streaming of the current Robinson Huron Annuities case. “Creating and preserving an audiovisual record of this evidence increases its usefulness and accessibility. It is a significant contribution to our national understanding.”
The conference closed with a two-step dance that included the participants and conference presenters.
