Sociology department hosting two special lectures

Nipissing University’s Department of Sociology is pleased to announce two upcoming public talks.On November 21, Maurice Switzer, director of communications for the Union of Ontario Indians, will speak in room H306 from 10 – 11:30 a.m.  Switzer’s talk, titled You’re welcome, Canada — First Nations were glad to save your bacon! (Celebrating the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the 248th anniversary of the Treaty of Niagara), will examine the role of First Nations in the Treaty of Niagara, and the implications for First Nations governance and treaty rights.

Switzer is a citizen of the Mississaugas of Alderville First Nation. He has served as director of communications for the Assembly of First Nations, has been a faculty member at First Nations Technical Institute, Huntington University, Canadore College and the Banff Centre’s Aboriginal Leadership program, and was the first Indigenous publisher of a daily newspaper in Canada. He was inducted into the Nipissing District Human Rights Hall of Fame in 2003, and received an Anishinabek Nation Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

Switzer’s talk is presented in collaboration with the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives.

On November 26, Nipissing welcomes Kelsey Jansen, a member of Dokis First Nation and an Masters of Science candidate in the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology at the University of Alberta. Her talk, titled Denésliné knowledge of caribou trail-use and applications for contemporary ecological monitoring, will discuss her research documenting traditional knowledge of caribou movement held by members of Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation.  Jansen’s talk is scheduled for November 26, from 10 – 11:30 a.m. in room H112.