Full Agenda: The First Nations National Guardians Gathering 2023
Ottawa, May 9 – 11
Delta Hotel Ottawa City Centre
Day 1 / May 9
9:00 – 10:40 Opening Ceremony
Annie Smith St. Georges
Rae-Anna Whiteduck
Eagle River Drum Group
Chief Dylan Whiteduck
10:40 – 11:00 Tea and Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:00 Welcome from the Indigenous Leadership Initiative & First Nations National Guardians Network
Valérie Courtois, Indigenous Leadership Initiative
Shaunna Morgan Siegers, First Nations National Guardians Network
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 1:45 Fireside Chat with the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
2:00 – 3:00 Small Wigwams: Knowledge Exchange Sessions
Guardians and Natural Resource Development Room: Ballroom AB
Panel Discussion with Guardian Storytellers Room: Frontenac
How to Write a Successful Funding Proposal Room: Richelieu
3:00 – 3:20 Tea and Coffee Break
3:20 – 4:20 Small Wigwams: Knowledge Exchange Sessions
Using Traditional Ways: Stories from the Chìmàn (Canoe) Room: Chaudière
Guardians Engaging with Their Communities Room: Frontenac
Guardians and Wildfire Room: Richelieu
Session francophone: Le Rôle des Gardiens au Québec Room: Laurentian
5:30 – 9:30 Land Needs Guardians Feast & Celebration of the Guardians Movement
Awards Presentation
Musical Performance by Twin Flames
Musical Performance by The Halluci Nation
Day 2 / May 10
9:00 – 9:20 Overview of the Day
Mélanie Vincent
9:20 – 10:00 Sharing Circle on Language & Culture: Renewal Growing up from the Land
Moderator: Shaunna Morgan Siegers, First Nations National Guardians Network
Ed Vystrcil, Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation
Twyla Edgi-Masuzumi, K'ahsho Got'ine Foundation
10:00 – 10:40 Sharing Circle on IPCAs: Our Responsibility to the Land and Future Generations
Gillian Staveley, Dena Kayeh Institute
Iris Catholique, Thaidene Nëné
10:40 – 11:00 Tea and Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:00 Sharing Circle on Water: Pulling Together to Sustain Waters
Moderator: Heiltsuk Hereditary Chief, Frank Brown, Indigenous Leadership Initiative
Ernesto Tallio, Nuxalk Guardian Watchmen
Danny Masuzumi, K'ahsho Got'ine Foundation
Shanice Mollen-Picard, Conseil des Innus de Ekuanitshit
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch Break
1:00 – 1:30 Honorary Lifetime Guardian: Recognition of a Champion
Valérie Courtois, Indigenous Leadership Initiative
Heiltsuk Hereditary Chief, Frank Brown, Indigenous Leadership Initiative
Hon. Ethel Blondin Andrew, P.C., O.C., Indigenous Leadership Initiative
1:30 – 2:35 Small Wigwams: Knowledge Exchange Sessions
Guardians and Enforcement Room: Ballroom AB
How to Build a Guardians Program Room: Frontenac
Guardians and Water Monitoring Room: Richelieu
2:35 – 3:05 Tea and Coffee Break
3:05 – 4:10 Small Wigwams: Knowledge Exchange Sessions
Innovative Models for Governance and Financing Room: Ballroom AB
Caring for Caribou and Moose Room: Frontenac
Guardians, Drones, and Data Room: Richelieu
Day 3 / May 11
9:00 – 9:15 Overview of the Day
Mélanie Vincent
9:15 – 10:10 Guardians Healing with the Land
Moderator: Hon. Ethel Blondin Andrew, P.C., O.C., Indigenous Leadership Initiative
Moderator: Leon Andrew, Elder
Danny Yakeleya, Tulita Guardians and IPCA Program
Jessie Yakeleya, Tulita Guardians and IPCA Program
Jasmine Plummer, Tulita Guardians and IPCA Program
Twyla Edgi-Masuzumi, K'ahsho Got'ine Foundation
10:10 – 10:30 Tea and Coffee Break
10:30 – 11:20 Strengthening Guardians Programs by Working Together (in French)
Moderator: Yasmine Fontaine
Serge Ashini Goupil, Nation Innue Secretariat
Melissa Saganash, Cree Nation Government
Caroline Desbiens, Université Laval
Yasmine Fontaine, Université Laval
11:20 – 12:00 Cross-Border Collaboration: Guardians in the U.S. and Canada
Moderator: Michael Painter, Nia Tero
Ralph Wolfe, Seacoast Indigenous Guardians Network
Estakio Beltrain, Native Americans in Philanthropy
Heiltsuk Hereditary Chief, Frank Brown, Indigenous Leadership Initiative
Valérie Courtois, Indigenous Leadership Initiative
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch Break
1:00 – 2:00 Guardianship as a Pathway to Nationhood
Moderator: Miles Richardson, O.C., Indigenous Leadership Initiative
Melissa Saganash, Cree Nation Government
Paul John Murdoch, Cree Nation Government
2:00 – 3:00 Guardians’ Voices from Coast to Coast
Moderator: Amos Scott, Northern Indigenous Stewardship Circle
Jimmy Nuna, Innu Nation
Amberly Quakegesic, Wahkohtowin Guardian Program
Dolcy Meness, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Nagadjitòdjig Akì
Lianna Anderson, Seal River Watershed Alliance (O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation)
3:00 – 3:30 Closing Ceremony