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