Panel discussion: Marilyn Dumont, Maria Campbell, Louise Halfe and Priscilla Settee
Four of Canada's most influential Indigenous women writers discuss the importance of representing gender and history in Indigenous literature
Gender and history in Indigenous literature:
A panel discussion with visiting poet Marilyn Dumont and Saskatchewan experts Maria Campbell, Louise Halfe and Priscilla Settee
Sit in on this powerhouse of a panel with some of Canada's most influential Indigenous women writers, community workers, scholars and activists as they discuss the importance, challenge and creative process of representing gender and history in Indigenous literature.
Monday, March 6 at 3:30–5:30 pm
Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Everyone is welcome. Beverages and snacks provided.
Cree/Métis poet and educator Marilyn Dumont has won provincial and national awards for her writing. CBC said of her most recent book of poetry, "The Pemmican Eaters is a statement of cultural pride and defiance, much like Marilyn herself." She has been the writer-in-residence at five Canadian universities and the Edmonton Public Library as well as an advisor in the Aboriginal Emerging Writers Program at the Banff Centre. She teaches creative writing at Athabasca University and Native studies and English at the University of Alberta.
Métis writer/community worker Maria Campbell is best known for her important memoir, Half-breed, which initiated a rebirth of Aboriginal literature in Canada. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008. Campbell earned an MA in Native Studies from the U of S and has taught Indigenous studies, creative writing and drama there. She is currently the Elder in Residence at the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research, Athabasca University and a visiting Trudeau Fellow at the University of Ottawa. She holds four honorary doctorate degrees.
Cree poet Skydancer Louise Bernice Halfe has four book publications to her credit that have won numerous provincial and national awards. She was Saskatchewan’s Poet Laureate in 2005–2006. Halfe has a Bachelor of Social Work and an Honorary Degree of Letters (PhD) from Wilfred Laurier University. She currently works with Elders in an organization called Opikinawasowin (“raising our children”). She lives outside of Saskatoon with her husband.
Priscilla Settee is an award winning faculty member in the Department of Indigenous Studies and Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the U of S, and a member of Cumberland House Cree First Nations from northern Saskatchewan. She works in Saskatchewan and the globe in a number of capacities including serving as a board member of the Cultural Conservancy (California). In 2013 she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee award for contributions to Canada.