Join us for a rare conversation with a historical Metis elder and leader who has has spent a lifetime developing Settler-Indigenous relations in Canada.
Thursday, February 16
In Conversation with Maria Campbell:
“The Spirit of Reconciliation”
Time: 7:00 – 9:30 pm
Location: Faith and Life Centre, Augustana
Cost: $15; $10 students (tickets at door)
[everyone welcome; cost is suggested donation to cover expenses]
Friday, February 17
LunchTime: 12:30 pm (light lunch served)
Location: Roger Epp Room, Augustana
Biography: Maria Campbell was born on a trapline in northern Saskatchewan and grew up speaking Cree, Michif, and Saulteaux. Maria became a community leader and advocate in speaking out against the oppression of Aboriginal people and in 1963, established a halfway house in Edmonton for women who were destitute or experiencing other personal crises.
In 1973, Maria Campbell published Halfbreed, a seminal and groundbreaking book about her life as a Metis woman. Since then, she has continued to work towards reconciliation as an educator, artist and community worker.
More recently, Maria Campbell is the elder and advisor on Traditional Protocol for Walking With Our Sisters, an installation art project of 1,700 pairs of moccasin tops or “vamps” commemorating and representing an estimated 824 Aboriginal women and girls who have been murdered or gone missing in Canada since 1961. This large collaborative art piece will be on tour until 2020.
Maria Campbell is a visiting Trudeau fellow at the University of Ottawa, and member of Métis Research Group, Institute of Canadian Studies. In 2008, she became a member of the Order of Canada, having previously received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. She still resides in northern Saskatchewan.