ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ

Event

National Indigenous Peoples Day Hiawatha Wampum Belt Flag Raising Ceremony

Wednesday, June 21, 2023 12:00to13:00
Image by Owen Egan.

Join the Office of Indigenous Initiatives as they host the sixth annual Hiawatha Wampum Belt Flag Raising Ceremony for National Indigenous Peoples Day.

For centuries, the Hiawatha Wampum Belt Flag has symbolized unity and peace between the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Kanien'kehá:ka, the Nations that make up the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Inaugurated at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ in 2018, this ceremony responds to one of the Calls to Action (#28) put forward by the Provost’s Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education. The ceremony not only honours the land on which ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University stands and its stewards, but also the importance of building respectful and reciprocal relations with Indigenous peoples.

The flag raising ceremony will feature remarks by Mr. Kanahsohon Kevin Deer (Kanien'kehá:ka, Kahnawake), Principal Deep Saini, Provost Christopher Manfredi, Associate Provost (Indigenous Initiatives) Celeste Pedri-Spade (Anishinaabe, Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation), and Mr. Michael Loft (Kanien'kehá:ka, Kahnawake). It will also feature a hand drum performance by Prof. Robert Spade (Anishinaabe, Obuckimaakang). 

The ceremony will take place at the Y-Intersection on ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University's downtown campus, where the Flag will be seen flying above the McCall MacBain Arts Building. The Y-Intersection is located at the heart of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ's downtown campus, just north of 2298 Avenue ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ College, Montreal.

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