Description:

Community worker and advocate Jeannette Corbiere Lavell and her daughter, Dr. Dawn Memee Lavell-Harvard, Director of the First Peoples House of Learning at Trent, will talk about their work advocating for the legal status rights of Indigenous women in the Indian act and their efforts, research, and writing toward protecting equality of Indigenous women and children.

Prior to their talk, Nogojiwanong/Peterborough's 2021-22 Poet Laureate Sarah Lewis will perform two poems in honour of Indigenous women's rights. Sarah is an award-winning Anishinaabe-kwe spoken word artist, activist, and community organizer.

After Dr. Lavell the talk, there will be a virtual tour of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights' exhibits on Indigenous human rights. 

This event is sponsored by Trent University Library & Archives and the First Peoples House of Learning.

In-person Location: In-person at Bata Library, room BL411 (4th floor) OR Virtual (live-streamed via Zoom)

Virtual Location (Zoom live-stream): This event will also be live-streamed on Zoom for those who cannot attend in-person. The livestream will be broadcast at Trent University Durham GTA in the Building A Atrium. The livestream will also be available at the following links [to be added].

Livestream of talk by Jeannette Corbierre Lavell & Dr. Dawn Memee Lavell-Harvard (starting 4pm):

https://trentu.zoom.us/j/99469867706?pwd=Z2lmem9LRWtYbXVlRENxY2Q0MEI0dz09 Passcode: 607168

Livestream of virtual tour of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (starting 5pm):

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81457179728?pwd=dUpFY2YyS2ljV2NXZGlsMEwxTUNSQT09 Passcode 866535

Agenda:

3:20pm: Doors open

3:45pm: Sarah Lewis will perform two opening poems

4:00pm: Talk by Jeannette Corbiere Lavell and Dr. Dawn Memee Lavell-Harvard 

4:50pm: Break

5:00pm: Virtual tour of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (in the same room, BL411)

6:00pm: Catered reception (in the hallway outside of BL411)

Event Accessibility

In-person

Accessible parking is available outside of Bata Library. The event will take place in-person on Bata Library's 4th floor, which is accessible via elevator or stairs. There are accessible, all-gender, single-stall washrooms in Bata Library, as well as multi-stall washrooms with accessible stalls. 

Virtual (Zoom live-stream)

This event will also be live-streamed for attendees who cannot attend in-person. The live-stream will be closed-captioned. 

Speaker Bios

Sarah Lewis (she/her) is an Anishnaabe Kwe (Ojibwe/Cree) spoken word artist, activist, community organizer and mother. She has ancestral roots in Curve Lake First Nation, Ontario as well as Pukatawagon, Manitoba. She was Peterborough’s Inaugural Poet Laureate from 2021-2022 and was a semi-finalist at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in 2019. 

Dr. Dawn Memee Lavell-Harvard, a member of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation, is an accomplished scholar in Indigenous and Post-Secondary Education, known for her leadership in Aboriginal women's rights and education. She has authored publications on Indigenous mothering, educational success, and the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people. She advocated for the MMIWG Inquiry at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and at the United Nations, and she is currently Director of the First Peoples House of Learning at Trent University.   

Dr. Jeannette Corbiere Lavell has been an influential advocate for Indigenous women's rights for over fifty years, making substantial impacts at both national and international levels. She challenged the discriminatory practices of the Indian Act in the Supreme Court of Canada and has held key roles in various educational and advocacy organizations. Her work in promoting equity and justice for Indigenous women is recognized widely, including in the Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

Dr. Corbiere Lavell and Dr. Lavell-Harvard are co-authors of the books, Until Our Hearts Are on the Ground: Aboriginal Mothering, Oppression, Resistance, and Rebirth (2006). 

Canadian Museum for Human Rights Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the first museum solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration and future of human rights.