Cultures of Indigenous Diplomacy – A Digital Conference (19 May 2022)

Final Programme

All are welcome to this online conference and audience panel discussion organised to augment and expand the reach of the exhibition and residency of Anishinabekwe visual artist Dr Celeste Pedri-Spade at the American Museum and Gardens in Bath UK, March – July 2022. Register to attend on Eventbrite.

The Conference showcases reflections on themes linked to Dr Pedri-Spade’s work Material Kwe. The aim is to create space for interdisciplinary dialogue on intercultural expressions of diplomacy, through art and making, material culture including wampum, language and narration in Council speech, food, gender, and languages of law and sovereignty.

Join us on Zoom on Thursday 19th May 2022 13:00 – 19:00 BST for a series of pre-recorded presentations from scholars and practitioners with live Q&A between sessions, followed by a concluding plenary ay 18:00 BST. Confirmed presenters include:

1. Alex Jacobs-Blum, Lower Cayuga Nation of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and German, “Finding my way back through visual storytelling”
2. Rick Powless, Six Nations, Red Seal Chef: “yakunhéhkwʌ: Our Sisters”, a cooking demonstration of Haudenosaunee traditional foods.
3. Susan Hill, Associate Professor, University of Toronto: “Haudenosaunee Women and Diplomacy”
4. Great Lakes Research Alliance (Heidi Bohaker, Alan Corbiere, Autumn Epple, Bradley Clements): “Great Lakes Diplomacy through Cultural Heritage”
5. Damien Lee, Anishinaabe from Fort William FN, Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Biskaabiiyang and Indigenous Political Resurgence: “Asunjigun and Anishinaabe Political Theory”
6. Ken Parker, Seneca Nation, Indigenous horticulturalist and landscape professional: “Food Sovereignty and the Power of Indigenous Planting”
7. Alan Corbiere, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous History, York University
8. Naomi Recollet, Anishinaabe-kwe (Odawa/Ojibwe), Crane Clan from the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory
9. Dale Turner, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto
10. Celeste Pedri-Spade, Associate Professor and Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Studies, Queen’s University.

Both the Conference and collaborative exhibition are part of ‘Brightening the Covenant Chain’, a three-year research project funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (Standard Research Grant AH/T006099/1) and run by the Treatied Spaces Research Group. The project focusses on the Covenant Chain relationship between the Haudenosaunee and other Indigenous sovereigns and the British/Canadian Crown, both in historical and contemporary contexts.

Watch the previews of the presentations below:

Thursday 19 May 2022, 13:00 – 19:00 BST
Online event, register to attend on Eventbrite.