Events

Wed, September 15, 2021 at 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM MDT

Canadian Clubs of Alberta, through partnership with ADRIA presents:

Alberta Senator Dr Patti LaBoucane-Benson speaks passionately to issues of Canadian Colonization, Historic Trauma & Reconciliation.

Alberta Senator Dr Patti LaBoucane-Benson is a Métis from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta. Her 30-year career has been dedicated to serving her community in Alberta, across Canada and around the world—as the director of a Boys and Girls Club in St. Paul in 1990, through 23 years of service at Native Counselling Services of Alberta (NCSA), and Conference Director and Lead Facilitator of the Nelson Mandela Dialogues in Canada, an international gathering of freedom fighters that took place on Enoch Cree Nation in 2017.

Patti’s research for her PhD in Human Ecology (University of Alberta) focused on how Indigenous families and communities experience their own resilience in response to multiple forms of trauma. Her lifelong work has become an extended conversation about healing from historic trauma.

Patti’s perspectives on this conversation are rooted in her transformative experiences of the Cree ceremony. The Elders’ teachings of kindness, respect, humility, and honesty have informed her life as well as her research into best practices for Indigenous offender healing, domestic violence, and historic trauma-informed service delivery. Her most recent research bridges neuroscience and Indigenous knowledge of child development, as well as finding common ground between Western and Indigenous water science.

As a recognized catalyst for change, Dr. LaBoucane-Benson was appointed to Alberta Ministerial Panel for Child Intervention (2017-18) that resulted in Bill 18: Child Protection and Accountability Act. The primary focus of the panel was reducing the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in care in Alberta.

Patti brought her PhD research to life through a work of creative non-fiction, an award-winning graphic novel—The Outside Circle (House of Anansi, 2015)—that tells the story of an inner-city Aboriginal family who transcend poverty, gang affiliation, and hopelessness. Her teaching materials are used in classrooms across Canada and in training sessions for professionals.

Dr. LaBoucane-Benson continues to share her knowledge of healing from historic trauma with educators, healthcare professionals, lawyers and policy makers, as well as Indigenous communities. She believes that healing and reconciliation dialogue is the way forward in Canada, with focus on surfacing the common ground between Western and Indigenous people. The best, most useful policy and legislation will reflect this shared space that unites us as a society.

Appointed to the Senate in October 2018, Senator Patti LaBoucane-Benson lives fully in the space that helps define Canada. She is an avid gardener and her husband Allen is a traditional Nehiyaw (Cree) hunter; they believe that food security includes the respectful harvest of food from the land. They live near Stony Plain, Alberta, with their son Gabriel, on an acreage that has hosted ceremony, workshops, and dozens of transformational conversations with Elders, elected officials, and leaders from around the world.

Free Online Webinar: Colonization, Historic Trauma & ReconciliationRead More

Mark your calendars for June 10th when ADRIA hosts its 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) from 5 to 7pm.

This has been a year like no other, and although our pandemic response was front and centre at last year’s AGM, much has transpired since.  ADRIA is YOUR professional association, and both Staff & Board have worked hard this past year to operate safely and strategically, and to re-orientate its services and programs to thrive in a pandemic environment.

Every AGM provides our members with the opportunity to learn more about the challenges and opportunities facing ADR in Alberta, and to influence ADRIA’s direction.  As was the case last year, the 2021 AGM will be entirely online with interactive opportunities to engage and ask questions.

Come for the Info, Stay for the Improv

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Knowing that the year past has been so very challenging, now is the perfect time to be upbeat about our future.  The ADRIA 2021 AGM will mix facts with funny, thanks to the improv talents of Rapid Fire Theatre.  Login at 5pm for an initial taste of what these talented performers will offer, and be assured that they will return to entertain you at the conclusion of the AGM.  ADRIA AGM’s are efficient without losing the opportunity to interact and ask questions.  The formal AGM is expected to last for one hour or less, so Rapid Fire will be back online, front and centre, commencing just after 6pm.  This will an AGM like no other, to cap a year like no other.  Plan to attend, to get informed and to share a few laughs by registering now at the link below.

Join Us Online for Our Annual General Meeting on June 10th: Info & Improv ComedyRead More

Dr. Shalene Jobin will be leading our webinar on June 8th from 11:30am to 1:15pm.

In this session, participants will gain an understanding of the societal and political landscape when developing relationships and partnering with Indigenous peoples.

Learning Objectives:

• Introduction to the history and governance structures of Indigenous communities in Alberta
• Learn about key events in Indigenous-Canadian relationships to appreciate the ongoing socio-political landscape
• Develop a working knowledge and acquire greater insight into Indigenous understandings of good relationships
• Increase your understanding of land acknowledgements – why and how they are meaningful

Dr. Shalene Jobin is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Native Studies, Director of the Indigenous Governance and Partnership program, Co-Founder of the Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge, and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Governance at the University of Alberta. Dr. Jobin is the co-creator and founding Academic Director of the Indigenous Partnership Development Program, an executive-level teaching partnership between Executive Education and the Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta. Shalene is Cree from her mother (Wuttunee family) and Métis from her father (Jobin family) and is a member of Red Pheasant Cree First Nation (Treaty Six). Shalene has a forthcoming book with UBC Press titled, Nehiyawak Narratives: Upholding Indigenous Economic Relationships.

Shalene has published in the edited collection Creating Indigenous Property: Power, Rights, and Relationships (2020), Living on the Land: Indigenous Women’s Understanding of Place (2016) and Indigenous Identity and Resistance (2010), and in the journals American Indian Quarterly (2011), Revue Générale de Droit (2013), and Native Studies Review (2016). She has also co-authored in Aboriginal Policy Studies (2012) and Surviving Canada (2017). Shalene is involved in numerous community-centred research initiatives, including Indigenous Approaches to Governance in the 21st Century, and the Wahkohtowin Law & Governance Lodge, a partnership between the Faculty of Native Studies and the Faculty of Law to provide law and governance supports to Indigenous communities. Dr. Jobin is the Vice-President of the board for Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society, an organization serving the needs of Indigenous children, youth, and families in Edmonton and area.

Free Webinar on June 8: Indigenous Peoples, An Alberta PrimerRead More