Saturday, September 30, 2023, marks the third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. In partnership with Northumberland County, the Municipality of Port Hope will be hosting ‘Inspiring Change,’ an evening of education and culture in observance of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Capitol Theatre. Experience a free, live-guided virtual tour of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, with a focus on the Truth and Reconciliation exhibit.
Following the virtual tour, Mayor Olena Hankivsky will host special guest Jeannette Corbiere Lavell in conversation and reflection. Born into the Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Ms. Corbiere Lavell is an educator and lifelong advocate for Indigenous women's rights. In 1970, she lost her status under the Indian Act when she married a non-Indigenous man. Noting that the same did not apply to Indigenous men, she challenged the Indian Act at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Ms. Corbiere Lavell will recount how her actions served as a catalyst for activism on the issue of gender discrimination against Indigenous women. Ms. Corbiere Lavell will be joined by her daughter, Dr. Dawn Lavell Harvard, Ph.D., who is a proud member of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, the first Aboriginal Trudeau Scholar, and has worked to advance the rights of Aboriginal women as the President of the Ontario Native Women's Association since 2003. Dr. Lavell Harvard is Director of the First Peoples House of Learning at Trent University.
“I am honoured to participate in the virtual museum tour and join Jeannette and Dawn in conversation and reflection on such an important evening,” notes Mayor Olena Hankivsky. “We invite our community to join us as we learn, reflect and take a deliberate action towards Truth and Reconciliation.”
Tickets to this free event can be reserved on the Capitol Theatre website.
To help local Indigenous students achieve their dreams of post-secondary education, donations to Trent University’s First Peoples House of Learning are greatly appreciated.
2023-09-22
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