Canada Speaks lecture looks at ‘Our Aboriginal Heritage’

York history Professor Bill Wicken will discuss Canada’s Aboriginal heritage Thursday as part of Canada Speaks: A Lecture Series.

The talk, “Our Aboriginal Heritage: What did MacDonald Think about ‘Indians’ and Other Tales from the Courts”, will take place Feb. 27, from 12:30 to 1:30pm at 010 Vanier College, Keele campus. Everyone is welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served. The series is hosted by the Canadian Studies Program in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

Poster for Bill Wicken lectureWicken is the author of The Colonization of Mi’kmaw Memory and History, 1794-1928: The King v. Gabriel Sylliboy (University of Toronto Press, 2012), which won a John A. Macdonald Prize and the Clio Prize for outstanding contribution in 2012 to Atlantic Canada history.

The Colonization of Mi’kmaw Memory and History, 1794-1928 reveals how successive generations of Mi’kmaw remembered a treaty signed in the 18th century. It deals also, with the question of the relationship between memory and Aboriginal rights. In the broader sense, the Sylliboy case raises important questions with regard to the legal status of Aboriginal Peoples within confederation.

This lecture series is supported by the Canadian Studies Program, the Department of Humanities, the Department of History, the School of Public Policy & Ad­ministration, Office of the Master at McLaughlin College, the Office of the Master at Vanier College, and the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

University Professor Ian Greene of the School of Public Policy & Administration will give the March 5 Canada Speaks lecture on “Ethics and Canadian Politics”, from 12:30 to 1:30pm at 010 Vanier College.

For more information on upcoming lectures, visit the Canadian Studies Program website.