|
THE
8TH WORLD
INDIGENOUS WOMEN & WELLNESS CONFERENCE
Welcome to the website for the
8th World Indigenous Women & Wellness Conference: Building on
Traditional Knowledge & Wisdom - 2008
We
are currently making arrangements for this exciting opportunity
bringing our global communities together for cultural and wisdom
sharing.
The
Awo Taan Healing Lodge is privledged to host the auspicious
8th
World Indigenous Conference: The Women & Wellness
conference is an opportunity for international communities from around
the world to share research and best practices on Family Violence and
Indigenous Peoples. The conference will provide participants
the opportunity to network and share best practices, build on tradition
knowledge and wisdom on Family Violence, Health & Wellness and
Indigenous peoples.
Being
held on the Treaty 7 Nation traditional land in Calgary, Alberta
Canada, from September 29th, - October 1st, 2008. The 8th
World Indigenous Women & Wellness Conference will be an
excellent opportunity for participants from across the globe to share
information, innovative initiatives, models, research and best
practices on Family Violence and Indigenous Peoples suitable to our
individual and unique communities. The conference will also
provide participants with the opportunity to network and rejoice in our
strengths and capacity to uphold our traditions and knowledge.
It
will also be a chance to consider how we, as Aboriginal/Indigenous
people, would like to see our cultural and history embraced and shaped
into the future to meet the needs of our future and our youth.
This
conference has the potential to impact positively on the outcomes and
lives of Aboriginal/Indigenous people around the world.
Awareness provides us with a broad set of options to shape our own
futures and with tools to tell our own stories to a wider community;
our challenge is to balance the learning’s from mainstream systems
within our own traditions. Awo Taan Healing Lodge “Building on
Traditional Knowledge & Wisdom” will explore some of
the questions raised by living within competing systems and look beyond
the horizon where complementary knowledge can be used to shape our
futures.
Expecting
up to 500 delegates the 8th World Indigenous Women &
Wellness Conference will be held at the Westin Hotel in Calgary Alberta
Canada from September 29th – October 1st, 2008. Cultural
events and entertainment will be held as well as being honored by many
prominent Indigenous Keynote Speakers.
The
Awo Taan Healing Lodge is proud to be hosting this prestigious event.
We look forward to welcoming you to our beautiful country and making
your time in Canada an exciting and memorable experience.
CONFERENCE THEME
Building on Traditional
Knowledge & Wisdom
There
will be 7 conference principle themes that will run throughout the
Conference.
Possible topics include, but are
not limited to:
| Theme 1 |
Healthy and Positive Futures for
our Communities |
| Theme 2 |
Children & Youth |
| Theme 3 |
Embracing our Elders/Tradition
Knowledge & Wisdom |
| Theme 4 |
Reclaiming and Valuing
Traditional Languages |
| Theme 5 |
Prevention &
Intervention Issues of Violence and Relationships |
| Theme 6 |
Engaging Men in Ending Violence |
| Theme 7 |
Effective Strategies |
Call for
Papers:
We
have invited paper presentations from people who are actively engaged
in conducting participatory research alongside or within Aboriginal
and/or other Indigenous communities. We are particularly interested in
research that has been instigated in the first instance by Indigenous
communities.
Conference
Themes:
Conference
papers will address at least one of the following conference sub themes.
Healthy and
Positive Futures for our Communities
Papers
should highlight research that:
- Contributes to promoting
wellness in home environments for Aboriginal and/or Indigenous
communities
- Strengthens the generations.
Papers
must address the aims of the conference and may include discussion
about:
- Aboriginal and Indigenous
priorities and dilemmas
- Academic priorities and dilemmas
- The research process.
Effective
Strategies:
Papers
should highlight research that:
- Is geared towards improving the
lives of Aboriginal and/or indigenous peoples regionally and/or
globally.
Papers
must address the aims of the conference and may include discussion
about:
- Aboriginal and indigenous
priorities and dilemmas
- Academic priorities and dilemmas
- The research process.
Frontiers
of Knowledge:
Papers
must address the aims of the conference and may include discussion
about:
- Traditional knowledge and widsom
- Transforming academic examples.
We
are looking for contributions on, but not limited to, the following
topics:
- Traditional knowledge of
Indigenous communities
- Culture and the role of
community relationships
- Language, environment and
indigenous traditions
- Health and well-being research
initiatives in Aboriginal and indigenous communities
- Violence and indigenous peoples
- Cultural identity, resistance
and research.
Conference
Objectives and Outcomes:
Indigenous
populations around the world face rapid social, political,
environmental and economic change in the face of challenges of cultural
identities and tradition. Academic scholarship must keep pace
if
it is to remain relevant to indigenous communities and societies.
Research
methods and academic practices have begun to evolve within indigenous
communities, which in turn present new questions and challenges for
academic scholarship and practice.
Aims of
the Conference:
This
conference aims to bring together people from a range of disciplinary
fields and nations who are engaged in developing responses to global
challenges of Aboriginal and/or other indigenous peoples. The purpose
is to identify common themes and key issues, and explore ideas for the
future.
The
conference is intended to help professionals, practitioners and
researchers to locate themselves within a range of intellectual forums
that are closely engaged with emerging issues. The conference
will allow a sharing of knowledge, expertise and insight between both
established and newly emerging networks of aboriginal and indigenous
professionals and community researchers.
Guidelines:
- Maximum length of 300 word
summary
- Submissions in English only
- All Presenters must provide
brief (one page) biographies.
Presentation
Process:
Only
submissions completed by the deadline will be considered. The
Conference Presentation Selection Committee reserves the right to
combine presentations into Oral Presentations of similar topics.
Special
Considerations:
Special
Consideration will be given to the following:
- Indigenous youth presenters and
organizations or presenters working directly with Indigenous youths.
- Indigenous Elder presenters and
organizations that work with Indigenous Elders and
- Indigenous community member
presenters.
“Presenters may show case
Indigenous family, community, regional and national or international best practices and
innovative models and strategies for programs and initiatives focused on Indigenous health
relationships and communities.”
|
|
|
CALL FOR PAPERS/PRESENTATIONS
IS CLOSED.
"Thank
you for your inquiry regarding the World Conference. We received a
tremendous response globally and we are delighted to be able to provide
a conference with the highest quality of Presenters and
Presentationsfrom around the world."
|
REGISTRATION FORM AND POLICY
To
participate in the Conference you must submit a registration form with
payment. You may register by credit card or forward a cheque/bank draft
in Canadian dollars payable to AwoTaan Healing Lodge.
You can download and view the form and policy details by clicking on
the links below:
|
SPONSORSHIP
To
ensure Awo Taan Healing Lodge offers Presenters and Participants a
quality World Conference and experience, sponsorship support is
required. By supporting the 8th World Indigenous Women &
Wellness
Conference as a valued partner, you will ensure a difference can be
made.
This 2008 World Indigenous Conference provides a
unique opportunity to make a significant difference for Indigenous
communities throughout the world. Building on Traditional Wisdom
&
Knowledge is a key factor in the future for effective strategies that
promote wellness in home environment and communities globally. This
forum provides an ideal opportunity for your organization to enhance
its role as a global citizen. If your organization’s charter has a
focus on creating economic, education and social opportunities
throughout the local and international communities, the Conference is
an ideal forum for you to consider.
Many organizations
support Indigenous communities in the specific programs they offer
within their operation and in return receive great benefit from this
collaboration. This significant event offers a unique platform to
showcase and enhance your support of this important sector of our
global community through the promotion and development of education.
With
your support, attendance can be maximized and the value and quality of
the experience guaranteed, ensuring long term benefits beyond the
Conference period.
To discuss options that best suit your
marketing agenda or for further information or to receive the complete
sponsorship prospectus, please contact the Awo Taan Healing Lodge
Executive Director and Conference Manager.
Josie Nepinak – Executive Director
403 – 531 – 1970 ext 202
email: josien@awotaan.org
or
Mary Ann Sanderson - Conference Manager
403 – 531- 561 – 1610
email: maryanns@awotaan.org
Website: www.awotaan.org
Awo Taan Healing Lodge - gratefully acknowledges the support of the
following Conference sponsors.
|
DEFINITION OF
INDIGENOUS
A Synthesis of Ideas Presented
by:
Andy Blackwater and Corolla Calf
Robe
To
be Indigenous means to have a stable and harmonious relationship and
identification with a particular place. In fact, this
relationship and identification is so strong, that it is impossible to
completely distinguish one’s self apart from one’s place.
Such affinity to place derives from an occupancy that is
timeless. In other words, we as Indigenous people are members
of families that have always lived where we do today. We
cannot recount a migration from somewhere else to the place we now
reside. Similarly, there are animals, plants, rivers and
mountains, the Sun and the Moon, who have always lived in place with
us, and they too are therefore Indigenous. Our collective
relationship, that which is shared among Indigenous beings, is
characterized by our conscious perception of interconnection and
interdependence. We all respect each other’s inherent right to life,
and we cannot take from one another without giving something as an
offering in return. As Indigenous beings, we understand that
we are not separate entities. Rather, we are all one
together. All of our spirits continue to occupy our place
even after we’ve passed-on, and they can communicate with the
living. To this extent, “Indigenous knowledge” is the ability
to interact and communicate within this collective
relationship. These are skills learned through guided
experiences with our elders, and through an embodiment of the stories
and songs that have come from our shared life in place. As
Indigenous people, we collect and synthesize the stories, songs, and
training of our elders into our own understanding. And with
this understanding, with our Indigenous knowledge, we are able to hear
and comprehend what our fellow beings are saying… whether this means
predicting the weather and other events from behavioral signs of the
plants and animals, or whether this means interpreting the dream
encounters we have when our spirits travel our territories and visit
with our ancestors. Claiming and living this identity, this
relationship, is what it means to be indigenous. |
UNITED
NATIONS FACT SHEET
- Who are indigenous peoples?
- Understanding the term
“indigenous”
- A question of identity
- Culture and Knowledge
- Political participation
Click
here to view the article. |
|
