Consult the Leaflet on Land Acknowledgment in the Quebec University Context here!

Published February 1, 2022

Consult the Leaflet on Land Acknowledgment in the Quebec University Context here!

Last June (2021) the RIQEDI’s Working Group on Indigeneous realities launch the Leaflet on Land Acknowledgment in the Quebec University context.

A reflective and collaborative approach
The first tool on which the members of the group began to work, the leaflet on the Land Acknowledgment in the Quebec University Context has evolved at the same rate as their minds, as they met and learned. While the initial idea was to create a guide to assist members of the university community in writing a statement of Land Acknowledgment, step by step, it quickly became necessary to better translate, in this tool, the depth of the relationship that Indigenous Peoples maintain with the territory and the nature of the colonial roots of territorial issues.

In addition to the contribution of regular members of the working group, the leaflet benefited from the rich contribution of Hugo Asselin, professeur titulaire and dorector of l’École d’études autochtones à l’UQAT, Suzy Basile, professor at l’École d’études autochtones et titulaire de la Chaire de recherche du Canada sur les enjeux relatifs aux femmes autochtones à l’UQAT, Édith Bélanger, Wolahkomikonikewin, consultant in research and claims, Sébastien Brodeur Girard, professor at l’École d’études autochtones de l’UQAT and Francis Verreault-Paul, chef des relations avec les Premières Nations au Centre des Premières Nations Nikanite de l’UQAC. The works of Eruoma Awashish, artist Atikamekw Nehirowisiw of Opitciwan, accompany the readers in images throughout the leaflet. Finally, Onaki Créations has harmonized all the elements in graphics to create the whole that constitutes this sheet.

A tool for universities and the general public
This tool is primarily intended for members of the Quebec university community who, as part of their teaching and research activities, wish to present a statement of territorial recognition, but can certainly also be used in other contexts.

About the working group

It was in response to the need for mutual assistance expressed by members of the Quebec Interuniversity Network for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (RIQEDI) on certain Indigenous issues that the working group on Indigenous realities was founded in September of 2019. Since its creation, it has worked to structure its actions in light of the calls to action formulated in the investigation reports published in recent years. So far, the group’s mission is:

  • To restore the historical facts concerning the natives by means of actions and tools of sensitization and education
  • To develop links and collaborations with Indigenous contributors in order to work to restore a relational balance with Indigenous peoples
  • To make the university community aware of Indigenous realities
  • To promote the autochthonization of post-secondary education environments with a decolonization perspective.

Group members

  • Élodie Bouchard, agente à l’ÉDI et coordonnatrice du groupe de travail, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue 
  • Emanuelle Dufour, conseillère pédagogique en équité, diversité et inclusion (EDI), Collège Ahuntsic 
  • Mirjam Fines-Neuschild, candidate au doctorat en physique et communication et co-fondatrice du comité Diversité Physique et du projet Parité Sciences, Université de Montréal 
  • Mélissa Goupil-Landry, agente d’éducation et de coopération, Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (CDPDJ) 
  • Sandrine Hogue Hugron, coordonnatrice scientifique adjointe, Centre d’études nordiques, Université du Québec à Rimouski 
  • Allissa Lauriault, Conseillère en équité, diversité et inclusion, École de Technologies Supérieures 
  • Marie-Josée Naud, conseillère en équité, diversité et inclusion, Université Laval 
  • Jean-Simon Paradis-Charlebois, Coordonnateur aux affaires autochtones, Faculté de droit, Université de Sherbrooke 
  • Camille Perron, coordonnatrice aux affaires sociopolitiques, Union Étudiante 
  • Bibiana Pulido, cofondatrice et directrice générale du RIQEDI et directrice  adjointe  de  l’Institut  Équité, Diversité, Inclusion, Intersectionnalité (EDI2) 
  • Agathe Riallan, Coordinatrice facultaire de l’Équité, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion (ÉDI), Faculté des Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke  
  • Katherine Robitaille, candidate au doctorat en management et solidarité internationale, Université Laval, et chargée de projets, RIQEDI et Institut EDI2
  • Eve-Lyne Rondeau, Chargée de projets autochtones, Réseau de l’Université du Québec 
  • Lisanne Tremblay, Conseillère en équité, diversité et inclusion, HEC Montréal 
  • Francis Verrault-Paul, Chef des relations avec les Premières Nations, Centre des premières nations Nikanite, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi