Please use this link to access the workshop: https://cigionline-org.zoom.us/j/87901244306?pwd=CEykatjcDFDBz8gfEhbA74D7CwupDn.1
Kwe’ kwe’. Welta’si na’ nike’ pekisin.
Hello. I’m glad that you’ve arrived.
My name is Benny Skinner and I am a Mi’kmaw (Ktaqmkuk) Kapampangan thinker, educator, and human rights advocate currently residing on the Haldimand Tract in the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and Chonnonton peoples. I am in my first year of the PhD Global Governance program at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and was previously a BSIA Fellow. A part of my work is to continue bridging the gap between international relations scholarship in the Western academy and contemporary Indigenous affairs, governance, and scholarship.
Ska’nikön:ra (ska-nah-GOON-ra) is the Balsillie School of International Affairs’ first recurring Indigenous governance event where we bring together community members, governance actors, and scholars from diverse disciplines to learn about the legacies and potentials of Indigenous governance. The name of the gathering is a Haudenosaunee name gifted to the event by Kanien’kéha (Mohawk) traditional language speaker Kawennakon Bonnie Whitlow, who spent time reflecting on the spirit of the event and consulting with other Haudenosaunee community members on the naming. The Kanien’kéha word can be roughly translated to English as “Coming Together with One Mind.” Bonnie describes it to me as the ultimate expression of unity, and the goal that the Haudenosaunee Confederacy strives to achieve through the application of Kayanere’kò:wa – the Great Law of Peace. As a deeply sagacious term, it speaks of coming to peaceful consensus through gathering and dialogue. Thus, the name Ska’nikön:ra not only highlights the spirit of this gathering but also honours the legacy and future of Haudenosaunee traditional governance here on the Haldimand Tract.
As a global governance scholar myself, I have observed the historicization of Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and governing in the Western academy. In response, I organize this gathering as my contribution toward carving out more significant room for Indigenous thought in all spaces that claim to study, innovate, and implement governance systems.
Please join us this harvest season as we engage in a marvellous 2-day gathering meant to move us forward in the pursuit of truth, reconciliation, justice, and knowledge in the world of governance.
This event is partially sponsored by The University of Waterloo’s Graduate Student Association.
