This special video presentation includes messages of welcome and introductions from Indigenous and Mennonite scholars, collaborators, community members, and musicians. This sampler is meant to provide a taste of what the 2022 Indigenous-Mennonite Encounters Conference might be, and to encourage responses to our call for proposals.
Participants featured in the preview video include Amy Smoke, Reina Neufeldt, Steve Heinrichs, Clarence Cachagee, Seth Ratzlaff, Hannah Enns, Lori Campbell, Kelly Fran Davis, Mim Harder, and Cris Derksen.
About the Conference:
This academic conference and community education event will offer stories and analyses of encounters and relationships between Indigenous peoples and Mennonite settlers from point of contact through to the present.
The intent of this event is to advance understanding on the part of Mennonites and other interested participants of their colonial histories, and is an effort to advance reconciliation and bring justice to Indigenous-settler relations. The event will comprise academic presentations, community storytelling, artistic offerings, and both Indigenous and Mennonite ceremony. The organizers anticipate an event full of listening, hearing, conversation, and silence.
Originally scheduled for May 2021, we are now preparing to hold this conference as an in-person gathering in May 2022. This virtual, preview event is being planned for the original conference weekend of May 2021.
Visit the conference website at https://uwaterloo.ca/indigenous-mennonite-encounters/