Tomorrow: “A New Hope” for Indigenous languages in pop culture đźŚŚ

A newsletter from a fellow Canadian organization in the Bay Area.


Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Event Tomorrow

• Gi-ga-miinigoowiz Mamaandaawiziwin (May the Force be With You): A Star Wars Journey Towards Indigenous Language Revitalization

Academic Opportunities

• IRI Visiting Scholars Support Program

• Eakin Visiting Fellowship in Canadian Studies

Upcoming Events

• Efforts at Indigenous Language Revitalization at Bkejwanong

External Events

• Restoring the Rights of “Lost Canadians”

EVENT TOMORROW

Gi-ga-miinigoowiz Mamaandaawiziwin (May the Force be With You): A Star Wars Journey Towards Indigenous Language Revitalization

Tues., Nov. 19 | Noon | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

The Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) dub of the iconic Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, debuted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on August 8th, 2024, and to the rest of the world on Disney+ on October 27. It is the first major Hollywood film to be dubbed into Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe), and is an expression of the growing language revitalization movement that seeks to restore the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) language to the galaxy.

The project brought together three generations of a family who played critical roles in the production: producer Maeengan Linklater, lead translator Pat Ningewance, and Aandeg Muldrew, voice of Luke Skywalker. The three will share their perspectives and insights from the inception of the project, through the translation, creation of the guide track, dubbing, acting, and finally, the premiere event.

Please note this event will start 30 minutes earlier than usual.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Maeengan Linklater is Director of Operations at the Dakota Ojibwe Tribal Council (DOTC) in Manitoba and served as producer for the dub.

Pat Ningewance is a long-time translator and professor of the Ojibwe language at the University of Manitoba. She is also the mother of Maeengan and grandmother of Aandeg. She was the lead translator and was the head language expert of the project.

Aandeg Muldrew is a language teacher and assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Winnipeg. He helped with the translation and dub and voiced Luke Skywalker.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

IRI Visiting Scholars Support Program

Deadline: December 15, 2024

The Immigration Research Initiative (IRI), located in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University in Montreal, is inviting applications for visiting researchers. IRI is seeking applications for 2- to 4-week research stays at Concordia University for 2025 in the field of immigration.

Priority will be given to projects focusing on Quebec and/or any other multinational states, but proposed projects may also focus on other case studies, including, but not limited to, countries, nations, or regions characterized by significant immigration.

Recipients will receive travel support and daily allowance of $200 CAD. Applicants must be in possession of a PhD and hold a current academic position at an institution outside of Quebec. To learn more and apply, click here.

Eakin Visiting Fellowship in Canadian Studies

Deadline: January 31, 2025

The McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) invites scholars to apply for the Eakin Visiting Fellowship in Canadian Studies for the 2025/2026 academic year.

The Fellowship is awarded for periods of one or two academic semesters to an active scholar focusing on studies related to Canada. It is awarded for periods of one or two academic semesters to a scholar, normally on sabbatical from their own academic institution. The Fellowship offers a stipend of $20,000 per semester.

The incumbent is expected to teach one undergraduate course in Canadian Studies at McGill University, deliver the Eakin Lecture (one Fellow per year), participate in the activities of the Institute, and pursue exchanges with colleagues at McGill and other institutions. To learn more and apply, please click here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Efforts at Indigenous Language Revitalization at Bkejwanong

Tues., Dec. 3 | 12:30 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

Neebnookwe ndazhnikaaz, Bkejwanong ndoonjibaa.

Summer Sands-Macbeth, Neebnookwe, has dedicated herself to preserving and transmitting her community’s ancestral language of Nishnaabemwin, an Ojibwe dialect spoken in the southern Great Lakes.

Sands-Macbeth grew up on Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nation) in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the border with the USA. Walpole Island is a Three Fires Confederacy community (Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatomi). Nishnaabemwin has been in decline since the 1970s, and today only about 20 first-language speakers still live on the island. However, Sands-Macbeth was surrounded by the language and culture of her parents, both of whom who were fluent speakers of Nishnaabemwin. Her mother, Reta Sands, Naawkwegiizhgokwe, has devoted her life to the support and preservation of Nishnaabemwin on Walpole Island.

After a sojourn of several years in the United States, Sands-Macbeth moved back to Walpole Island in 2005 and has spent the last decades engaged in language revitalization efforts in her community. Her talk will share aspects of her work and the outcomes so far. She will discuss impact from intergenerational trauma and the effects of the Indian Act on suppression of Indigenous languages, as well as resilience and resurgence as it relates to Indigenous language revitalization work on Walpole Island.

Summer Sands-Macbeth is a coordinator for the Indigenous Teacher Education Program (ITEP) at Queen’s University, Ontario, where she is currently enrolled in the World Indigenous Studies in Education (WISE) master of education program. She is an Indian Day School survivor. She holds a bachelor’s in physics from UC Santa Cruz and a bachelor’s in education from the University of Ottawa.

If you require an accommodation to fully participate in one of the above events, please let us know at least 7 days in advance.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Restoring the Rights of “Lost Canadians”

Thurs., Nov. 21 | 4:00 pm PT | Online | RSVP

What does it mean to be Canadian? The history of citizenship in Canada is complicated and, since Confederation, was denied to many as a result of archaic and obscure legislation that was particularly discriminatory against women, children, Asian and Indo-Canadians, and Indigenous peoples. Those whose citizenship was revoked or denied as a result are known as “Lost Canadians.”

Today, hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. qualify for Canadian citizenship, many unaware of their status as Lost Canadians. A new bill, Bill C-71, is before Parliament which could restore citizenship rights to those born abroad to Canadian parents also born abroad. The University of Washington’s Canadian Studies Center invites you to hear from Don Chapman, founder of the Lost Canadians movement, about the most recent developments in this fight to restore citizenship rights and amend the Citizenship Act.

Don Chapman, a University of Washington alumnus and former United Airlines pilot, discovered his own revoked citizenship status and began his fight to restore citizenship rights to himself and others. Chapman has been the inspiration and force behind the 11 Parliamentary bills to amend the Citizenship Act, with the result that Canadian citizenship has been granted to somewhere between one and two million people, retroactively. Are you one of them? The answer might surprise you!

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

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Canadian Studies Program | Univ. of California, Berkeley 213 Philosophy Hall #2308 | Berkeley, CA 94720 US

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