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Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair (Native Studies, University of Manitoba)
Nov 20, 2015 @ 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Bagijiganan: Anishinaabe Ethics in Native Studies
Bagijiganan (offerings) are the foundations of Anishinaabe ethics. Found in practices from ceremonies to visiting, bagijiganan are embedded in early treaties made with Europeans and acted as both intention and recognition, gifting the world with new relationships and connections in the interest of possibility and life.
Bagijiganan also form the basis for Anishinaabeg intellectual practice, and serve as a gateway into what constitutes the field of Native Studies as a discipline and a forum for community.
Brown Bag Lunch Discusson
Reading: Jill Doerfler, Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, “Bagijige: Making an Offering,” (PDF) Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Understanding the World through Stories (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2013)
Friday, November 20
12 noon Curtin 939
Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair is Anishinaabe (See University of Manitoba Bio), originally from St. Peter’s (Little Peguis) Indian Settlement near Selkirk, Manitoba, and is an associate professor and current head of the Department of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba. He is an international commentator on Indigenous issues for outlets like Al-Jazeera, The Guardian, and Canadian broadcasters like CTV, CBC, and The Globe and Mail, and was named one of CBC Manitoba’s “Top 40 under 40” in 2015.
As part of the Kino-nda-niimi Collective, Sinclair is co-editor of The Winter We Danced (Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2014), a collection of writing, poetry, lyrics, art, and images from the many diverse voices that make up the past, present, and future of the Idle No More movement.
He is also co-editor of the award-winning Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water (Highwater Press, 2011) and Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Understanding the World Through Stories (Michigan State University Press, 2013). Additionally, he serves as the editorial director of The Debwe Series with Portage and Main Press.