Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
On December 2, 2020, Jessica Wood, known as Si Sityaawks (Woman who creates change), from the Gitxsan and Tsimshian First Nations with roots among the Tahltan and Nisga’a Nations, engages in dialogue with Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Academic Director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at UBC.
This event is part of a 5-part series called Matriarch Illuminations in November and December 2020. Jessica Wood is the current Policy Practitioner Fellow at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia and she will host fellow Matriarchs from across Turtle Island.
Students, staff, faculty and community members are invited to pour themselves a cup of tea and sit around the virtual table to listen.
Theme: “Making Law and Policy – Matriarch Traditions”
Student Host: Lilian Shams-Amiri, Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs, UBC
Guest Speaker Bio: Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Aki-kwe, is the Academic Director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at UBC. She is a Canadian lawyer, former judge, legislative advocate for children’s rights and a professor at UBC’s Allard School of Law. She holds a law degree from Osgoode Hall at York University, a master’s degree in international law from the University of Cambridge, and a doctorate of law from Harvard Law School. As a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Aki-kwe was the first Treaty Indian to be named to the judicial bench in Saskatchewan. She has served as a Representative for Children and Youth for BC, and continues to draft legislation, provide legal advice and speak to all levels of government.
Learn about a new report led by independent investigator Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond that has found ‘widespread’ anti-Indigenous racism in B.C. health system.
Learn more about the Matriarch Illuminations series here: sppga.ubc.ca/events/event/matriarch-illuminations-a-5-part-series
On December 2, 2020, Jessica Wood, known as Si Sityaawks (Woman who creates change), from the Gitxsan and Tsimshian First Nations with roots among the Tahltan and Nisga’a Nations, engages in dialogue with Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Academic Director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at UBC.
This event is part of a 5-part series called Matriarch Illuminations in November and December 2020. Jessica Wood is the current Policy Practitioner Fellow at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia and she will host fellow Matriarchs from across Turtle Island.
Students, staff, faculty and community members are invited to pour themselves a cup of tea and sit around the virtual table to listen.
Theme: “Making Law and Policy – Matriarch Traditions”
Student Host: Lilian Shams-Amiri, Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs, UBC
Guest Speaker Bio: Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Aki-kwe, is the Academic Director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at UBC. She is a Canadian lawyer, former judge, legislative advocate for children’s rights and a professor at UBC’s Allard School of Law. She holds a law degree from Osgoode Hall at York University, a master’s degree in international law from the University of Cambridge, and a doctorate of law from Harvard Law School. As a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Aki-kwe was the first Treaty Indian to be named to the judicial bench in Saskatchewan. She has served as a Representative for Children and Youth for BC, and continues to draft legislation, provide legal advice and speak to all levels of government.
Learn about a new report led by independent investigator Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond that has found ‘widespread’ anti-Indigenous racism in B.C. health system.
Learn more about the Matriarch Illuminations series here: sppga.ubc.ca/events/event/matriarch-illuminations-a-5-part-series
