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Praxis Fireside Chat on Indigenous Disability Awareness Month #IDAM2021

November 23, 2021 - 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Free
Praxis Fireside Chat on Indigenous Disability Awareness Month

Praxis Indigenous Peoples’ Liaison Richard Peter talks with today’s leaders in Indigenous health and research around the topics of awareness, inclusion, equity and quality of life in Indigenous people with spinal cord injury.

Join us in a conversation with Melanie Jeffrey, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Centre for Indigenous Studies & Human Biology Program, and Neil Belanger, Executive Director of the BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (BCANDS).

#IDAM2021

For the past seven years, BCANDS has been behind the movement to recognize November as Indigenous Disability Awareness Month (IDAM), a recommendation by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities International Committee. Since then, IDAM has been declared and recognized by the provinces of BC, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, the Assembly of First Nations, BC First Nations Summit, Métis Nation of BC, Council of Yukon First Nations, the Town of Inuvik, and hundreds of other organizations and communities across Canada.

A Virtual Event

The Praxis Fireside Chat will be hosted on Zoom. Details will be available after registration over email.

More About the Speakers:

Richard Peter, Indigenous Peoples’ Liaison, Praxis Spinal Cord Institute

Richard is a proud member of the Cowichan Tribes on Vancouver Island. He is a Paralympic athlete and a multi-Gold medalist, he has successfully represented Canada in multiple sports at multiple events around the world. Richard is a member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and a two-time recipient of the Tom Longboat Award for Indigenous Athletes. With over 40 years of lived experience with a T10, AIS-B SCI, he has developed extensive connections through his longstanding community involvement within the Indigenous and spinal cord injury communities.

Melanie Jeffrey, Assistant Professor, Centre for Indigenous Studies & Human Biology Program, University of Toronto

Melanie is a settler with English, Irish and Scottish roots from Williams Treaty territory near what is currently known as Parry Sound, Ontario. She has worked with the Centre for Indigenous Studies at the University of Toronto since 2007. Melanie’s research interests include the health of peoples and lands, land-based healing, determinants of health, holistic health and the nexus between Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Western health and ecological sciences. She is also involved with Indigenous communities in northern Ontario investigating their cancer burden and environmental contaminants. In research and teaching, Melanie strives to be both critically reflective and respectful of Indigenous and Western ways of knowing and being. She completed two postdoctoral fellowships and, most recently at Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health, she worked to identify characteristics of meaningful and relevant datasets for First Nations persons in northern Ontario with traumatic spinal cord injuries. She continues to work with Indigenous persons, community organizations and research teams to support Indigenous led initiatives in holistic care and wellbeing.

Neil Belanger, Executive Director, BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society

Neil has over 30 years of experience working within Canada’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous disability and health sectors. Since 2009, Neil has been the Chief Executive Officer of the British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society or BCANDS, an internationally recognized and award-winning Indigenous disability organization. Neil additionally serves in a variety of disability related advisory roles to provincial and federal government and departments.

Indigenous Perspectives at Praxis

Praxis Spinal Cord Institute would like to acknowledge that the land on which we are located is on the unceded traditional territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, specifically the shared traditional territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) First Nations.

Indigenous perspectives are critical to Praxis’ mission of improving the quality of life and health outcomes of all individuals living spinal cord injury. Praxis is committed to responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action by partnering with Indigenous populations to answer important questions from the community.