Media.Knet.Ca

Algoma University press release

Into the Wild: Profs Participate in First Nation Rafting Trip

(SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – JUNE 3rd, 2009): Two professors from Algoma University’s Community Economic and Social Development (CESD) department have embarked on a journey by raft on the Kanogami and Albany rivers with an intergenerational group of community members from Fort Albany First Nation. The purpose of the trip is to identify sites and stories of cultural importance to the community. Fort Albany is situated 450 kilometers north of Timmins, on the west coast of James Bay.

Dr. Gayle Broad and Professor Sheila Gruner are participating in the trip as envoys from the NORDIK Institute, a research centre associated with the CESD program. NORDIK has been contracted by the Fort Albany First Nation to assist with the Paquataskimik Project, a community-based research project involving youth, adults and elders from the community intended to foster intergenerational relationships that are rooted in the traditional territories of the Mushkegowuk people. Paquataskimik is a Cree word for “traditional territories.” The river raft excursion, which is slated to stretch from May 30th to June 8th, is the first of a series of activities in the project.

During the course of the trip, Fort Albany community members will visit and document approximately a dozen sites of importance. They will also interview each other about treaty nine territories and place Mushkegowuk land markers along their route in both Cree and English. Students from the local school will be among those making the trip and it is hoped that the experience will help them foster a revitalized relationship with the rivers.

The NORDIK Institute is located on the campus of Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. NORDIK conducts community-based research with a wide variety of community partners. Its holistic approach to research is based on collaborative, community-university research partnerships wherein communities identify their research needs and questions, and are supported in their inquiry by university-trained researchers, many of whom are drawn from the community itself. This approach builds on the strengths of the community and enhances the capacity for the community to conduct its own research.

To learn more visit www.nordikinstitute.ca.

About Algoma University
Algoma University offers a wide variety of liberal arts and sciences degree options including programs in Psychology, Computer Science, Business Administration, Fine Arts, Community Economic & Social Development, and Biology; Algoma U is committed to offering a personal education experience unlike any university in Ontario. As the Canadian home of the internationally recognised MSc CGT from the University of Abertay Dundee, Algoma University is at the forefront of computer games technology education. Algoma University also offers accelerated second degree programs in Business Administration and Computer Science on its Brampton campus. To learn more about Algoma University, visit www.algomau.ca.

-30-
Media Contact
Joanne Robertson
NORDIK Institute
Algoma University
705.949.2301 ext. 4369
fddlhead@soonet.ca

Please note that arrangements can be made for interviews with Dr. Broad and/or Professor Gruner.