Program
The symposium will take place on Friday and Saturday, 8-9 September 2017. There will be a number of invited presentations by Dene speakers and scholars, as well as opportunities for ceremony, discussion, story-telling, drum and dance performance, and knowledge-sharing by all participants. Like the previous symposium in 2009, the presentations will alternate between community members and academics, each focusing on some part of the larger story about Dene migration. All symposium participants will be encouraged to contribute to the round table and discussion sessions. Food for all meals and coffee breaks will be provided on-site through the registration fee. The program is still under construction as we are awaiting confirmation from invited speakers, but here is a tentative schedule:
2nd Dene Migration Symposium: Mending Holes in our Stories
Tsuut’ina Nation (Bullhead Community Centre)
8-9 September 2017
Friday, 8 September 2017
| 7:01 am | Sunrise Pipe Ceremony (for all who want to attend) |
| 8:00-8:30 am | Breakfast |
| 8:30 am | Opening Ceremony (Chief Lee Crowchild, Tsuut’ina Nation; Dene Sųłiné artist, Alex Janvier, Cold Lake First Nation; Gary Donovan, Tsuut’ina linguist |
| 9:00 am | Welcome and Opening Remarks (Bruce Starlight and Sally Rice) |
| 9:15-10:15 am | Opening Round Table |
| 10:15 am | Raymond Yakeleya, Sahtu Dene, Tulita Dene First Nation & Earth Magic Media Group: “Dene Migrations to and from the North” |
| 10:45 am | Jack Ives, University of Alberta archaeologist: “An Archaeologist’s Perspective on the Vast Extent of Dene Peoples Across Western North America” |
| 11:15 am | Loren Me’-Lash-ne Bommelyn, Tolowa, Tolowa Dee-Ni’ Nation: “Nuu-wee-ya’ Xaa-ghvtlh-sri~ ‘vn’ Dii-dvn (‘our-language genesis to now’)” |
| 11:45 am | Lunch |
| 12:45 pm | Avery Denny, Navajo, Diné College: “Dineh Clan Migration and the Medicinal Journey, Ceremonial Journey” |
| 1:15 pm | Deni Seymour, independent archaeologist: “The Earliest Apache in the Southernmost American Southwest: Evidence and Arguments” |
| 1:45 pm | Veronica Tiller, Jicarilla Apache, Jicarilla Apache Nation: “Restoring Dignity to Translations of Apache Cosmology and World Views” |
| 2:15 pm | Short Break |
| 2:30 pm | Henrietta Stockel, Chiricahua Apache historian and author: “Ethnogenesis and Reinvention, or How to Adopt a White Girl” |
| 3:00 pm | Silischitawn Jackson, Hupa, Hoopa Tribal Museum curator: “Nohxa’ chi ning yai (‘for us, s/he was sent’)” |
| 3:30 pm | Justin Spence, University of California–Davis linguist: “Creation and Migration in California Dene Narratives” |
| 4:00-5:00 pm | General Discussion |
| 5:00 pm | Ceremonial Sweat (for those men and women who want to attend) |
| 7:00 pm | Feast & Entertainment |
Saturday, 9 September 2017
| 7:02 am | Sunrise Pipe Ceremony (for all who want to attend) |
| 8:00-9:00 am | Breakfast |
| 9:00 am | Bruce Starlight, Tsuut’ina, Tsuut’ina Language Commissioner: “Tsuut’ina Migrations” |
| 9:30 am | Gabe Yanicki, University of Alberta archaeologist: “Close, but not too Close: Who was Gambling at the Promontory Caves and What Does This Tell Us About Dene Migration?” |
| 10:00 am | Crystal Lightfoot and DeLorna Strong, Nadi-ish-dena, Apache Tribe of Oklahoma: “A Perspective of a Native Nation’s Name and Overview of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma” |
| 10:30 am | Short Break |
| 10:45 am | Sunday Eiselt, Southern Methodist University archaeologist: “The Canine Question: The Role of Dog Husbandry in Athapaskan Migration and Plains-Pueblo Exchange” |
| 11:15 am | Victoria Wanihadie, Bill Thomas, and Philip Joachim, Tsattine, Beaver Indians at Dunvegan: “The Tsattine People” |
| 11:45 am | Joyce McDonough, University of Rochester linguist: “The Dene Speech Atlas” |
| 12:15 pm | Lunch |
| 1:15 pm | Allen Jacob, Dene Sųłiné, Cold Lake First Nation: “Language Evidence for Regional Migrations among the Dene Sųłiné in the Subarctic?” |
| 1:45 pm | Jessica Metcalfe, University of British Columbia archaeologist: “Think Like a Bison: Migration and Movement of North America’s Largest Land Mammal” |
| 2:15 pm | Steven Crowchild, Tsuut’ina, Tsuut’ina Gunaha Institute: “Tsuut’ina Language and History Revitalization” |
| 2:45 pm | Sally Rice, University of Alberta linguist: “Documenting and Preserving Dene Knowledge for the Future: Towards a Living Digital Archive of Dene Languages and Cultures” |
| 3:15-5:00 pm | Closing Round Table & Wrap Up (Bruce Starlight and Sally Rice) |
| 5:00 pm | Closing Ceremony |
Click on the following link to view/download the Schedule: 2017_DeneMigrationSymposium_Final_Programme