Two of Canada's most prestigious authors and historians will be visiting Owen Sound June 6 on the invitation of the M'Wikwedong Native Cultural Resource Centre. The event is part of the program called Wasa Nabin, an Ojibway word meaning "to look forward".
The theme of the day will be "We are all Treaty People". While the details of the presentations of Maracle and Saul are still in discussion, their recent work suggests a powerful day of challenged assumptions.
Lee Maracle, a prolific First Nations author and activist, brings a strong feminist perspective to the discussion of political empowerment and cultural identity. Her writing is underpinned with "what it means to be a woman living in two cultures".
John Ralston Saul's latest book, The Comeback, describes what Saul believes is the "single most important issue in Canada today" - the resurgence of indigenous power and how non-indigenous people can choose to respond. While the indigenous population has grown from 15,000 in 1900 to almost 2 million today, with thirty-thousand students currently in university and graduating over two thousand lawyers, the Canadian government has spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars fighting treaties all the way to the Supreme Court, says Saul. To whose benefit, he asks.
The Wasa-Nabin event will be held at the Harmony Centre, 9th Street East and 4th Avenue in Owen Sound, and is free and open to everyone. Donations will be welcome at the door.

source: member of organizing committee, WasaNabin