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No Place for a Child: Honouring Nora Bernard

With Andrea Currie, Ma’lglit Pelletier, Rebecca Thomas, and Shelagh Rogers

Sunday, October 26
3:30PM – 6:00PM (Doors Open 3:00PM)
Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library
$0.00

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Description

We’ll screen a new mini-documentary about the life and work of 2025 Heritage Day honouree Nora Bernard, and then Shelagh Rogers will lead a panel discussion about reconciliation—how we move forward together, meaningfully. Andrea Currie, Ma’lglit Pelletier, and Rebecca Thomas will join us for this vital conversation. Then, you’re invited to enjoy some light catering and conversation, as you process what you’ve seen and heard. This is a free event, open to all, presented in partnership with Halifax Central Library, and with the support of the Nova Scotia Department of Culture, Communities, Tourism, and Heritage.

Speakers

  • Andrea Currie’s debut book Finding Otipemisiwak: The People Who Own Themselves is a weaving of memoir, essay and poetry that illustrates the depth and breadth of the impact of the Sixties Scoop, the love between a brother and a sister, the challenges of living with profound cultural loss, and the healing that is sometimes possible. The pieces range from bluntly honest critique of the colonial practices that permeate child welfare agencies to tender accounts of two children’s vulnerability in childhoods defined by that system. In this timely work of narrative non-fiction, Currie asks as many questions as she answers.

  • Margaret (Ma'lglit) Pelletier is a respected Mi’kmaw Elder who lives in We’koqma’q First Nation, Unama’ki (Cape Breton), where she was born in 1940. A basket maker and retired nurse, she is a residential school survivor.

  • Rebecca Thomas is an award winning Mi'kmaw writer of things. Sometimes they are poems, sometimes they are childrens’ books and sometimes they are love notes for family and friends. But they are always done with purpose and intention. She is a registered band member of Lennox Island First Nation in Epekwitk. Her ultimate goal is to take up space as an Indigenous woman in a world where they aren’t as valued or worthy as other groups of people. Rebecca dares you to tell her to be smaller and see what happens. She has been the Poet Laureate of Halifax and caregiver to her father who is a survivor of the Shubenacadie Residential School. She has performed with the Halluci Nation, Symphony Nova Scotia, and has spoken and lectured at conferences and coffee houses from coast to coast. Her first book I'm Finding My Talk has been shortlisted for the First Nations Community Reads Award. Her most recent collection of poetry called "I place you into the fire" was listed as one of CBC's top 20 books of 2020. Her book "Swift Fox All Along" was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General's Award for children's literature. She has an upcoming children's book called "Grampy’s Chair" is set to be released in September of 2024. She pays her bills by helping students who are overwhelmed with life and studies as a Student Services Advisor at the Nova Scotia Community College.

  • Shelagh Rogers is the 16th Chancellor of Queen’s University, succeeding the 15thChancellor, The Honourable Murray Sinclair.  A veteran broadcast-journalist, she most recently was the host and co-creator of CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter, the award-winning program devoted to writing in Canada. 

     In 2011, Rogers was inducted as an Honorary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; she has since devoted her focus to amplifying Indigenous voices and narratives. That same year, she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. Rogers has been recognized with honorary doctorates from eight  universities, and served as Chancellor of the University of Victoria for two terms spanning from 2015 to 2021. She is a member of the Métis Nation of Greater Victoria and was the 2022 Symons Medalist. Rogers lives in Winnipeg.