Annual MMIW Potluck
Schedule
Wed Feb 12 2025 at 05:00 pm to 07:00 pm
UTC-05:00Location
Toronto Metropolitan University | Toronto, ON
In room POD250 located on the second floor of 380 Victoria St EntranceJoin the IEC and GMISS to commemorate and honour missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, men, and two-spirit people. We invite Indigenous community members, to gather in the spirit of love and respect.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a food dish in memory of a loved one and come together in community to pray, honour and feast. Please use the Google Sheets via the comment feature on what your dish is, and which categories it covers (vegan, nut-free, etc) and staff will enter the data for you. Questions? email [email protected]
This event is organized by the Indigenous Education Council in the Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic and Gdoo-maawnjidimi Mompii Indigenous Student Services | Indigenous Initiatives in the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion (OVPECI).
Amy Desjarlais (Lead, Rebirthed Teachings) will offer a smudge, song and guide us through ceremony and the practice of feasting.
What is a Memorial Feast?
This practice is similar to our Ancestors’ feast, in Anishinaabe ways of life, we believe a human being’s spirit lives on after the body returns to the ground. That spirit also does work once in the spirit realm. Thus, they expend energy and receive nourishment through feast foods.
The feast foods traditionally offered in some Anishinaabe communities are: game meats or fish, wild rice, corn, beans, squash and berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries). A Memorial Feast differs somewhat due to the offering of an individuals’ preferences in life. Family members who remain may offer the deceased person’s favourite dish(es).
Who are the MMIWGM2S?
MMIWGM2S stands for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, men and two-spirit people. The families of missing and murdered Indigenous women have been raising awareness for decades. In 2004, the Native Women’s Association of Canada launched the Sisters In Spirit campaign to address violence against Indigenous women and girls, creating a database of these disappearances for greater coordination and communication across communities.
Through this program, the MMIWGM2S communities and allies collectively called for a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The National inquiry began in 2016 and ended in 2019. Read the Executive Summary Report: Reclaiming Power and Place at:
About Amy Desjarlais Waabishka Kakaki Zhaawshko Shkeezhgokwe (White Raven Woman with Turquoise Eyes):
Amy currently works at Toronto Metropolitan University as the Lead, Rebirthed Teachings, in the Indigenous Initiatives unit of the OVPECI. Rebirthed Teachings is a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff working together to educate about our shared history together.
Amy is an instructor for Anishnawbe Health Toronto’s Community Health Worker Training Program. Her community work includes sitting as an executive board member at the Centre for World Indigenous Studies, and a general board member for Community Music Schools of Toronto. She is a member of Spiritwind singers with performances all over Tkaronto as a group and individual hand drummer.
Guidelines:
Absolutely no drugs or alcohol permitted while in attendance.
Family members may be present.
All visitors please refrain from touching the Facilitator, Elders’ and helpers’ sacred bundle items, drums, feathers, unless asked to do so. etc.
No interviews, photography or video recording will be permitted given the nature of the event. We thank you for respecting the families, friends and community members of missing and murdered loved ones.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please email Cher Trudeau, Administrative Coordinator, Indigenous Education Council and Indigenous Initiatives, at [email protected].
