Media Advisory – Matawa Education Welcomes Indigenous Educators from Around the Globe

Press Release

August 23, 2024

THUNDER BAY, ON – On Monday, August 26, Matawa Education will welcome a group of Indigenous educators from Hawai‘i, Norway, and Australia as part of the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium’s (WINHEC) accreditation process for the Matawa Waka Tere Indigenous Language Revitalization Program.

Indigenous educators from WINHEC – including Dr. Makalapua Alencastre, Lisa Johnsdatter Baal, Sara Ellen Anne Eira, Dr. Sadie Heckenberg, and Dr. Cathy Kanoelani Ikeda – will visit Thunder Bay, Webequie First Nation, and Long Lake #58 First Nation, with members of Aroland, Ginoogaming and Constance Lake First Nation attending. These site visits will be conducted as part of WINHEC’s accreditation process, which ensures the Matawa Waka Tere program is “framed by Indigenous philosophies” and “incorporates Indigenous culture, language, and worldviews into its programming.”

Media is cordially invited to attend.

Please see Monday’s agenda here, and the visiting committee’s biographies here.

Date: Monday, August 26, 2024

Location: Matawa Education and Care Centre
200 Lillie St. N.
Thunder Bay, ON

Time: 12:15 – 12:45 p.m.

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For more information, please contact Charnel Anderson, Communications Generalist – Matawa First Nations at (807) 621-9405 or by email at canderson@matawa.on.ca.

Established in 2018, the Matawa Waka Tere Indigenous Language Revitalization Program aims to increase the number of Ojibwe, Oji-Cree and Cree speakers through the delivery of language programs based on a methodology developed in partnership with Dr. Rongo H. Wetere, founder Aotearoa’s (New Zealand) first Māori university.

Developed in 2002, the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium is a collective of representatives from Indigenous cultures across the globe that supports Indigenous Peoples pursuing common goals through higher education.

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