Â鶹´«Ã½ faculty members Elaine Hsiao (School of Peace and Conflict Studies) and Yuko Kurahashi (School of Theatre and Dance) are hosting special guests, Madeline Sayet (Mohegan), Kawenniiosta Jock (Kanien’kehá:ka Wolf Clan), and Paul Chiyokten Wagner (Saanich Nation), for Blackbox Theatre (April 12) and the Environmental Justice Symposium (April 13-14) at Kent State.
Registration for the symposium has closed, but you can still attend! Stop by any event to register in person. See you there!
Full information on the symposium sessions (which includes additional sessions not mentioned in this post) can be found at /esdri/2023-symposium-invited-speakers
Kawenniiosta Jock (Wolf Clan)
(Orenhre'kowa Ki'taratakie) | Waterfall Unity Alliance
Board of Directors
Biography: Kawenniiosta Jock, Kanien’kehá:ka Wolf Clan, is an activist, land protector, master seamstress and artist. Kawenniiosta has helped develop traditional support, cultural teachings and language preservation within the tribe and is a traditional full-spectrum doula who uses indigenous methods and medicines. Kawenniiosta is an alumna of the Akwesasne Freedom School and is passionate about her people and culture.
Paul Chiyokten Wagner | Protectors of the Salish Sea
Founder | Saanich Nation tribal member
Biography: Paul Chiyokten Wagner is a member of the Saanich Nation and founder of Protectors of the Salish Sea and the Tarpee housing project where he and volunteers built and gifted 47 Tarpees (indigenous structures) with wood stove heaters to indigenous families with elders at the Standing Rock resistance camps. To date 88 Tarpees have been gifted and utilized to help stop fossil fuel expansions. He is also Co-president of the board of directors for White Swan Environmental. Chiyokten spoke alongside Jill Stein at the COP21 Paris Climate talks as well as organizing and participated in many Chase Bank divestment campaigns who are the number one investors in Tar Sands pipeline projects. He has launched numerous prayer walks for our Salish Sea and recently returned from 4 months on the frontlines at Fairy Creek protecting Oldgrowth forest ecosystems.
Opportunities to engage with these Indigenous leaders include:
- April 12 at 4-5pm: Panel Dialogue on Land Acknowledgments: Statements and Beyond at Raup Library (McGilvrey Hall 417)
- April 12 at 7-8:15pm: An Evening with Madeline Sayet at Erdmann-Zucchero Blackbox Theatre (Free, no registration necessary)
- April 13 at 10am-12pm: May 4 Visitors Center Tour
- April 14 at 9:30am – 12pm: Recentering Conservation Session at the Environmental Justice Symposium at Kent State Hotel & Conference Center (Registration FREE on-site)
- April 14 at 4-5pm: Allyship Workshop at the Environmental Justice Symposium at Kent State Hotel & Conference Center (Registration FREE on-site)
If you are interested in connecting with the guests at any other times during those dates, please feel free to contact Yuko Kurahashi (ykurahas@kent.edu) or Elaine (Lan Yin) Hsiao (ehsiao1@kent.edu) to coordinate.