Aiming to re-write Wikipedia

NEWS RELEASE

ALGOMA UNIVERSITY

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For the month of June, the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC), housed on the campus of Algoma University, will be hosting a series of events to raise the profile of Indigenous peoples and women, including the Archives of Ontario’s travelling exhibit, A Lifetime – Day by Day, Five Women and Their Diaries.

A Lifetime – Day by Day, Five Women and Their Diaries, focuses on the lives of five upper and middle class women who lived in Ontario in the late nineteenth-century.

The exhibit focuses on the diaries of Martha Hastie, Katherine Beatrice Edgar, Phoebe Holden Gregg, Bessie Gregg Stewart, and Frances Tweedie Milne, which detail their families, friends, occupations, and surrounding communities.

The SRSC has also curated a companion exhibit, titled Indigenous Women Rebuilding a Nation.

This exhibit examines the history of Indigenous women and their art, advocacy, struggles, and determination.

The display highlights Algoma U’s Chancellor Shirley Horn, Walking With Our Sisters, Project of Heart, and Mother Earth Water Walk.

These initiatives demonstrate reconciliation and truth telling, but also emphasize the work being done and led by Indigenous women.

SRSC Student Assistant Skylee-Storm Hogan and alumnus Joanne Robertson co-curated the exhibit.

Robertson was responsible for the central communications at Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig during the 2011 Mother Earth Water Walk and is still involved with the water walk movement.

The SRSC will also be holding a special event leading up to National Aboriginal Day.

On June 20 from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. in the Doc Brown Lounge, the SRSC will be hosting a Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon to increase the prevalence of content relating to Indigenous women online.

The event aims to re-write Wikipedia to include Indigenous women in historical narratives not only as wives, daughters, aunts, and sisters, but also as leaders with their own identities and stories.

The event is free of charge, open to all and no experience with Wikipedia is required. Drop-ins welcome.

For more information, please contact Krista McCracken, Research and Curator, at [email protected] or call 705.949.2301, Ext. 4623.

About Algoma University

Algoma University was established in 1965 and is located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Algoma University is a small, undergraduate, teaching-focused university that places an emphasis on serving the needs of Northern Ontario.

Algoma University offers a wide range of degrees spanning the liberal arts, sciences, and professional disciplines. As a partner with Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig, Algoma University has a special mission to cultivate cross-cultural learning between Aboriginal populations and other communities.

Algoma University also offers satellite programming in Brampton and Timmins. For more information, please visit www.algomau.ca.

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