A number of Simon Fraser University faculty and students are available to comment on the importance of National Aboriginal Day, Friday, June 21, and share thoughts on Aboriginal issues within their area of expertise.

Sharon Manson Singer, SFU School of Public Policy professor, can address and evaluate the extent to which Canada’s health and social policies are benefiting or hindering Aboriginal people’s wellbeing. From 2006 to 2011, Manson Singer was president of the Canadian Policy Research Networks, an internationally acclaimed think tank. From 1997 to 2001, she held a number of deputy minister positions in the provincial government.

Sharon Manson Singer, 778.782.7913, sharon_manson_singer@sfu.ca

Mary-Ellen Kelm, SFU Department of History professor, says 20 years of working with Indigenous people has taught her that, regardless of times, spirituality is endemic in their culture. Kelm believes, unlike the residential school system, the Western World’s introduction of Roman Catholicism to First Nations culture in Canada didn’t erode the latter. “First Nations people viewed Catholicism’s Mary as a guardian spirit; the missionaries’ work in spreading faith resonated with First Nations spiritual beliefs. However, First Nations pervasive spiritualism doesn’t coincide with settlers’ secular mentality, and that fosters conflict in treaty negotiations,” says Kelm.

Mary-Ellen Kelm, 778.238.3460 (cell), kelm@sfu.ca

Alexandra King is an Aboriginal physician pursuing graduate work in SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences this fall. She combines clinical practice with research in her investigation of HIV/AIDS within Aboriginal populations. A member of the Nipissing First Nation, King is also of Ojibwe, Mohawk, Algonquin and mixed European descent. She believes her ancestry gives her a unique perspective on the social and health determinants, and resilience issues driving Aboriginal people’s fate. During her studies at SFU King will explore Aboriginal HIV/AIDS issues in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side.

Alexandra King, 778.870.4104 (cell), alexandra.king@ubc.ca

Ken Lertzman, SFU School of Resource and Environmental Management professor, is among several researchers collaborating with the Heiltsuk and Wuikinuxv First Nations on projects this summer on B.C.’s central coast. Lertzman can highlight the myriad studies, from herring ecology, management and traditional use to indigenous perspectives on climate change. The research team is part of the Hakai Network for Coastal People, Ecosystems and Management. Launched in September 2010 and funded by the Tula Foundation, with up to $8 million over eight years, the network is allowing SFU researchers and First Nations partners to study ecological and social sustainability and implement eco-system-based management.

Ken Lertzman, 778.782.3069; lertzman@sfu.ca

Darcy Wolfspirit, an SFU staffer at the Burnaby campus’ Bennett Library and a Plain Cree from Northern Alberta, can offer a personal perspective on how colonialism underscores issues affecting Aboriginal people’s fate today. “Many of the issues prevalent today are merely symptoms of colonialism,” says Wolfspirit. “It’s what the colonists brought to our continent. It’s their legacy. All around the world other countries colonized by Europeans had the same result: diseases, poverty, loss of language and culture, and high incarceration of Indigenous people.”

Darcy Wolf, 778.782.4648, dwolf@sfu.ca

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