Elders and Indigenous representatives
Inviting an Elder or Indigenous representative to attend and/or speak at your event offers a recognition of the Nation(s) who have had a relationship with the land since time immemorial. Ideally, you will form relationships with Elders and First Nations communities before asking them to participate. This not only aids your cultural learning and understanding as an individual and as an organization, but is also much less transactional. When possible, try to invite someone who has a connection to the topic of the event, e.g., through their work or other interests. If they are not available, consider asking them if they have anyone else they would suggest.
Note: This is not the same as a territorial acknowledgement.
Here are some considerations when asking an Elder or Indigenous representative to attend an event.
Protocol to keep in mind
- Don’t wait until the last minute, if at all possible, to invite someone to participate.
- Always invite someone as a participant, not as a “performance.”
- Each territory has specific protocols around giving gifts (or tokens of appreciation, in addition to the honorarium). If you’re unsure about territorial protocol, ask for guidance. Approach this conversation with the Elder or Indigenous representative with humility, emphasizing that you want to not only be respectful in this process, but also learn more. Transparency and honest effort go a long way, and they will likely appreciate you asking.
- Beyond territorial protocol, each individual will have their own preferences around communication, how to be addressed, etc. Just because you have worked with one person from a certain First Nation does not necessarily mean someone else from that community will feel exactly the same. When you build authentic relationships with the people you work with, you get to know them as individuals and not only as representatives of their community or territory.
Other things to ask about during the invitation process
- The Elder or Indigenous representative's name
- Spelling and pronuncation of their name
- How they would like to be addressed (name, pronouns, title, etc.)
- Their contact information
- What will be included in their welcome/participation—check in with them regarding how much time and space they will need
Resources
If you are looking to work with Elders or other Indigenous people in your events and programming:
- SFU’s Indigenous Student Centre runs an incredible Elders Program, where they coordinate requests for Elder support at events and activities in the SFU community. We have loved having Elder Margaret George and Elder Syexwaliya join us through the support of the Elders Program for many of our events.
- Host Consulting is an Indigenous-led consulting firm that provides “specific and valuable situated knowledge and insight on the arts and how to work with [their] Nations in Metro Vancouver, the unceded, occupied, traditional territories of the Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Səllwətaɬ peoples.”
- SFU’s Indigenous Student Centre also suggests reaching out to:
- Working with Elders — guidelines from the First Peoples’ Cultural Council