Please join Indigenous Education, the Student Rights & Responsibilities Office, and the Days of Significance Committee as we honour National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit People.
Linda John (left) and Jillian Isaacs (right).
On May 6 we encourage staff and students to join us at our panel event as we hear from Jackie Labonte, Jillian Isaacs, and Linda Johns to learn more about their work and passion towards ending the MMIWG2S+ crisis.
The event will take place in hybrid format in room AH255, Welland Campus or via Zoom, from 10:30am to 12:30pm.
A Zoom link will be sent after registration for those joining virtually.
Please register: forms.office.com/r/JcuFgJVKcN
About the panelists
Linda John is a longtime advocate for MMIWG having lost a daughter in 2010, she extends her advocacy to MMIMB supporting Missing and Murdered Indigenous Men and boys as she has also lost a son in 1994. Linda is Onkwehonwe, of Six Nations residing in the Niagara Region where she raises her grandchildren. Linda is an active member of the “Love Starts With Us” group of Families representing MMIW. She has travelled across traditional territories and capital cities in Canada sharing her stories, supporting marches, rallies and awareness gatherings in hopes to impact healing for families that have to live everyday grieving a loved one.
Jillian Isaacs is the daughter of Linda, also a member of LSWU in Six Nations has supported her mother throughout their healing process. While following in her mothers footsteps, she is learning this awareness for MMIWG is lifelong and wants to inspire a living generation of advocates to continue working towards healing, voicing the needs of families and communities walking this path of awareness.
Jackie (Tekaiatakwas) Labonté is Turtle Clan of the Mohawk Nation, born and raised on Six Nations of Grand River Territory. Her family moved to the Niagara region when she was young, and where she currently resides. She has three beautiful daughters and “Dodah” (GrandMother) to 15 young Spirits, ranging from 2 to 23 years of age. Jackie has worked with Native organizations for over thirty years, providing services for individuals, or within groups sharing Traditional Teachings and facilitating ceremonies. For the past six years, she has been at De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre in the Traditional Healing Program. Twenty of these years has been working with individuals and families experiencing crisis situations and domestic violence, and assisting them on their path of healing for healthy lifestyles. This is a generational response to community needs as her Mother, as the first Aboriginal Courtworker, assisted many people through the justice stream, and now her daughters are also varying helpers in the community.
