DORM ROOMS ARE NOW FILLED.
NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community
20th Annual Symposium
Celebrating 25 years since the launch of the NAIITS vision
& early formation of a learning community
June 1-3, 2023
Co-hosted by
Canadian Mennonite University
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
We will gather on Treaty One Territory,
lands that are the heartland of the Métis people.
In-Person Symposium Registration with meals is closed. limited.
A list of local hotels is provided below.
An Elijah Harper Education Fund Event
A showcase event will be held Saturday June 3rd at 8 p.m. at Canadian Mennonite University. Please remember this when making travel plans. This event happens after the Symposium is closes but is open to those attending the Symposium.
LIVESTREAM & VIRTUAL options
The Convocation on June 1st and the other main sessions June 2 and 3 will be livestreamed at no charge. Follow the website and NAIITS FaceBook for how to access the livestream from home. You do not need to register to have access to the open livestream.
A virtual option is now available -- this will include small groups following the main sessions, a coffee & chat room and extra Symposium sessions. This option will run in Central Time and is open to all. A great way to be in community if you are not able to be in person!
Indigenous peoples express themselves in many musical and artistic forms. The sound and feel of their own music elicit sensibilities of home and familiarity. A fundamental aspect to Indigenous cultural and national restoration has been the flourishing of each nation or cultural group’s style of music and art. The colonial project worldwide has meant the death of Indigenous aesthetics and forms.
1996 saw the first World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People and the honouring of Indigenous cultural protocol, music, and artistic expression. Through eight global WCGIP gatherings the idea that Christian expression can authentically be celebrated in Indigenous ways, forms, and sounds broke the stranglehold of particularly Western Christian musical hegemony.
The early joy at this aesthetic liberation sparked a flurry of Indigenous cultural expression in Christian settings. This both surprised and offended many. Charges of syncretism and appropriation have been leveled at many engaged in restoring their cultural practices. This is the lively context for this Call for Proposals for the 2023 NAIITS Symposium, June 1-3, 2023, in Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Ethnomusicology examines music in its social and cultural contexts to understand what music is and what it means to its practitioners and audiences. As a highly interdisciplinary work, people working in the field may have training in music, cultural anthropology, folklore, performance studies, dance, cultural studies, gender studies, race or ethnic studies, or other fields in the humanities and social sciences. Ethnomusicologists employ a global perspective on music (encompassing all geographic areas and types of music), understanding music as interrelated with its social and cultural contexts, and engage in ethnographic fieldwork (observing and participating in music-making and related activities) and in historical research.
Local Hotels:
Hyatt House Winnipeg South Outlet Collection
700 Sterling Lyon Parkway
(Booking.com rating: very good)
Distance to CMU campus: 2.7 km
Average Price: $CAD190/night/double occupancy room
Holiday Inn Winnipeg – Airport West
2520 Portage Avenue
(Booking.com rating: very good)
Distance to CMU campus: 4 km
Average Price: $CAD140/night/double occupancy room
Quality Inn and Suites
635 Pembina Hwy
Booking.com rating: good
Distance to CMU : 6.5 km
Average Price $CAD140/night/double occupancy room
Howard Johnson by Wyndham Winnipeg West
3740 Portage Ave
(Boking.com rating: good)
Distance to CMU campus: 8.4 km
Average Price: $CAD89/night/double occupancy room
Transit Map for the city of Winnipeg
https://info.winnipegtransit.com/en/other/systemmap