Brave Spirits on New Paths: The Road to Indigenous Economic Reconciliation

Ideafest, an annual festival, highlights outstanding research at the University of Victoria. Event criteria includes uniqueness of topic in a broad range of research that attracts a diverse audience of university and community members. The NCIED was honoured to be selected to present "Brave Spirits on New Paths: The Road to Indigenous Economic Reconciliation" at the Alix Goolden Hall in Victoria, on March 8, 2017.

The program, hosted by Miles Richardson, NCIED director, began with Dr. John Borrows and Dr. Brent Mainprize, NCIED law faculty and business school champions offering insights from their research.

Panel members

Distinguished panel members Ovide Mercredi (past National Chief, Assembly of First Nations, lawyer, politician and author), Guujaaw (past president of the Council of the Haida Nation, artist, environmentalist and activist), Arthur Mercer (Nisga’a hereditary chief and Indigenous business economic development professional) and Dr. David Suzuki (Canadian academic, environmentalist, science broadcaster and author) shared their personal perspectives and expertise with powerful story telling.

Audience members engaged in a stimulating Q&A discussion an hour beyond the advertised conclusion of the program. Positive feedback from the audience of 400 included gratitude for the privilege of hearing such diverse and powerful speakers. One participant wrote, “the presentations and conversations were world-view altering” while another requested that we hold more events with “a wealth of essential life changing information.”

The NCIED expresses gratitude for the speakers’ valuable contributions to an extraordinary evening.