Tertulia – Basil Alexander on Looking Back at Ipperwash After 25 Years: Its Continued Importance, Insights, and Lessons [video]

Basil Alexander delivered a talk entitled, “Looking Back at Ipperwash After 25 Years: Its Continued Importance, Insights, and Lessons,” on March 24 that is now available for viewing here.

Basil Alexander was a key member of the legal team for the Estate of Dudley George and Members of the George Family at the Ipperwash Inquiry. His past legal practice focused on public interest and social justice work, and he is now an Assistant Professor with the University of New Brunswick’s Faculty of Law.

In September 1995, Dudley George became the first Indigenous person killed in over 100 years over a historical land dispute in Canada. While government and police actions in 1995 were key contributors to that night’s fateful events, the whole story requires understanding the impact of systemic factors on Indigenous peoples over time, including significant land dispossession. As such concerns and influences remain widespread throughout Canada, Ipperwash continues after 25 years to provide important lessons and insights for approaching settler-Indigenous relations, demonstrations, and other issues today.

What is a tertulia? A tertulia can be described as a kind of philosophy café where participants talk about big thinkers, artists and ideas. This winter, Tertulias Fredericton has put together a series on activists and social movements that have shaped our lives and allowed us to imagine a better future.

Tertulias Fredericton is supported by the NB Media Co-op, publisher of videos of the Tertulia talks, the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network, book publishers Fernwood, Between the Lines, Verso and Canadian Scholars | Women’s Press.

Upcoming Tertulias

March 31 – Caroline Ennis, organizer of the 1979 Tobique Women’s March to Ottawa, on how she and other Tobique women organized to stop gender discrimination in the Indian Act.

April 14 – Jason MacLean, Assistant Professor of Law, University of New Brunswick, on Greta Thunberg, #FridaysForFuture and the Lessons of Youth Climate Activism.

For more information, visit Tertulias Fredericton on Facebook or contact: fredericton.tertulia@gmail.com.