Lea Denieul – “Mapping Land Theft as a Mediating Tool to Strengthen Indigenous-Settler Alliances”

As part of our Graduate Fellows Lunchtime Seminars, the Social Justice Centre welcomes a talk by Lea Denieul.

UPDATE: Watch the recording on youtube.

Title: Mapping Land Theft as a Mediating Tool to Strengthen Indigenous-Settler Alliances

In a recent letter to the Okois (2021), Ellen Gabriel, spokesperson for the Longhouse of Kanehsatà:ke wrote “the time has come to build connections outside of such institutions as the Band Council and Municipality, to meet one another as human beings and work through our history in a spirit of dialogue until sufficient mutual confidence is built to broach the difficult issue of land.” Responding to this call, I dedicate my PhD research to finding ways to strengthen alliances that engage both settler and Indigenous communities around the land based issues that both unite and divide them. My main research aim is to assess the potential of mapping as a mediating tool to create space for the high-stakes conversations necessary for building solidarity and political collectivity to tackle Land Back efforts.

During this event I will present and unpack my first map. Based on 100 years of archival evidence, it shows how the Sulpician religious order accumulated wealth by granting concessions of Indigenous lands to homesteaders. Specifically, I ask: (RQ1) How can the mapping process be used to tell the story of land theft in Kanehsatà:ke?

The talk will be followed by a commentary by Margaret Wickens Pearce, cartographer and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. You can find her work at https://www.studio1to1.net/work

Noah Cannon, who has been involved in the project since its inception, will also be answering questions. Noah received a Master’s degree in human geographer from Concordia under the supervision of Prof. Kevin Gould. His thesis Performing Indigenous well-being: Historical and political geographies of Canada's community well-being index explored the politics of state knowledge production about Indigenous peoples’ well-being. 

Lea Denieul is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment and a graduate fellow of the Social Justice Centre.

The talk will be hybrid, both in person and on zoom. Drinks, sandwhiches and desserts will be served.

Click here to register online on zoom.

To attend in person:
Room H1269-3
Department of Geography, Planning and the Environment
Hall Building
1455 De Maisonneuve West