The 3000+ service-providing urban Indigenous non-profits and charities in Canada are rights holders and use Indigenous governance practices to do our work and build relations. NUICC supports non-profits in coming together as urban coalitions to support mutual aid, policy development, and advocacy tools. Coalitions coordinate local service delivery and support local urban Indigenous multi-sector planning to impact municipal and regional policies affecting our people.
Over the decades, our communities have stepped up to launch and build urban Indigenous organizations to serve our needs and help us thrive. Would you like to share your experiences using Indigenous knowledge and governance systems in how your organisation is operated? Consider participating in an 8-minute national survey about “UNDRIP and the State of Urban Indigenous Organisations in Canada” by clicking here. You will learn from other people’s responses in our report and will receive stylish “Urban Indigenous Rights” clothing in the mail to thank you for participating.
What you can expect from this inspiring online event:
NUICC welcomes researchers from across Turtle Island to our monthly Community of Practice, our Urban Indigenous Knowledge Mobilisation Hub monthly meetup. Over the next 3 months, the Hub’s Community of Practice will host Speaker Series sessions—talks and workshops with guest speakers from coast to coast to coast.
The Speaker Series 14: Philanthropy and Indigenous Governance Roundtable focused on the critical intersection of philanthropy, Canadian regulatory frameworks, and the exercise of Indigenous self-determination and governance, particularly within urban Indigenous communities. The conversation was grounded in Dr. Damien Lee’s research and his article “Remaining Unreconciled: Philanthropy and Indigenous Governance in Canada.” The discussion was action-oriented, seeking pathways to decolonize funding systems and foster Indigenous governance on their own terms. The event was part of NUICC Knowledge Mobilisation Hub’s research work for 2025 in collaboration with the Imagine Canada Standards Program and the Department of Justice funding projects.
Roundtable speaker:
Dr. Damien Lee, member of Fort William First Nation and a citizen of the Anishinaabe nation, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Biskaabiiyang and Indigenous Political Resurgence at the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).
NUICC Urban Indigenous Knowledge Mobilisation Hub Associates:
Host: Irwin Oostindie, Director of Voor Urban Labs and Urban Indigenous Knowledge Mobilisation Hub Associate.
The panel will help to build a national discourse on how Indigenous knowledge and ways of being can guide and transform systems we work within. This event is part of NUICC Knowledge Mobilisation Hub’s research work for 2025 in collaboration with Imagine Canada, Standards Program and the Department of Justice funding projects.
Panel speakers:
Our guest speaker is Senator ‘Sol’ Sanderson, member of the Chakastaypasin Band of the Cree Nation, chief of his reserve for three terms, leader of the Federation of Sovereign Nationals from 1979 to 1986, where he currently serves as a member of its senate, and a pioneer in Indigenous governance and education. He was instrumental in ensuring that treaties were entrenched in the Constitution and recognized internationally.
Host: Eugène Boulanger (Sahtu Dene); shúhtagot’ı̨nę from Tulít’a. Eugene is a facilitator, multidisciplinary digital media artist, originally hailing from TULÍT’A in the Sahtú region of Denendeh. Eugene came back home to the North to advance change in the communities before learning that change comes from within. Eugene has since centred the promotion of healing and wellness for Indigenous communities with a focus on Indigenous men and boys in his practices.
Funded by Imagine Canada and the Ministry of Justice Canada.
Leilani Shaw is the Executive Director at Montreal Indigenous Community Network.
This session took place on Day 2 of the UNDRIP in Cities Conference that took place during NUICC’s annual National Gathering of Urban Indigenous Coalitions, Feb 28-29th, 2024.
Opening remarks by Nancy Martin is the Executive Director of Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment & Training.
Dr. Yale D. Belanger (Ph.D.) is professor of Political Science at the University of Lethbridge (Alberta), and a Member, Royal Society of Canada, College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists (2017-2024). A core member of the Urban Aboriginal Knowledge Network, his PhD work at Trent University focused on the emergence and evolution of Indigenous political organizations in Canada.
This session took place on Day 2 of the UNDRIP in Cities Conference that took place during NUICC’s annual National Gathering of Urban Indigenous Coalitions, Feb 28-29th, 2024.
Opening Remarks by NUICC co-chairs Damon Johnston and Becky Sasakamoose Kuffner.
Scott Clark is the President of the Northwest Indigenous Council (NWIC).
This session took place on Day 2 of the UNDRIP in Cities Conference that took place during NUICC’s annual National Gathering of Urban Indigenous Coalitions, Feb 28-29th, 2024.
Michelle Bryant-Gravelle is the Senior Director, Indigenous Relations at the City of Vancouver. She is the Vice President of the Women’s Leadership Network, an elected Trustee for the Lax Kw’alaams Settlement Trust, and a Director for Skilled Trades BC. Michelle is from the Ts’msyen Nation, from the Nine Allied Tribes of Lax Kw’alaams and from the Gitwilgyoots (People of the Kelp) Tribe and Gispudwada (Killer Whale) Clan. Her traditional name is Bilha’am Nelx, which means “Pearl (inside of the abalone shell) on the fin of the killer whale”.
This session was part of the NUICC UNDRIP in Cities Conference, Day 2. The conference took place during NUICC’s annual National Gathering of Urban Indigenous Coalitions, Feb 28-29th, 2024.
Sylvia Maracle (Skonaganleh:ra) is a Wolf Clan member from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory who has resided in Toronto for 50 years. She is a passionate advocate for urban aboriginal peoples and women’s issues.
This Banquet Night session was part of the NUICC UNDRIP in Cities Conference, Day 1. The conference took place during NUICC’s annual National Gathering of Urban Indigenous Coalitions, Feb 28-29th, 2024.
Joseph Russell Diablo is a member of the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake. He is a First Nations political and legal issues expert and educator with more than 45 years of community organizing experience.
This Banquet Night session was part of the NUICC UNDRIP in Cities Conference, Day 1. The conference took place during NUICC’s annual National Gathering of Urban Indigenous Coalitions, Feb 28-29th, 2024.
Michelle Keller is an A/Senior Analyst on the Consultation and Cooperation Team of the UN Declaration Act Implementation Secretariat, at the Department of Justice.
Gabrielle Héroux is a Senior Analyst on the Consultation and Cooperation Team of the UN Declaration Act Implementation Secretariat, at the Department of Justice.
Ginger Gosnell is a Nisga’a and Kwakwak’awakw instructor with the Simon Fraser University Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, where she focuses on decolonization and urban Indigenous policy and planning.
This session was part of the conference that took place during NUICC’s annual National Gathering of Urban Indigenous Coalitions, Feb 28-29th, 2024.
Opening Cultural Protocol, by T’uy’t’tanat – Cease Wyss (Squamish educator, interdisciplinary artist and Indigenous ethnobotanist)
NUICC co-chair Welcoming Remarks, by Becky Sasakamoose Kuffner
“Urban Indigenous Unity for Growing Urban Indiegnous Space in Our Cities” session with Joan Phillip, BC Government MLA
This hybrid forum aims to discuss the ways we can rethink JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, inclusion) by re-centering municipal systems with a decolonial and UNDRIP (UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) focus. We consider how UNDRIP provides a framework for
urban Indigenous governance and how the rights of our urban
communities can be achieved through policy work for measurable
change.
Urban Indigenous coalitions are on the frontline of decolonizing municipal structures in Canadian cities that have for too long resisted real change. Equity, diversity, and inclusion policies have relied on incrementalism, but like trickle-down economics, they rarely deliver structural change. Speakers at the forum centered Indigenous Knowledge and the experience of urban Indigenous communities as we confront white supremacy and colonial structures in Canadian cities where we live.
This hybrid forum aims to discuss the ways we can rethink JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, inclusion) by re-centering municipal systems with a decolonial and UNDRIP (UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) focus. We consider how UNDRIP provides a framework for
urban Indigenous governance and how the rights of our urban
communities can be achieved through policy work for measurable
change.
This panel discussion was part of a larger event produced by St. John’s coalition, First Voice. We heard from practitioners on the front lines of understanding and implementing UNDRIP in cities and joined the discussion as the First Peoples Policy Forum opened up for the hybrid session welcoming urban Indigenous coalition representatives from coast to coast to coast.
Live from Whitehorse as the NUIC National Council meets in the Yukon, Sept 29-30, 2022. Cohosted by Council of Yukon First Nations.
NUICC launched it’s Governance Series with SFU Vancouver Research Commons hosting keynote speaker Kanatase Horn (Mohawk) with a presentation “Building Upon the Work of Our Ancestors: Kinship Practices in Urban Spaces.” Kanatase is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa and a researcher on urban Indigenous justice issues. We also heard from Matthew Norris (Cree) who is the Board President of UNYA, pursuing his PhD from UBC, and an expert advisor to the BC government’s UNDRIP implementation work.
We discussed ways that Indigenous youth and families living in cities can achieve healthier outcomes and connections to place. The presentations will be followed by a panel of Indigenous youth from Surrey, Edmonton and Calgary who will provide their perspectives on well-being in cities.nnNUICC members will be invited to discuss and share their experiences and suggestions on how to integrate lessons into their own work.
We know that a significant part of community-engaged research starts before a project even begins with how we build consent for research, and the unique community ethics of each place. We discussed the practices we want to build or are already using to make sure that urban Indigenous Peoples are at the centre of research and projects. We are delighted to be joined by speakers who have experience in navigating consent and ethics including authors of Research 101: A Manifesto for Ethical Research in Vancouveru2019s Downtown Eastside.
We shared our expertise, practices, and ethics of bringing Indigenous knowledge into policy. The talk was followed by a group discussion that provides space for questions and sharing.
Guest speaker: Jennifer King, MSW Reconciliation and Policy Coordinator, First Nations Child & Family Caring Society
