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BIDDEFORD, Maine

Native Elder Isabelle Knockwood on Oct. 12th discusses the residential school experience and the Canadian prime minister's apology

The University of New England's 2nd Annual Donna M. Loring Lecture on Oct. 12, 2010 will be presented by native Elder Isabelle Knockwood, who will give a personal account of a residential school experience and the effects of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology many years later.

The lecture, titled "Out of the Depths," will take place at noon in the St. Francis Room of the Ketchum Library at UNE's Biddeford Campus. The UNE Maine Women Writers Collection Donna M. Loring Lecture is free and open to the public. It  is cosponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity Programs, Department of English and Language Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies Program.

From the late 1800s through well into the 20th century, First Nations children in Canada (like those in the U.S.) were forced or coerced into attending residential schools, whose purpose was to eradicate indigenous culture.

The myriad abuses perpetrated at these bleak institutions were only acknowledged in 2008, when Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper issued an official apology to the residential school survivors on behalf of Canada and all Canadians.

Ms. Knockwood, a revered tribal elder of the Mi'kmaq Nation, attended the Indian Residential School in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, from 1936 to 1947. She will take the audience on a guided tour through the experience of residential schooling.  The focus of her presentation will be on the question of how Stephen Harper's apology affected the survivors of the Shubenacadie residential school.

Isabelle Knockwood

Isabelle Knockwood received her bachelor's degree from St. Mary's University, Halifax, N.S. with a major in anthropology and a minor in English. 

An elder of the Mi'kmaq Nation, she is the author of Out of the Depths: The Experiences of Mi'kmaw Children at the Indian Residential School in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia (1992, Fernwood Publishing; extended edition 2001), which she wrote about her own experiences in Shubenacadie. She wrote this book while still a student of English Professor Gillian Thomas, who also edited the book. 

She is presently working on her master's thesis in interdisciplinary studies at the University of New Brunswick. This work analyzes the effects of the Canadian Prime Minister's 2008 apology to residential school survivors on behalf of Canada and all Canadians.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.