Truth First: Pretendians and the effects on community

Event: Truth First: Pretendians and the effects on community

Venue: MacEwan University-SAMU The Lookout. There is an online option.

Date: September 25, 2025 at 1:00 PM (Mountain Time)

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on the impact of Pretendians on Indigenous community. Let's delve into this important topic together at MacEwan University-SAMU The Lookout.

This will be a live streamed panel discussion with knowledgeable speakers:

Knowledge Keeper Tom Snow: is a Iethka Nakoda (Stoney, Assiniboine) from the Stoney Indian Reserve in Morley, Alberta. He has been a Facilitator of Traditional Nakoda Teachings and Ceremonies across Alberta, BC and Montana. He managed a Child Services business for 11 years where he provided youth work, language instruction, transportation and family reunification visits. He developed a Wellness program for the Wesley First Nation to address Addictions before working at Bentarrow Traditional Healing Society where he continued as an Elder leading ceremonies, circles, educating staff, reintroducing Families to their own cultural practices and teaching the Nakoda (Stoney, Assiniboine) language. He continues this work as the Knowledge Keeper at MacEwan University.

Colleen Hele-Cardinal: is nehiyaw iskwew (Plains Cree woman) from Saddle Lake Cree Nation, AB. She is a community organizer, knowledge keeper, author and kokum of five grand-daughters. She brings over 25 years of experience in mental health, addictions, and crisis work, with a strong foundation in human rights, anti-oppression, and gender-based violence. Her work has focused on supporting both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and she has led the organization of six national 60s Scoop gatherings in Ottawa. She is deeply committed to reconnecting herself and others to Indigenous knowledge through culture and ceremony.

Elaine Kicknosway: traditional helper . Swampy Cree through her biological mother from Amisk Lake and her biological father’s side is from Buffalo Narrows Sk. She is a member of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in Northern Saskatchewan, and is Wolf Clan. She is a Sixties Scoop Survivor and returned home in 1996. She has been long time community advocate in the areas of child welfare, MMIW2SG, healthy families, and Indigenous Wellness that include spaces for the LGBTQ2S+. Elaine is an Indigenous land based focusing therapist & trauma Counsellor, a Blanket exercise facilitator and trainer, Indigenous full spectrum birth to death Doula , Traditional dancer, singer, drummer and is the Cofounder of The Sixties Scoop Network and carrier of ceremonial teachings.

Katrina Koe: is a proud Dene/Nihtat Gwich’in and Cree mother of two, and a final-year Bachelor of Arts student in Anthropology and Sociology at MacEwan University. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and raised between Treaty 11 and Treaty 6 territories, Katrina is the daughter of two residential school survivors—an experience that continues to shape her path, purpose, and the values she carries forward. Katrina’s long-term vision is to support the reclamation of Indigenous governance systems through law, ceremony, and community. She plans to pursue the JD/JID program at the University of Victoria to study both Canadian and Indigenous legal traditions. Her goal is to walk alongside Nations as they reclaim their systems of governance in ways that honour their histories, cultures, and sovereignty. Everything Katrina does is grounded in love for her children, the strength of her ancestors, and the belief that healing and justice begin with truth and community.

This is an opportunity to listen, learn and reflect on how to stand in solidarity with Indigenous peoples by centering truth and respect for identity.