The Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould in conversation with Ivan Coyote
Assembly of First Nations Yukon Region and Yukon U Creative present: The Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould in conversation with Ivan Coyote, with special guest authors Christine Genier and Adri Lera.
Please join The Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould, First Nations Leader, former MP and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and the bestselling author of four books in this exciting fireside chat with author and storyteller Ivan Coyote. We will be joined by Ta'an Kwäch'än Council writer Christine Genier and Tlingit author Adri Lera, reading their new short works inspired by Wilson-Raybould’s new book Reconciling History.
The Honourable JODY WILSON-RAYBOULD, P.C., O.B.C., K.C., served as the Independent Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence until her resignation in 2019. Wilson-Raybould is a Principal of JWR Group, a lawyer, an advocate and leader among Canada’s Indigenous Peoples with a strong reputation as a bridge builder between communities, and a champion of good governance and accountability.
Christine Genier is a Wolf Clan citizen of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council (Yukon). She is a broadcaster, writer, poet, performer, a spoken word artist and a lifelong worker in language and culture. She tries to do this all with honesty and humor. Christine works to help keep her ancestral languages, Tageesh Koshé and Dawkwanjé. Her work shares a lived experience of bridging culture and recovering the Indigenous Space with those prepared to engage. She is a gatherer of stories and moderator of talks. Christine continues working with her family on language text books for TKC citizens and is currently producing her show with Nakai Theatre, Dear Star Trek, a love letter to science fiction exploring Indigenous Futurism.
Adri Lera was born and raised in Juneau, Alaska she currently lives in Mount Lorne. She attends Yukon University and is of Tlingit, Unangax, and Swedish heritage. She won the Active Voice Contest and has been published in CBC North. She is a multimedia artist who works in poetry, short fiction and non-fiction, beading, drawing, painting, and anything else she can get her hands on.
Ivan Coyote is the author of 13 books, and a renowned storyteller who has toured internationally for almost thirty years. Ivan is a third-generation Yukoner of Irish, Scottish and Roma heritage, and was born and raised here in Whitehorse. In addition to their creative work, they also serve as a Specialist in Creative Engagement and Expression at Yukon University, since 2023. Their most recent book, Care Of: Letters, Connections, and Cures was released by McLellan and Stewart in 2021 and was shortlisted for a Governor General’s Award for non-fiction, and their new one person show Playlist premiered in 2024. Coyote has received honorary doctorates from Simon Fraser University (2017) and Yukon University (2023), and the Yukon 125 Medal of Honour in 2024.
Info on the latest book:
Reconciling History
A Story of Canada
By Jody Wilson-Raybould and Roshan Danesh
From the #1 national bestselling author of 'Indian' in the Cabinet and True Reconciliation, a truly unique history of our land—powerful, devastating, remarkable—as told through the voices of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The totem pole forms the foundation for this unique and important oral history of Canada. Its goal is both toweringly ambitious and beautifully direct: To tell the story of this country in a way that prompts readers to look from different angles, to see its dimensions, its curves, and its cuts. To see that history has an arc, just as the totem pole rises, but to realize that it is also in the details along the way that important meanings are to be found. To recognize that the story of the past is always there to be retold and recast and must be conveyed to generations to come. That in the act of re-telling, meaning is found, and strength is built. When it comes to telling the history of Canada, and in particular the history of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, we need to accept that the way in which our history has traditionally been told has not been a common or shared enterprise. In many ways, it has been an exclusive and siloed one. Among the countless peoples and groups that make up this vast country, the voices and experiences of a few have too often dominated those of many others. Reconciling History shares voices that have seldom been heard, and in this ground-breaking book they are telling and re-telling history from their perspectives. Born out of the oral history in True Reconciliation, and complemented throughout with stunning photography and art, Reconciling History takes this approach to telling our collective story to an entirely different level.