This virtual conference is an international meeting for Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers and community members to share research papers, workshops, engagement circles, and story-telling activities related to Algonquian peoples. Fields of interest include, but are not limited to, anthropology, archaeology, art, education, ethnography, ethnobotany, folklore, geography, history, language (teaching, revitalization, documentation,…), linguistics, literature, music, native studies, political science, psychology, religion and sociology.

Special Session

The way forward: Drawing from Algonquian epistemologies to talk about Algonquian languages

Organized by Wesley Leonard and Marie-Odile Junker

Building on a growing movement to decolonize linguistic science, which has long had a focus on Indigenous languages but has largely used Eurowestern terminology and concepts to describe them, the 53rd Conference will feature sessions on using Algonquian epistemologies to talk about Algonquian languages. We envision workshops in both English and French to share, create, and discuss the implications of drawing upon Algonquian cultural norms to do Algonquian language work, while also examining the applied and theoretical outcomes of this approach.