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The Canadian Aboriginal Festival is
organized and coordinated by Indian Art-I-Crafts of
Ontario, a non-profit Aboriginal organization. A Board
of Directors governs the organization:
| President |
Wellington Staats |
Six Nations |
| Sec./ Treasurer |
Norm Stinson |
Rama |
| |
Rosie Mosquito |
Bearskin Lake |
| |
Chief
Blaine Commandant |
Wahta |
| |
Ken Hill |
Six Nations |
| |
Jerry Montour |
Wahta |
| |
Ethel Birkett |
LaValley Golden Lake |
| |
Lawrence Martin |
Cochrane |
The Executive Director is Catherine
Cornelius, a status member of the Oneida of the Thames
community, has been with Indian Art-I-Crafts since it's
inception eighteen years ago. Ms. Cornelius previously
worked with the Chiefs of Ontario, the Canadian Government
and owns and operates Oneida of the Thames Marketing.
Program Director, Ron Robert, a metis
of Mohawk and French descent has also been with the
organization since the beginning. He is a former broadcaster,
a former assistant to former Prime Minister Trudeau,
and a senior government media relations officer.
Other Activities:
Other activities include the Aboriginal
Teaching Circles, Aboriginal Day at Canada's Wonderland
and other events on a request basis.
Aboriginal Teaching Circles
The Teaching Circles are held in at least six cities
in southern Ontario. Including, education day at the
Canadian Aboriginal Festival held at Toronto's SkyDome,
which draws over 7,000 students.
The program is designed to give non-Aboriginal students
a positive Aboriginal Experience and to instill in them
a desire to learn more about Canada's first peoples.
Usually held in city parks or indoor facilities, five
to seven stations (depending on the number of students),
rotate from station to station and then all assemble
at the Dance Circle. The stations are set up to teach
the students about various aspects of Aboriginal heritage,
culture and history and are taught by credible Aboriginal
instructors.
The Teaching Circles are financed through the generosity
of Dept. of Indian Affairs, Bank of Montreal and Historica
and through the registration fee of $7.00 per student.
To ensure content is in keeping with the wishes of
teachers and is appropriate for the Ontario curriculum,
the assistance of the Elementary Teachers Federation
of Ontario and the Ontario Teachers' Federation was
sought and obtained.
Historica Fairs
Indian Art-I-Crafts in partnership with the Historica
Foundation assists in organizing Historica Fairs (similar
to science fairs) in elementary schools within Aboriginal
communities. For more information on Historica Fairs
please click to Historica's website www.histori.ca.
Aboriginal Day - Canada's Wonderland
This event is held every year on the last Saturday
of September at Canada's largest theme park. The major
attraction for our people are the usual features of
the park and a variety concert (Aboriginal performers)
staged in the early evening. A special reduced price
for Aboriginal people is negotiated with Wonderland
and in turn Art-I-Crafts handles the sale of tickets
for a small commission on each ticket.
This year will mark our ninth year at Wonderland.
Other Events:
In previous years, Art-I-Crafts produced Aboriginal
shows for Ontario Place for Canada Day Celebration,
Parks Canada Conference, Scarborough Fall Harvest Festival,
Bank of Montreal Conference, the 2002 Queen's Golden
Jubilee Celebration in Hamilton and numerous others.
Art-I-Crafts has also organized and coordinated Aboriginal
Economic Development Conferences inconjunction with
the Canadian Aboriginal Festival.
Click
here for a list of Committees and Volunteers |
