Women Planting Seeds of Change: Stories of Transformation with Jane and Jane
Around the world Indigenous women continue to work for change in and for their families, communities, tribes, and nations to ensure care, respect, rights, and justice, in challenging realities, historical and current, of colonization, genocide, discrimination, and patriarchy.
For 2022, the Antigonish International Women’s Week organizing committee decided to on the theme of Seeds of Transformation: Feminist Organizing for Change and Growth, in consideration of the change – past, present, and future for women’s rights, gender justice and ending patriarchy, and the women who do this work. Recognizing the ordinary and extraordinary women who work for and seek change in communities and nations, this webinar brings together two phenomenal Indigenous women, both named Jane, from different continents, who are committed to change for women, their families, and communities.
MARCH 9, 2022
11: 00 AM
Atlantic Standard Time
6:00 PM
East Africa Time
About the Speakers
Elder Jane Meader
Unama’ki/Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Grandmother Jane Meader originates from the traditional lands of Una’maki, now commonly known as Cape Breton, and resides in Membertou, a Mi’kmaw community.
Grandmother Jane is dedicated to preserving and promoting Mi’kmaw heritage by working with people and organizations to keep the language alive, often layering her language lessons with culture and ceremony. As a pipe carrier and spiritual teacher, she is frequently invited to communities in the Atlantic Region to provide guidance to those who seek it.
Jane has taught for both StFX University and Cape Breton University where she specializes in Indigenous Education and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy.
Her formal education includes a Masters of Education from St. Francis Xavier University.
As a Mi’kmaw woman, she embraces, acknowledges and continues to learn her ancestral ways so that she may practice and apply traditional philosophy and principles in her daily life. Although a university graduate, Jane considers the lessons she has received from the Elders as the most significant and valuable education provided to her.
Jane Naini Meriwas
Kenya
Jane Naini Meriwas, Executive Director, Samburu Women Trust, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Community Development with a focus on Gender Development. She is and has been a community development practitioner, Feminist, and women human rights defender for more than 20 years, working to advance women and girls’ rights among indigenous communities, at policy development, governance, and implementation.
Julia Baniak
St. Albert, Alberta
Julia Baniak is Cree from St. Albert, Alberta, currently residing in Antigonish, Nova Scotia (Mi’kma’ki). She is a student at St. Francis Xavier University (StFX) working to complete a Bachelor of Science in Human Kinetics; she is also a member of the StFX rugby team.