Indigenous Speaker Series
Date: Apr 24
7:00 pm
- 9:00 pm
Where: Theatre
Indigenous Speaker Series
What does it mean to “re-language”? Barbra Meek offers this term as a proposal and an approach toward change within and across disciplinary fields that investigate linguistic form and practice holistically. To exemplify re-languaging as a process for addressing marginalization, Meek reconsiders previous fieldwork in three parts: language documentation, language and cultural revitalization, and language in media. Meek shows that re-languaging happens whether or not we recognize it in the moment through the non-conforming voices, perspectives and linguistic forms that are often the “noise” in a dataset. It also occurs in relation to the narratives and relationships to people and land that are part of revitalization efforts and expressions of Indigenous self-determination. Additionally, re-languaging addresses the call to “decolonize” the academy by recognizing the limits of decolonization in settler-colonial contexts. In tandem with reflexive research and collaboration, re-languaging confronts the marginalizing effects of a settler-colonial, “Western” gaze.
The Indigenous Speaker Series is a platform that facilitates conversations about Indigenous identity, resurgence, linguistic reclamation, and belonging, featuring prominent Indigenous scholars, artists, storytellers, and activists from across Turtle Island.
This program is free, but a ticket is required. Please reserve your free ticket online or by calling (709) 757-8090.
About the Presenter:
Barbra A. Meek is a citizen of the Comanche Nation, professor of anthropology and linguistics, and associate dean for the social sciences at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She received her PhD in the joint program for Anthropology and Linguistics from the University of Arizona (2001). Her research spans child language socialization, Athabaskan sociolinguistics, language revitalization, and ethno-racial semiotics of Hollywood media. She currently chairs a task force for the American Anthropological Association charged with addressing the enduring residue of settler-colonialism in Anthropology’s approaches to research with, and defining of, Native American communities.
The series is presented by Memorial University Department of Anthropology in partnership with The Rooms.
Events & Programs
Join us for an afternoon with Joe Goudie.
The land trappers of Labrador—primarily Innu, Inuit, and settler hunters—lived off the land by trapping animals like fox, marten, and beaver for food and fur.
Using snowshoes, sleds, and later snowmobiles, they followed long traplines through the wilderness, staying in small cabins or tents during the winter months.
Trapping was central to both survival and the fur trade, with furs traded at posts like those run by the Hudson’s Bay Company. The practice blended Indigenous knowledge with settler traditions and shaped life in Labrador for generations. Though less common today, it remains an important part of the region’s heritage.
Tickets: $12 plus HST. Free for Rooms members. Get your tickets online or by calling (709) 757-8090.
About the speaker:
Joe Goudie was born to James and Elizabeth Goudie at Mud Lake, Labrador, in 1939. The family moved to Happy Valley-Goose Bay in 1943, where he graduated high school in 1958.
Joe began working in 1959 as Town Clerk, eventually serving as Town Manager until 1962. He then became manager of an automotive parts supply store until he moved on to become a radio announcer/operator with radio station CFGB Goose Bay until 1973. He then worked in community development with the Company of Young Canadians.
In 1975, Joe was elected as MHA for Naskaupi District in Central Labrador. During that time, he became the first Indigenous Minister to serve on Executive Council until 1985. He then worked in tourism development in Labrador and finished his career as Native Liaison Officer with 5 Wing Goose Bay in 1996.
Joe went on to retrain, learning how to build cedar and canvas canoes. He is now in the final stages of constructing an 18-foot canoe for two of his friends (the final canoe). Among many other accomplishments, Joe was a hunter and trapper and served as Honorary Coronal for 5 Wing Goose Bay.
He holds the Monarch’s Medal for over 50 years of volunteer work, which was presented to him by the Governor General of Canada. His involvement with the community culminated in his admittance to the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador.