Joe Copper Jack: Indigenous Knowledge Holder; Land Relationship Planner

Keynote Speaker

Copper Jack is an active Land Relationship Planner whose client base include Public and Indigenous government planning boards and committees. He was raised in a traditional Indigenous way of life in the mountains of the Yukon. He had many Elder mentors from early childhood throughout most of his adult life. He spent most of his life fighting for Aboriginal rights for Indigenous peoples, and the protection of land and waters in Canada’s northwest. As the creator of a collaborative planning and mediation knowledge tool (Land and Peoples Relationship Model) that is based on indigenous long-ago knowledge, Copper has been proving how land planning could successfully happen between Indigenous and Western knowledge holders, as well as with “No Voice” stakeholders. These include plants, non-human animals and other beings of the land. Only two years old, the Model is actively facilitating planning projects in Yukon, British Columbia, Northwest Territories (Canada) and Alaska (USA).

Chara Armon: Interdisciplinary Professor, Villanova University

Keynote Speaker

Chara Armon, Ph.D. is a Teaching Professor at Villanova University, where she teaches interdisciplinary courses in humanities and ecology. Her research and teaching interests include explorations of human-nature collaboration, spirituality and ecology, regenerative agriculture, and transformative sustainability education. She is the co-editor of the book Prioritizing Sustainability Education (Routledge 2020) and author of articles such as "Regenerative Collaboration in Higher Education: A Framework for Surpassing Sustainability and Attaining Regeneration" (Philosophies, 2021).  A current work in progress entitled "Recovering Consultation with Nature: Putting the New Animism into Practice through Conversations with Members of the Life Community" studies New Animist calls for a turn toward practices of consulting nature via intuitive means.  This consultative communication is not only a way of knowing, but a stimulus of participatory and regenerative action. She shares her work publicly at www.humansandearth.com and on the Humans and Earth podcast.

Click here to read more about Chara Armon's keynote presentation.

Joseph Naytowhow: Emerging Elder/Cultural Advisor at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan

Cultural Advisor and Presenter

Joseph Naytowhow is a gifted Plains/Woodland Cree (nehiyaw) singer/songwriter, storyteller, and voice, stage and film actor from the Sturgeon Lake First Nation Band in Saskatchewan. He currently serves as Emerging Elder/Cultural Advisor at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan. As a child, Joseph was influenced by his grandfather’s traditional and ceremonial chants as well as the sounds of the fiddle and guitar. Today he is renowned for his unique style of Cree/English storytelling, combined with original contemporary music and traditional First Nations drum and rattle songs. 

An accomplished performer, Joseph is the recipient of the 2006 Canadian Aboriginal Music Award’s Keeper of the Tradition Award and the 2005 Commemorative Medal for the Saskatchewan Centennial. In 2009 Joseph also received a Gemini Award for Best Individual or Ensemble Performance in an Animated Program or Series for his role in Wapos Bay series. That same year he was also awarded Best Emerging Male Actor at the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival for his role in Run: Broken Yet Brave and won Best Traditional Male Dancer at John Arcand’s Fiddlefest in Saskatchewan. Recently, Joseph was awarded the Saskatchewan Arts Board’s Arts and Learning Award for his far reaching work with many organizations, students and artists. He has performed for the Prince of Wales, the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan and many other notables. His demanding schedule continues to take him to conferences, symposia, festivals and art/research projects both nationally and internationally.

Fifteen years of study with a Buddhist master, combined with his nêhiyaw/Cree traditional knowledge and experience as an interdisciplinary artist has nurtured Joseph’s generosity and compassion for sharing cultural knowledge. A much sought after speaker, counselor, and educator for youth and adults alike, Joseph frequently enjoys opportunities to work as a resident artist and outdoor educator. From 1995 to 2000 he served as the Storyteller-In-Residence for Meadow Lake Tribal Council. More recently Joseph served as Emerging Elder with the Indian Teacher Education Program in Saskatoon, Emerging Elder/Artistic Advisor with Living Sky School Division, and regularly serves as advisor/knowledge keeper with various universities across turtle island.

Joseph holds a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Saskatchewan. As an innovative artist, mentor, and a committed arts educator he fully embraces his own lifelong learning curve.

A variety of other symposium sessions will support deep reflection and dialogue on Intuitive Interspecies Communication (IIC) and IIC research.

Parallel sessions - Presentations and discussions with authors of submitted papers, videos and artwork based on themes, including:

• Professional Practice of IIC
• Decolonizing Practice
• Animals as Teachers
• Using IIC to Develop Collaborative Practices
• Exploration of IIC through Animal Perspectives 

Presentations, panels and sessions focused on:

• Insights from Animal Advisors (communicated by Anna Breytenbach)
• IIC research
• Action Planning Sessions
• Songs and Indigenous Teachings
• Discussion on Respectfully Engaging Indigenous Peoples and their Knowledges
• The Lived Experience of IIC, told by those who experience it
• Talking Circle with Indigenous Elders and Non-Indigenous Animal Communicators, Artists and Scholars
• Themed Discussions based on Participant Interests

Day 2 - Orienting to IIC and IIC Research

Day 3 - Creating and Living in a Respectful Multispecies Culture: What is needed?

Day 4 - Stepping Out: Collaborations and Action Plans

Day 5 - Synthesis and Next Steps

The International Multispecies Methods Research Symposium: Intuitive Interspecies Communication is intended for a diverse audience of researchers, practitioners and other individuals interested in intuitive interspecies communication – often known as “animal communication” in lay terms.

We value the participation of each registrant and want all attendees to have an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Accordingly, all attendees are expected to show respect and courtesy to other attendees throughout the symposium events.

To make clear what is expected, all delegates/attendees, speakers, organizers and volunteers at the International Multispecies Methods Research Symposium: Intuitive Interspecies Communication are required to conform to the following Code of Conduct. Organizers will enforce this code throughout the event. 

 International Multispecies Methods Research Symposium: Intuitive Interspecies Communication is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion or species. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. 

All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Avoidance of colonizing language is requested. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks and small breakout rooms. 

Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other attendees. Behave professionally. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for International Multispecies Methods Research Symposium: Intuitive Interspecies Communication. 

Attendees violating these rules may be asked to leave the symposium without a refund at the sole discretion of the event organizers. 

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact: 

• Avantika Mathur-Balendra avantika.mathur@usask.ca 

We will be happy to assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the sympoisum. We value your attendance. 

Attendee Procedure for Handling Harassment

This procedure has been adopted from the Ada Initiative's guide titled "Conference anti-harassment/Responding to Reports” and PyCon 2017’s policy.

1. Contact staff personnel (Avantika Mathur-Balendra) (info below). The staff will also be prepared to handle the incident. All of our staff members are informed of the code of conduct policy and guide for handling harassment at the conference. There will be a mandatory virtual staff meeting prior to the conference when this will be reiterated as well.
2. Report the harassment incident (preferably in writing) to Avantika- all reports are confidential.
3. When reporting the event to staff, try to gather as much information as available, but do not interview people about the incident - Staff will assist you in writing the report/collecting information.
4. The important information consists of:

• Identifying information (name) of the participant doing the harassing
• The behavior that was in violation
• The approximate time of the behavior (if different than the time the report was made)
• The circumstances surrounding the incident
• Other people involved in the incident

The staff is well informed on how to deal with the incident and how to further proceed with the situation.

If everyone is presently physically safe, staff will involve law enforcement or security only at a victim's request. If you do feel your safety in jeopardy please do not hesitate to contact local law enforcement by dialing 911. If you do not have a cell phone, you can use any hotel phone or simply ask a staff member.

All reports should be made directly to:

Avantika Mathur-Balendra:  avantika.mathur@usask.ca

This Code of Conduct was forked from the PyCon 2017 Code of Conduct which was forked from the Geek Feminism wiki, created by the Ada Initiative and other volunteers which is under a Creative Commons Zero license. Conference Code of Conduct is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.