Brothers of Colten Boushie hold a photo of him outside a court appearance of his accused killer. Photo by Joel Willick.
Students, professors and activists are gathering at the University of Saskatchewan Thursday night for what organizers are saying will be a frank discussion on racism in the province.
The Department of Indigenous Studies is partnering with the Indigenous Joint Action Coalition to present Peace and Coexistence: the Realities of Saskatchewan on Indigenous Territory.
Panelist, Aboriginal activist and student Erica Violet Lee says this panel discussion is especially important in the wake of the Colten Boushie shooting.
She says organizers of the panel met with the Boushie family before organizing the event.
“They wanted us to keep his name in the news and not let it be brushed away, and we are doing that by making it into a public discussion at the university where we as Indigenous students struggle too,” said Lee. “I think it is important to connect those things. We are not safe from violence because we are at the university, violence happens all over the province.”
The shooting of Colten Boushie on a farm in rural Saskatchewan sparked many hateful and racist comments online in the days following the tragic incident.
“We put this event together to honour the memory of Colten and his family and hopefully we can start a dialogue in this province about racism that can benefit everybody and ensure something like this doesn’t happen again,” said Lee.
Lee says despite the hate that has come out of the tragedy, she hopes the panel will be civil and positive with an end goal of reconciliation and coexistence.
“We want to get together and have it be casual,” she said. “We want people who have any questions on what they can do or the history of what’s happening right now to know this is the space for it.”
The panel will feature both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, including professors, students, activists and politicians.
Here is a list of the panelists:
Erica Violet Lee
Dr. Winona Wheeler
Colby Tootoosis
Sheelah Mclean
Rob Feist