Wednesday june 10th
1:30 pm to 3 pm
Mamuitun Auditorium
Broadcast in the Student Center
Activity open to individuals registered for the Forum.
Graduate research projects that affirm cultural knowledge within an academic setting will be presented.
Charles Bender – Presenter
Charles Bender – Wendat
Actor/Director/Translator
Charles Bender is an actor, host, translator, and director of Wendat and settler origin. He is co-artistic director of the theatre company Menuentakuan and the host of Sans Reserve on APTN. He has sat on many committees and boards of directors that have social justice and contemporary Indigenous culture as part of their mandate.
Charles has been involved in theatre and television for more that 20 years and is often asked to host events that spotlight the exceptional richness of Indigenous peoples and organizations.
Julie Rock
Julie Rock is an Innu from Uashat mak Mani-utenam and a member of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation.
Known as Katshishkutamatsheshkueu, she is a professor of Indigenous realities and psychosocial intervention in the Department of Psychoeducation and Social Work at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). She is also a doctoral candidate in education, and in her thesis she examines cultural safety practices designed to support school perseverance and success for Indigenous students within community-based vocational training programs.
Professor Rock has extensive professional experience in developing and implementing programs and services for First Nations communities. Throughout her career, she has built deep expertise and knowledge in social intervention, administration, and education within these communities.
Manouchka Otis
An Innu from Uashat mak Mani-utenam, Manouschka Otis is trained as a history teacher and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in education. Her work focuses on the decolonization of education and on bringing Indigenous knowledge, perspectives and realities into learning environments, along with the pedagogical foundations that support this work. Her field experience has led her to reflect on the diversity, richness and unique aspects of teaching in Indigenous contexts. Manouchka Otis works to promote cultural safety while highlighting Indigenous ways of being and doing.
Through both her professional practice and research, she advocates for a respectful, inclusive approach to education that extends beyond the classroom. With a view to building respectful relationships with Indigenous communities, her approach emphasizes cultural alignment and responsiveness to community needs in order to foster meaningful dialogue.
Mélodie Jourdain
Mélodie Jourdain-Michel is an Innu from the community of Uashat mak Mani-utenam. A councillor with the Innu Takuaikan Uashat mak Mani-utenam (ITUM) Band Council, she plays an active role in her community’s development, promoting governance grounded in citizen participation, transparency and respect for Innu values.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in sexology and a graduate diploma in nature- and adventure-based intervention, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in education at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC). Her research focuses on the PIMISHKA! program, a land-based learning initiative that supports cultural identity, well-being and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge among Innu youth.
Through her political, academic and community involvement, Mélodie Jourdain-Michel contributes to ongoing conversations about decolonizing education, sharing Indigenous knowledge and the role of land in healing and reconciliation.
