News Release
Native Justice Coalition
The 3rd Annual Anishinaabe Racial Justice Conference will take place from September 30–October 2, 2022, at Niiwin Akeaa Community Center (111 Beartown Rd, Baraga, Michigan 49908). This racial justice focused conference will include speaker presentations, workshops, panel discussions, cultural activities, food, vendors, and crafts. The Anishinaabe Racial Justice Conference seeks to empower Anishinaabe and all Native people across the Great Lakes to come together in solidarity and share experiences of healing, justice, and community.
The Native Justice Coalition (NJC) was founded in 2016 and serves as a platform for social, healing, and racial justice for all Native American people. The annual Anishinaabe Racial Justice Conference is just one of the ways the NJC creates these spaces. The Native Justice Coalition also organizes other community events through its various programs including the Anishinaabe Healing Stories on Racial Justice, MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirits) Justice, Two-Spirit Program, Harm Reduction Program, as well as our newly launched Truth & Reconciliation Commission.
Previous years’ conferences have hosted an average of 33 speakers and panelists with hundreds of participants and more than 60 walk-ins from the surrounding community. The sense of solidarity this event promoted had attendees walking away with new knowledge, new friends, and new tools to bring back to their communities. Past conference discussions have centered around topics including environmental racism, storytelling in Anishinaabe culture, intergenerational family trauma, healing justice, and many others.
By bringing together Anishinaabe people to share their stories and art, speak to their culture and community, and express their desires for the future, the Native Justice Coalition hopes to see attendees, both Native and non-Native, gain a renewed sense of community and healing.
“It was such an amazing experience to bring knowledge to Native and non-Native alike. Being able to speak at an event like this was such an amazing opportunity and being able to see so many people gather to bring awareness to and to learn about Native justice was so wonderful. It reminded me that there is good in the world. I loved being able to bring what I do to a conference that stands for justice and equality.”
Heather Bruegl
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin/Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohicans – Presenter from 2019
The 3rd Annual Anishinaabe Racial Justice Conference will offer a variety of presentations, panels, and workshops occurring throughout the day. Sessions will include presentations by community advocates and educators on topics related to Anishinaabe racial justice, including MMIWG2S, decolonizing mental health care, boarding school healing and justice, traditional culture and healing, generational trauma, sobriety, and more.
Activities will begin on Friday, September 30, and will include presentations and panels all day with breaks for meals, networking, and other cultural activities all day from 9 am to 9 pm EST. Friday is also Orange Shirt Day, which is an important day across the United States and Canada. It is a day to honor and uphold boarding school survivors and intergenerational survivors of the Indian boarding school system as well as commemorate those who didn’t return home. The conference will continue with a full day on Saturday and half day on Sunday with more opportunities for networking and coalition building. All events are free and community members are invited to drop in at any time.
The Native Justice Coalition is inviting organizations to table, vendors, and volunteers to help. You can register for the conference at: https://www.nativejustice.org/conference2022.
