Each year the Haudenosaunee Deer Harvest in Niagara’s Short Hills Provincial Park draws protesters – those who support the hunt and those who do not.

On Wednesday Nov. 9, the Indigenous Solidarity Coalition at Brock University, in partnership with the Niagara District Council of Women, will host a workshop focused on building peaceful relationships and dialogue. The public is invited to this event at 7 p.m. in the Mills Room of the St. Catharines Public Library on 54 Church Street.

“Through this workshop, we are providing an opportunity for education and understanding of this contemporary local issue,” says Indigenous Solidarity Coalition co-founder Jodielynn Harrison.

The workshop will provide an overview of the history of Haudenosaunee treaty rights in the Region and will explore, from an Indigenous perspective, the relationship between food sovereignty and reconciliation. Food sovereignty is understood as the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.

“Too often, traditional rights to food harvesting is thought of as something that belongs in the past or done simply for recreation or entertainment purposes,” says Indigenous Solidarity Coalition co-founder Celeste Smith. “This is a misconception we would like to correct.”

The workshop is co-sponsored by Brock’s Department of Sociology, MA Social Justice & Equity Studies Program, Social Justice Research Institute and the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies, CUPE 4207 (Representing Academic Workers at Brock University) and the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre. The Indigenous Solidarity Coalition is dedicated to providing people in the Brock community and the Niagara Region the opportunity to engage in events which raise awareness and foster activism surrounding Indigenous issues.