January 21, 2020

It’s not every day that a CBC Massey Lecturer and national bestselling author comes to our city, but Feb. 5, 2020 will be a different story.

Tanya Talaga, author of Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death and Hard Truths in a Northern City and All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward, will deliver a thought-provoking talk on moving towards reconciliation on Feb. 5 from 12 – 1 p.m. in the Eresman Theatre at Medicine Hat College (MHC).

Talaga delivered the 2018 CBC Massey Lecture series entitled All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward, which inspired the title of her second book. Her talk at MHC aims to humanize the legacy of residential schools and colonization through the sharing of Indigenous stories from across Canada and worldwide, as well as her hope for a more inclusive and equitable future.

The annual CBC Massey Lectures event, named in honour of former Governor General of Canada, Vincent Massey, features a series of five lectures by a prominent scholar on a political, cultural or philosophical topic. The first Massey lecture by Barbara Ward was broadcast in 1961. In the years that followed, speakers included Martin Luther King Jr., Noam Chomsky and Margaret Atwood. In 2003, Thomas King became the first Massey Lecturer of Indigenous decent.

Jason Openo, director of teaching and learning at MHC, says that as a signatory to the Truth and Reconciliation Act, hosting this event is just one of the many ways for MHC to support and encourage this dialogue. This event is free of charge, open to the public and scheduled over the lunch hour to encourage a strong public showing.

“Our goal is to fill every seat in the theatre. We’ve had a significant amount of interest from the community already, with over 60% of the seats reserved,” explains Openo.

As space is limited, those who are interested in attending are required to reserve their seat at www.eventbrite.ca.