Nortel Networks Canadian Studies Address

2004 - The 5th Nortel Networks' Canadian Studies Lecture
by Professor Leroy Little Bear

After what has been four successful years of outstanding lectures presented by a range of renowned Canadians, Nortel Networks, in conjunction with the Government of Canada, once again made it possible for the citizens of Wollongong to embrace the innovative perspective of yet another great Canadian contemporary thinker.

Award-winning Professor Leroy Little Bear presented his current research on the possibilities for a powerful collaboration between Western and Native American sciences to a crowd of over one hundred people who gathered at the Wollongong City Gallery. Mixing humour with insight, Mr Little Bear compared and contrasted Western scientific knowledges and Blackfoot knowledges. He spoke passionately about the need, within the scientific community and beyond, for a shift in conceptual paradigms from a Western, binaristic paradigm to one that incorporates the infinite possibilities and interrelationships of, what he has termed, the "constant flux" notion of the Blackfoot paradigm.

Professor Leroy Little Bear is an accomplished scholar, author, and legal advisor. In addition to being one of the founding members of Canada's first Native American Studies Department and an instrumental part of the creation of a Bachelor of Management in First Nations Governance at the University of Lethbridge, Professor Little Bear served as Founding Director of the Harvard University Native American Program.

Among his many achievements, Professor Little Bear has been awarded the prestigious National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Education - the highest honor bestowed by Canada's First Nations community - and the University of Lethbridge 2003 Alumnus of the Year Award. His current research interests include a comparison of Indigenous and Western sciences as pathways to knowledge, and the exploration of Blackfoot knowledge through songs, stories, and landscape.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Wollongong, Professor Gerard Sutton, welcomed Professor Little Bear on behalf of the academic community and distinguished writer Dr Anita Heiss introduced the keynote address. The local Little Ngargens Dance Troupe performed a Cleansing ceremony, which was followed by respected Wodi Wodi elder, Aunty Barbara Nicholson's Welcome to Country. The Centre for Canadian-Australian Studies was pleased to recognize the presence of Lord Mayor, Counsellor Alex Darling, the Deputy High Commissioner for Canada, Mr Gaston Barban, and Mr Bill Barnes, Director of Nortel Networks Technology Centre.

The fifth annual Nortel Networks Canadian Studies Address was offered free to the public thanks to the generous support of Nortel Networks.