SOLD OUT - River Walk with Naomi McIlwraith (Edmonton)

Learning from the Land:
An Alumni Series

Join us for a morning riverwalk with poet and alumnus, Naomi McIlwraith, '89 BPE, '00 BA, '07 MA, '17 BEd, who was born and raised in amiskwacîwâskahikan (the Cree word for Beaver Hills House, also known as Edmonton), with roots stretching back to the Red River Métis in southern Manitoba. During the walk, we will be taking breaks for conversations about the land and its history with stories and poems being shared.

• Route: Campbell Bridge to Fort Edmonton Park Footbridge Loop (~5.6 km)
• Physicality: Participants need to be able to walk, at a leisurely pace, on unpaved walking trails, for 2 hours (with stops).

This event is open to all alumni and their guests.

Naomi McIlwraith hails from amiskwacî-wâskahikan, Plains Cree for Beaver Hills House, also known as Edmonton. Naomi writes to honour her parents, Lavona and Mowat McIlwraith, her Grandmother Lucabelle, her other grandparents, and the rest of her family. A Métis writer with a Cree, Anishinaabe, Scottish, English, and French inheritance, Naomi gratefully uses her education to build a more peaceful world. Born and raised here, she has wandered near and far but always manages to find her way back home to Treaty Six land. A teacher, a talker, a poet, and a peacemaker, she now works as a Supervisor, Interpreter, Researcher, and Writer at the new Indigenous People’s Experience at Fort Edmonton Park over there by that wee bend in the North Saskatchewan River just upstream of the Quesnel Bridge. What a joy to work so near to the mighty kisiskâciwani-sîpiy!

This event is now sold out.

Join the waitlist

Learning from the Land: An Alumni Series

This event is part of the Learning from the Land Series hosted by the Department of Alumni Relations. This series comprises traditional plant walks, river walks and Blackfoot medicine wheel teachings taking place at various locations throughout Alberta. Land-based learning recognizes the deep physical, mental and spiritual connection to the land that is part of Indigenous cultures. Join our vibrant alumni community as we learn from the land around us and understand our connection to it.

See all Learning from the Land events

Note: Keeping in practice with Indigenous ways of learning and knowing, each session will begin with a sharing circle led by the traditional knowledge keeper or elder that is hosting the session. We encourage all registrants to pay close attention to the session descriptions before registering as the physical demand and duration of each session differs depending on the host.