The Trent Centre for Aging & Society puts a focus on sharing research that highlights the experiences, opportunities, and challenges of Indigenous aging. Through this, TCAS has developed an ongoing partnership with the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies to bring Indigenous scholars to Trent. Check out some of the past events on Indigenous aging!
Upcoming Events
Past Events
Anishinaabe Indigenous Intergenerational Growing Old/Aging (AIIGO) Gathering
Highlights of AIIGO (10 min)
On January 15, 2025, the Anishinaabe Indigenous Intergenerational Growing Old/Aging (AIIGO) Gathering was held at the Peterborough Public Library. This free, day-long gathering invited participants to engage with Anishinaabe Indigenous perspectives on growing old/aging, featuring discussions that honoured intergenerational experiences within Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations. The event brought academics and community, Indigenous peoples and settlers together to attend the full day for both in-person and virtual attendance. AIIGO was funded by the Canada Institutes for Health Research Café Scientifique and the Office of the President, Trent University.
Below are a series of podcasts from the Gathering following the events of the day.
Julie Davis, VP External Relations and Development, Trent University (10 min)
Provided information on the University-Integrated Seniors Village.
Sarah Lewis, Anishnaabe Kwe (Ojibwe/Cree) spoken word artist and Peterborough/Nogojiwanong’s inaugural Poet Laureate in 2021-2022 (5 min)
Presented the gathering with some of her poetry.
The Morning Keynote Panel (35 min)
Focused on powerful personal stories and insights from older and younger Michi Saagig Nishinaabeg, including Anne Taylor, Bailley Taylor (Curve Lake First Nation), and Sandra Moore (Hiawatha First Nation), as they discuss growing old intergenerationally.
The Afternoon Keynote Speaker Dr. Sean Hillier (22 min)
A Mi’kmaw scholar from York University and member of the Qualipu First Nation, Dr. Hillier delivered an afternoon keynote address, “Indigenous approaches to aging: how we can achieve ‘living the good life’ during our later stages of life”.
Event Highlights:
- 8:30 AM: Arrival, Breakfast Bites by Turtle Crossing (Curve Lake)
- 9:00 AM: Opening, Alice Olsen Williams (Curve Lake)
- 10:00 AM: Presentation by Julie Davis, VP of External Relations and Development, on the Trent University-Integrated Seniors Village
- 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Morning Keynote Panel on Growing Old Intergenerationally with Anne Taylor, Bailley Taylor (Curve Lake First Nation), and Sandra Moore (Hiawatha First Nation)
- 12:00 – 1:30 PM: Lunch by Grandfather’s Kitchen (Curve Lake), featuring research presentations by TCAS Graduate Associates Angela Easby
- 1:30 - 2:30 PM: Keynote address by Dr. Sean Hillier
- 2:30 - 3:00 PM: Q&A
- 3:00 PM: Closing, Alice Olsen Williams (Curve Lake)
- Connections, Farewells, Kawaabmin pii
Check out the AIIGO Access Guide and the Final AIIGO Report below for more information!
This unique event offered an opportunity to explore the diverse and deeply personal ways in which Indigenous communities envision growing old/aging and the wisdom of intergenerational connections.
The Indigenous Elsewhere of Aging: Elder Epistemologies for Decolonial Futures
The 2022 Stephen Katz Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Interdisciplinary Aging Studies was held on Thursday October 6th in the Gathering Space at Trent University. In her public lecture Dr. Sandy Grande (University of Connecticut) reimagined global aging as a site of possibility; as a conceptual opening for rethinking the central dichotomies and contradictions of contemporary society built on the exigencies of capital and settler hegemony: the centrality of work to existence; of economic growth to production; of age to declining yield, and ultimately of life beyond the productivist logics of capital. In so doing, she considered how the lives, knowledge and care of Indigenous Elders help to structure conditions for societal renewal. Her central claim was that Elder epistemologies will become increasingly important as we work collectively to create new possibilities for anti-racist and decolonial futures.
Watch the lecture here!
Indigenous Insights: Aging with Grace (Elders Gathering Pre-Conference Event)
In February 2022, the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies in collaboration with TCAS held the Elders Gathering pre-conference event, "Aging with Grace." The event featured keynote speaker Cliff Whetung from Curve Lake First Nation, followed by panelists, Professor Emeritus Shirley Williams, Dan Longboat, and Janette Corston to discuss their experiences combined with Cliff's research.
Watch the panel here!
Aging & Society Seminar Series: Decolonizing Dementia
The 2021 Aging & Society Seminar Series, in partnership with the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies featured a talk by Cliff Whetung, a fourth year Ph.D. student at New York University's Silver School of Social Work. In his talk, Cliff discussed and critiqued existing research about Indigenous cognitive health and its connection to colonialist perspectives. He then considered tangible steps toward the equitable inclusion of Indigenous older adults in cognitive health research, policy, and intervention.
Watch the seminar here!
