An Indigenous-led virtual event will be held by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) to honour Treaties Recognition Week and International Inuit Day on Nov. 8, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“This event features teachings from Indigenous Elders and knowledge-keepers, as well as insights from guest speakers on the significance of treaty rights, treaty relationships and their relevance today,” explains the Law Society’s website.
Registration to the event is free and still possible on the LSO’s website.
International Inuit day Origin
International Inuit Day is celebrated annually on Nov. 7.
It was established in 2006 by the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), an international non-governmental organization representing the Inuit, the Yupik, and the Chukchi peoples who lives in Canada, Greenland and parts of the United States and Russia (Alaska and the Chukchi Peninsula, respectively).
The date of the celebration was chosen to commemorate the birthday of Eben Hopson. Hopson was an American politician and the founder of ICC. He was born and raised in Barrow, Alaska, and served in the Alaska Territorial Legislature from 1957 to 1959. When Alaska was incorporated as a state, he went on to serve in the Alaska Senate from 1959 to 1967.
Hopson also served as the mayor of Barrow and represented the Inuit in a court case against the U. S. Secretary of Commerce Juanita M. Kreps, who supported the International Whaling Commission’s right to regulate subsistence whaling for Indigenous peoples. Although the Alaska district court originally ruled against Hopson, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit subsequently overturned the ruling.