All over the world, Aboriginal people are bringing forward land claims. What’s in it for them? Can Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people find mutually-acceptable ways to resolve these claims and avoid controversy?

To help shed light on these complex questions, the University of the Fraser Valley offers a unique four-week certificate program Indigenous Maps, Films, Rights and Land Claims during the summer semester in Chilliwack.

This intensive four-week, 12-credit certificate applies an innovative and multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the history and geography of indigenous land claims.  It examines in part how First Nations, in Canada and around the world, have been historically represented in film, on maps, or in text and rights discourse.

It also explores how First Nations are using those very media to renew and reinvent worlds at once traditional and modern, and what this means for everyone who now shares in them.

The in-class portion of this certificate, from June 22 through July 16, 2015, takes only four weeks to complete, on a ‘four-day-on, three-day-off’ schedule. You have until the last week of August to complete class assignments.

Practicum work, visits to field sites, and guest lectures or visits by Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal experts support in-class learning and bring the subject matter to life.

The certificate focuses on the life world of the Stó:lō, in the Fraser Valley, but also takes you on a journey into the realms of Aboriginal rights across British Columbia and Canada, into  the circumpolar North, and southern Africa and Australia.

The team of instructors includes:

• Hugh Brody, author, filmmaker and Tier I Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Studies at UFV
• Dr. Ken Brealey, associate professor of Geography, who brings extensive experience in the research and mapping of oral and documentary history, and comprehensive and specific claims;
• Dr. David Schaepe, director and senior archaeologist at the Sto:lo Research and Resource Management Centre, who contributes extensive experience researching Stó:lō title, rights and heritage
• Naxaxalhts’i (Albert ‘Sonny’ McHalsie), cultural advisor/historian Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre, who holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Victoria and brings his innate storytelling gift and extensive experience in the negotiation of Stó:lō title and rights.

While this certificate program is invaluable for any UFV student interested in matters of truth, justice, reconciliation, and culture, it is a must-have addition to your degree if you wish to pursue a career in politics, education, human rights, public administration, international development, or aboriginal support.

Deadline to sign up for this unique four-week certificate has been extended to June 12. Get the details

For more information, contact Dr. Ken Brealey at ken.brealey@ufv.ca