“We have to stand up for Mother Earth and give her voice. She is one of our entities which continues to support us and provide all its resources to us.” Elder Florence Paynter
The Manitoba Nature Summit is honoured that Elder Florence Paynter has agreed to lead our Closing Circle on Sunday morning.
If you’ve never attended the closing circle, it is only available to people who register for the entire Summit (Friday-Sunday), it is like a keynote but we hold it around the campfire in the forest. The original vision of the circle was to have the opportunity to reflect and be thankful for the learning opportunity that we were able to have at the Summit.
Elder Florence Paynter is an Award winning educator and Knowledge Keeper from Sandy Bay First Nation as well as a Band Member of Norway House. She is a third degree Mide Anishinabekwe and holds a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Manitoba. Florence speaks Anishinabe fluently and has been involved in many language and cultural initiatives and ceremonies. She helps teach the cultural and spiritual knowledge and traditions of the Anishinabe people.
Elder Paynter has a long list of accomplishments including, but not limited to- treaty education, sitting on the City of Winnipeg’s Grandparent’s Council, serving as an Elder/Advisor to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs with respect to the Enbridge Line 3 hearing, teaching in a classroom, she’s committed to language preservation and revitalization and has worked with the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre in research and development.
I could go on and on but I’ll mention only a few more of Elder Paynter’s projects that are exciting:
- She participated in the creation of the First Nation’s Traditional Names Map of Manitoba– a wonderful resource.
- She has authored and co-authored several important publications!
- You can see her in this webinar on Treaties and Treaty Relationships.
We look forward to learning from Elder Florence Paynter!