International Women's Day - March 8

In 1910, at an international conference of working women in Copenhagen, Clara Zetkin, a member of the Social Democratic Party in Germany, proposed the idea of an International Women’s Day—a day when women would put forward demands for equality. The delegates at the women’s conference—representing 17 countries—unanimously voted in favour of Zetkin’s proposal. In 1911, International Women's Day was recognized for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Since then, countries worldwide continue to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, recognizing women’s achievements while calling for greater equality.

There are numerous events happening across Saskatchewan for International Women’s Day this year. One in particular focuses on storytelling. Women Building Bridges for Change Through Art and Story is a collaborative project of the Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan, Regina Immigrant Women Centre, the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Intercultural Grandmothers Uniting, Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International and other community groups. The event, which will take place on Sunday, March 8 at the MacKenzie Art Gallery from 1:00-3:15 p.m., includes opportunities for women from a variety of cultural backgrounds to connect through story and art.

Attendees are invited to interact with the MovingForward, Never Forgetting exhibition, which features work exploring the intergenerational impact of colonization and ways of moving forward through cross-cultural friendship, familial sharing and cultural continuance.

What’s particularly unique about this exhibition is the works are accompanied by Story Keepers—living speakers who will assist visitors in learning about the stories behind the art works and collect stories from visitors.

At 3:30 p.m., participants will then be invited to board buses and travel to the Albert Street Bridge to take part in an international movement, Join Me On The Bridge. There, participants will connect with one another with red coloured scarves “to show freedom and empowerment.”

Do you have a story of integration to share about a female relative? Are you a woman with your own story to share? Tell it to us using the hashtag: #WeAreSK.

Heritage Language Day: Promoting and Preserving All Languages

Katharina Ulbrich describes the German class she teaches at the Estevan Library as “fun and funny.” Canadians, for instance, say “on cloud 9,” but in German, the equivalent of that happy expression is “on cloud 7,” says Ulbrich.

I met Katharina while travelling the province during Culture Days in 2013. The seven partner organizations involved in the Stories of Integration Project -- Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Organization for Heritage Languages, Saskatchewan German Council,  Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative, Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Saskatchewan Provincial Council, Conseil Culturel Fransaskois, and Aboriginal Friendship Centres of Saskatchewan -- asked people to share their stories for a series of public service announcements.

Katharina wasn’t the only one who spoke about language. Berbel Knoll’s parents immigrated to Tisdale after WWII from Germany. Berbel’s mother worked in a Chinese restaurant, where the owners only spoke Chinese and Berbel’s mother only spoke German. As a result, they relied on their hands to communicate. One day, Berbel’s mother had gotten frostbite on her face. One of the owners of the restaurant ran outside, gathered some snow and put it on her cheek. Somehow, Berbel’s mother had managed to communicate that she had frostbite, and the owner knew exactly how to treat it.

Berbel’s parents fostered an appreciation for German in their children and eventually, Berbel became a German teacher at Luther College.

Every year since 2000, International Mother Language Day is celebrated on Feb. 21, making this year the 15^th anniversary. The day promotes the preservation and protection of all languages all over the world.

Photo by Maria Aman

Since 2002, the Saskatchewan Organization for Heritage Languages has held celebrations in recognition of Heritage Language Day. This year’s event was a wonderful success with about 300 people in attendance. Dignitaries who were present included Senator Pana Merchant, Honourable Ralph Goodale, MLA Warren Steinley, Mayor Michael Fougere, SaskCulture Director Renu Kapoor, SOHL Director Nishchal Prasad, and MLAR President Jim Leskun. 

The celebration was a day of multicultural performances, including powwow singing and dancing, Irish dancing, Bengali singing and dancing, Hindi singing, a Chinese Lion Dance, a Nepali dance, and a performance by a local spoken word artist.

Natya Sudha Dance Group, photo by Maria Aman

The people we interviewed for the Stories of Integration project told us that it’s important to them to be able to preserve their cultural traditions and language. Recent data indicates a rise in Filipino, Urdu, Mandarin and Hindi new immigrants settling in Saskatchewan.

According to the United Nations: “More than 50 percent of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken in the world are likely to die out within a few generations, and 96 percent of these languages are spoken by a mere 4 per cent of the world's population. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given pride of place in education systems and the public domain, and less than a hundred are used in the digital world.”

Statistics from the 2011 Saskatchewan National Household Survey reveal that only 24.3 percent of all self-identified Indigenous people indicate having an Indigenous language as one of their mother tongues. 

According to UNESCO: “All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.”

Stories of Integration: Remembering Michele Sereda

Integration is when two or more things, people or groups come together to create something new. When we speak of cultural integration, we’re referring to cultures coming together to form a multicultural society, in which each culture is equally respected, celebrated and encouraged to retain its unique characteristics, customs, values and features.

This past week, a dear friend, Michele Sereda, passed away in a tragic fatal car accident just north of Regina. Well known to the arts community in Saskatchewan and beyond, Michele was someone who loved to learn about, learn from, and integrate with cultures that differed from her own ethno-cultural background.

I remember Michele telling me about an evening Spanish language class that she had been taking. Her excitement for learning a new language was evident in her animated gestures and facial expressions as she talked about the prospect of being able to communicate with a new friend who spoke Spanish. Shortly after Michele enrolled in the course, she traveled to Europe, and asked that I stay at her house to care for her cat, Bruno. As I moved about the house, I discovered random sticky notes posted to objects. There was a sticky note on a plant, the bathroom mirror, the telephone… On each sticky note, she had written the word for the object in Spanish: planta, espejo, teléfono.

Michele had a profound admiration and respect for Indigenous peoples and cultures. She used to say, “Anyone can go out to the reserve. You don’t need an invitation.” I took this to mean that if you cared about bridging Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures, it was up to non-Indigenous people to involve themselves in Indigenous ways of living, to learn about Indigenous traditions and values, and to visit with Indigenous peoples wherever they are.

Photo by Ann Verrall

When Michele tragically passed away, she and three of her colleagues, who also lost their lives in the car accident, Lacy Morin-Desjarlais, Michael Green and Narcisse Blood, were on their way to Piapot First Nation. Michele had been working with Piapot students for five years as part of a drama program called Spirit of the Story and was active at the school in other ways for more than a decade. Global reported that Chief Ira Lavalee “described Sereda as an adoptive family member in their community,” saying that Michele “opened that door, that it is ok to talk about our ceremonies, our own creation stories, our own unique cultural diversity.”

Michele was a wonderful example of someone who practiced cultural integration and demonstrated genuine curiosity and appreciation for diverse cultures, especially the cultures of Canada’s first peoples.

In honour of Michele, we welcome you to share your story of integration in the comments below, or on Twitter, using the hashtag: #WeAreSK. And we offer our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the fatal car accident outside Regina on the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 10.

After the Launch

After the launch, we hope to air the PSA series throughout the year, greatly increasing public awareness of the voices and benefits of multiculturalism. They will also help to increase public understanding of the significant contributions made by immigrant newcomers and indigenous people to the province. 

Share Your Stories of Integration  

We encourage you to share your stories of integration on social media and on this website. Join the conversation using hashtag #WeAreSk and share your stories, photos and videos!

Launch of Public Service Announcements

We are preparing to launch the PSAs at a Multicultural Forum hosted by MCoS and the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport on November 15, 2014. This will be part of the kick-off to Saskatchewan Multicultural Week and a celebration of the 40^th Anniversary of the original Saskatchewan Multiculturalism Act.
The launch and broadcast of the PSA series is a great way to attract media and public attention to the positive impact that the Ministry, the Lottery system, Culture Days funding and cultural diversity make in our communities. With the Ministry’s ongoing involvement, the PSA series will be a demonstration of not only how multiculturalism adds to quality of life, but also how we all can make Saskatchewan a welcoming place of belonging and shared prosperity for everyone and demonstrate Saskatchewan’s motto: From Many Peoples Strength.
This web site was set up to house the PSAs and additional content as it is produced. We encourage everyone to provide feedback on the PSAs and also share your stories of integration.

Method and End Product

Here are the different phases that the project underwent:

Phase 1 was associated with collecting of stories during Culture Days 2013 (supported with funding from SaskCulture).
Phase 2 was turning stories into Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and editing the PSAs into final products (supported with funding from the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport).
Phase 3 involved reserving broadcasting time with media outlets throughout Saskatchewan (CBC/Radio Canada, CTV, Global, SaskTel Max, Access Communications, Shaw Cable, etc.).
During the 2013 Culture Days (a pan-Canadian event that took place September 27-29, 2013 and celebrates all cultures and all aspects of culture) we hired a freelance journalist, Evie Ruddy, and a videographer, Jason Rister, to travel around the province. They interviewed 23 members of the multicultural community at eight events in seven communities.
The interview clips have been assembled into a series of six 30 second Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for broadcast with the following themes: Culture is a Two-Way Street; From Many Peoples Strength; Cold Land, Warm Hearts; Look Beyond the Surface; Home and Overcoming Discrimination.

Project Rationale

Our rationale was to highlight the contributions of the multicultural community to Saskatchewan culture. There is a shared desire to highlight the process newcomers have undergone in several generations to settle in Saskatchewan and integrate into their communities. It is important to demonstrate that people of many cultures contribute to the vibrancy of the cultural life in the province.
Storytelling is an easily accessible medium for those speaking and listening. It also fosters an intercultural understanding and connections. For those of you who have crossed cultures, continents and/or oceans to make a home in a Saskatchewan community, this was an opportunity to share that experience with the public. As we share stories, we connect with elements of experiences and build empathy. This was a chance for newcomers to feel that they are contributing to broad and rich Saskatchewan culture.
The project does not, however, exclusively focus on new arrivals; it includes stories of immigrants from 50 years ago, recollections shared by grandparents, experiences of immigrants or their descendants in First Nations communities, or stories of First Nations or Métis people making connections beyond their own cultural communities.