We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

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Celebrity Refugees: Telling of Trauma and Celebrating Success

Shauna Labman, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba

Published April 19, 2018 by Technologies of Justice.

On January 26, 2018, Shauna Labman hosted a discussion entitled Celebrity Refugees: Telling of Trauma and Celebrating Success in the session on People and Food: Intersections of Law, Politics, Technology and Culture. This session took place at the Technologies of Justice Conference, held at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

Labman explained the concept of 'celebrity refugees,' where refugees gain attention through their arrival to the country (through the media or related stories), and articulate refugee peoples are used in refugee advocacy. She pointed out that refugees are not often draining on society or pulling on resources, and stressed the need for refugees to be seen as contributing people who are a part of society, who can be successful and who should not be feared. She demonstrated the effect refugee protection and public support can have on refugees, and how media is sometimes used for obtaining public understanding for refugees to help them gain private sponsorship by going to media and bringing real refugee narratives to life.

Labman questioned the need for public profiles and media coverage for these traumatized people, explaining the relationship between media and law. She described how there is often an initial telling of trauma, a retelling of trauma, potential tales of refugee death, and how these stories of trauma are often paired with stories of success creating a dual existence. She questioned the need for personal history to define refugees, and whether it is necessary to see refugees as only refugees who must relive their trauma and continue working with and as refugees, even after their successful integration as citizens.