Opening Conference - Jacques Kurtness

Simultaneous interpretation (English/French) is available.

Hailing from Mashteuiatsh (Pointe-Bleue), an Ilnu community on the shores of Piekuagami (Lac Saint-Jean) in Québec, Canada, Jacques Kurtness is an Ilnu thinker and researcher who has combined an academic career with political engagement. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Université Laval, and worked between 1979 and 1999 as a professor and researcher at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC). He was also chief negotiator for the Atikamekw and Montagnais Council (AMC) and the Mamuitun Tribal Council from 1991 to 1997. In 1999 Dr. Kurtness became Regional Director, Negotiation and Implementation for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Quebec Region. Since 2003, he has been appointed to several boards of directors, including the Centre interuniversitaire de recherches et d’études autochtones (CIÉRA) and the Réseau DIALOG (INRS). He is currently a member of the Scientific Committee of the Musée de la Civilisation de Québec (MCQ) and is co-researcher of Design and Material, a project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), as well as a number of the latter’s CURA projects. He has also been advisor and director of education and employment for his community. In 2014 he published Tshinanu, nous autres, et moi qui appartiens aux trois Amériques [Tshinanu, We, and Me Who Belong to Three Americas](Presses de l’Université Laval).