The Gandhi Peace Festival has long been concerned about the issue of injustices to our First Nations.
Living Gandhi Today is meant as a primer since many are unaware of the history, diversity and the depth of Indigenous culture of Canada. The Festival is meant to be educational.
In 1996, Ovide Mercredi, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Canada was the inaugural speaker at the Annual Gandhi Lectures on Nonviolence. Then, in 2006, we chose our theme as ”First Nations Peacemakers” and we had Wendy Hill (Clan Mother, Cayuga Nation, Bear Clan) as the speaker – her talk was entitled “Ending the War Within” and the gathering was graced by several Clan grandmothers in the audience.
Saugeen Times was pleased to be asked to provide an article to complement this year’s Festival’s theme of Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous Communities.
About the Gandhi Peace Festival: The Gandhi Peace Festival is co-sponsored by the India-Canada Society of Hamilton and Region, the Centre for Peace Studies, McMaster University and the City of Hamilton.
The Festival is named after Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), popularly known as Mahatma (literally, “Great Soul”) Gandhi, a central figure in India’s anti-colonial struggle. Gandhi worked hard to achieve India’s independence from British colonial rule through the adoption of nonviolence as a strategy of resistance and challenged India’s own social and religious practices that discriminated against fellow Indians. In line with Gandhi’s attempts to forge connections across religious, class, caste, racial and linguistic divides, the Gandhi Peace Festival started in Hamilton in 1993 in celebration of India’s rich cultural heritage as a one-off event, but with the 125th birth anniversary of Gandhi the following year, it has become an annual festival.
The Gandhi Peace Festival is the longest running peace festival in Canada. It is held annually on the weekend closest to Gandhi’s birthday (October 2).
