June 19, 2013

REGINA, SK. First Nations University of Canada and Public Pastures-Public Interest (PPPI) are hosting a Welcome event for Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, two of Canada’s most prominent authors.

Monday, June 24, 2013 at 1:00 p.m., First Nations University of Canada, First Nations Veterans’ Memorial Tipi. (Open to the public).

The Regina welcome is part of a four-day “Prairie Passages Tour” of Saskatchewan grasslands, including Grasslands National Park and former PFRA pastures, which have been returned to provincial control. Atwood and Gibson will be birding and touring southern grasslands in the company of other international conservation advocates. A prominent member of BirdLife International, Atwood says the ecological value of these large tracts is internationally recognized, and has called them “undervalued.” The tour is hosted by PPPI and Nature Canada. The purpose of the tour is to raise awareness of the grasslands and the need for conservation, especially in the wake of changes in the management of the publicly held lands.

“First Nations University is honoured to open its doors to celebrated authors Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, who are fostering open discussion of environmental issues through the Prairie Passages Tour,” said Dr. Lynn Wells, Vice President Academic. “We welcome their acknowledgement of the traditional First Nations territory that they are visiting by opening dialogue in a respectful way at our Indigenous post-secondary institute of higher learning.”

“This visit shows how important our grasslands really are to all of Canada, and internationally,” said Trevor Herriot, PPPI Co-Chair. “They are really the jewel of the Great Northern Plains. We are at a turning point in the history of our grasslands and key decisions are being made. We need to be good stewards and work together or risk losing them forever. ”

ATTACHED: Background, Media Opportunities., Contact Information, Other Tour Events

Margaret Atwood is a novelist, poet, literary critic and one of the world’s best known authors. A Companion of the Order of Canada, and Fellow of the Canadian Geographic Society, she has written more than 40 books, including the Booker-Prize winning novel, The Blind Assassin. Her MaddAddam trilogy includes, Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and Madd Addam, which is forthcoming this fall. Oryx and Crake was short listed for the Man Booker, Giller, and Orange prizes. Alias Grace: A Novel won the Giller Prize.

Graeme Gibson is a member of the Order of Canada and one of Canada’s foremost writers and editors. His most recent work, The Bedside Book of Birds: an Avian Miscellany (2005) was hailed by the Globe and Mail as “the most spectacular bird book of the year…” His most recent book is The Bedside Book of Beasts: A Bedside Miscellany (2009). He has been a council member of World Wildlife Fund Canada, and is Chairman of the Pelee Island Bird Observatory. He is a former president of PEN International.

Public Pastures-Public Interest is a citizen-based organization devoted to maintaining all of Saskatchewan’s public grasslands as healthy prairie ecosystems and working landscapes. PPPI was founded on principles of retaining, protecting, and managing the province’s 8 million acres of Crown grasslands as vital elements of the public trust every bit as precious as its northern forests and lakes.

The First Nations University of Canada was established in 1976 as the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (SIFC) through a federated partnership with the University of Regina. Thirty-five years after it was founded “to enhance the quality of life, and to preserve, protect and interpret the history, language, culture and artistic heritage of first Nations people”, FNUniv continues to fulfill this shared vision.

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Spokespersons from First Nations University of Canada and Public Pastures – Public Interest will be available following the event. Regretfully, Margaret Atwood, Graeme Gibson and the tour group must depart immediately for the long trip to Southwest Saskatchewan.

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Public Pastures-Public Interest Communications
pubic4pastures@gmail.com
http://pfrapastureposts.wordpress.com/
306-216-0345

Trevor Herriot
trevorherriot@gmail.com
306-5851649 (home)

Simone Hengen (Welcome event details)
simoneh@sasktel.net
306-569-0903

Racelle Kooy
Director of Communications for First Nations University of Canada
Rkooy@fnuinv.ca
306-790-5950 ex2600 or 306-551-2965 (mobile)

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Monday, June 24, 1:00 p.m. Welcome for Margaret Atwood, Graeme Gibson at First Nations University of Canada, in the First Nations Veterans’ Memorial Tipi. Open to the Public. Free.

Wednesday, June 26, 7:30 p.m. Lemonade Social with Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson. “Little Brick School House,” Centre Street, Val Marie, sponsored by Prairie Wind & Silver Sage Friends of Grasslands. Open to the Public. Free.

Thursday, June 27, 6:30 p.m. Prairie Passages Dinner. Fundraiser for grasslands education and research. Radisson Renaissance Hotel Saskatchewan, Regina. Cocktails at 6:30, dinner at 7:30, followed by reflections on the tour by Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson. Tickets are available from Regina’s Globe Theatre Box Office at $100. Phone 306-525-6400 or Out of town: 1-866-954-5623.

Friday, June 28, 9:00 a.m. Media Conference on the Prairie Passages Tour. Radisson Renaissance Hotel Saskatchewan. With Public Pastures-Public Interest and Margaret Atwood, Graeme Gibson. Details to follow.