An exploration of the valour and unequal Treatment of Algonquin who have served in Canada's Armed Forces

Featuring Wendy Jocko Sgt. CD (Ret’d),  Former Chief of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation. Canadian Forces Veteran & Lynn Gehl Ph.D, Anishinaabe Algonquin Advocate, Academic, Author & Artist

In her March 28, 2026 HSO Speaker Series presentation, historian/documentary film maker Allison Margot Smith introduces her new 15-minute film, “Two Wars, Three Watersheds, a Slew of Surveys and a Canal”, which she had produced especially in response to the HSO’s 2026 Bytown200 Bicentennial Storytelling Challenge.

Following the film, Allison takes us behind the scenes and reflects on some of challenges inherent in creating historical documentaries, and innovations occasionally necessary to provide the viewer with illustrative images in order to bring the past to life.

Artist Catherine Willis-O’Connor began contemplating how the arrival of the Ottawa’s LRT would soon impact neighbourhood culture, and so she set out to capture the memories of the businesses, houses, parks and streetscapes that have come to define our city’s ambiance.

Join Catherine as she animates Ottawa’s past by guiding us through her joyous paintings, each of which promises to unleash a treasure trove of memories.

The year 2026 marks the 200th anniversary of the start of the Rideau Canal and Bytown – but how did this impact the Algonquin people, for whom the Ottawa Valley has been home for millennia?

Dr. Lynn Gehl makes the case that, two centuries later, we have yet to resolve crucial issues such as that our nation’s capital – the “heart of Canada” – continues to trespass on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg and that the violation of Algonquin rights continues.

Additional links:

Website: www.lynngehl.com 

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Public social media: https://www.facebook.com/LynnGehlAlgonquin/

Speaking Agent: https://speakerscanada.com/keynote-speaker/dr-lynn-gehl/

The Truth that Wampum Tells: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/the-truth-that-wampum-tells

Anishinaabeg Stories: https://www.amazon.ca/Anishinaabeg-Stories-Featuring-Petroglyphs-Petrographs/dp/0988157802

Claiming Anishinaabeg: https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Claiming-Anishinaabe

Gehl v Canada: https://uofrpress.ca/Books/G/Gehl-v-Canada

Policy Options: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/authors/lynn-gehl/

Briarpatch: https://briarpatchmagazine.com/contributors/view/gehl-lynn

Rabble: https://rabble.ca/author/lynn-gehl/

Canadian Dimension: https://canadiandimension.com/articles/author/lynn-gehl

Sentinel: https://watershedsentinel.ca/article/akikodjiwan/

The Gehl Report: https://www.lynngehl.com/indigenous-women-and-girls-with-disabilities-are-bigger-targets-of-sexual-violence.html

Ryan Stevens shares the fairy tale story of “Canada’s Sweetheart” who astounded the world with her prowess and grace on ice – and endeared herself to generations of Canadians. 

Jo-Anne McCutcheon, Archivist and Associate Professor of History at UOttawa, reveals and demonstrates how historical research is being facilitated for both academics and the general public through several publicly accessible databases like Zotero and OMEKA.

Stephen Jarrett, lead archeologist on the Parliament Hill Renovation project, shares the history of this historic site as revealed through artifacts and previously unknown structural elements discovered during preparations for the 10 year long renovation.

Artist, cartoonist, columnist and author of the Ottawa Rewind books and blog, Andrew King shares his discoveries of what’s hidden beneath the surface of our nation’s capital.

The late Jamie Bramburger shares the tragic story of a horrific Christmastime Ottawa Valley train crash that took 38 lives and injured over 150 when a wartime troop train lost control on a snowy, icy evening – ramming at high speed into the rear end of a civilian train still in the process of loading passengers.

Phil Emberley shares his father Dieter's experience as one of the 10,000 Jewish children evacuated by the British government before the start of WWII from his home in Germany.