Indigenous Scholars
Voices of Indigenous Educators is a short 3 minute video that introduces four dynamic Indigenous scholars/educators in the Faculty of Education at York University. Diversity, strength, commitment and community are words that Pamela, Kiera, Marianne and Natasha bring to life. Find out who they are and why Indigenous education is at the heart of their professional and personal practices.
Dr. Josie Auger, Athabasca University
Experienced in First Nation governance. Skilled in managing a nonprofit organization, conducting program evaluation, developing curriculum, public speaking, program development, business development and using Moodle for course coordination in interdisciplinary studies. I earned my Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from the University of Alberta.
Gregory M. Coyes, Capilano University
Gregory Coyes has worked in the Indigenous media community over the last three decades as an award-winning filmmaker, and as an educator and writer. He has produced and directed with the National Film Board and consulted and written for the Smithsonian at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. Gregory Coyes has worked in the Indigenous media community over the last three decades as an award-winning filmmaker, and as an educator and writer. He has produced and directed with the National Film Board and consulted and written for the Smithsonian at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. A graduate of Yale University, Greg is currently teaching and coordinating the Independent Indigenous Digital Filmmaking program at Capilano University in North Vancouver. His Master’s thesis focused on the SLOW MEDIA Community, which creates and promotes decolonized media, and an Indigenous sense of cinematic time and space. Greg is Metis/Cree from St. Albert, Alberta.
Savage Bear, McMaster University
Bear, a Nehiyawiskwew (Cree woman) and member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation in northern Saskatchewan, will hold joint academic appointments in the Faculties of Social Sciences and Health Sciences. She comes to McMaster from the University of Alberta, where she is the director of the Indigenous Women & Youth Resilience Project and the academic lead on ‘Indigenous Canada,’ and assistant professor of Native Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies. An accomplished academic, Bear has made significant contributions to Indigenous scholarship and the national Indigenous education landscape since earning her PhD from the University of Alberta in 2016. Her current research includes social justice, prison abolition, body sovereignty, sexuality and gender, contemporary Indigenous art, and Indigenous literature.
Naiomi Mettalic, Dalhousie University
I hail from the Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation located on the Gaspé Coast of Quebec, known as the Gespegewagi district of Mi’kma’ki. I speak English, French and am becoming fluent Mi’gmaq (I have been taking weekly lessons since May 2018). After nearly 10 years of a very rewarding practice in Aboriginal law, I decided to make the move to academia to continue my work for First Nations in a different way — through teaching, writing, and speaking about the issues facing Indigenous peoples in Canada and how the law can be a tool for reconciliation and improving the lives of Indigenous peoples.
Shirley Williams, Trent University
Shirley is a member of the Bird Clan of the Ojibway and Odawa First Nations of Canada. Her Anishinaabe name is Migizi ow Kwe meaning Eagle Woman. She was born and raised at Wikwemikong, Manitoulin Island, and attended St. Joseph’s Residential School in Spanish, Ontario. After completing her NS diploma, she received her BA in Native Studies at Trent University and her Native Language Instructors Program diploma from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. Shirley received her Master’s Degree from York University in Environmental Studies. In June of 2004, Shirley retired from the Indigenous Studies Department and now holds the title, Professor Emeritus.
Janet Smylie, University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Dr. Smylie is the Director of the Well Living House Action Research Centre for Indigenous Infant, Child, and Family Health and Wellbeing, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Advancing Generative Health Services for Indigenous Populations in Canada, and Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Dr. Smylie’s research focuses on addressing Indigenous health inequities in partnership with Indigenous communities. She is particularly focused on ensuring all First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples are counted into health policy and planning wherever they live in ways that make sense to them; addressing anti-Indigenous racism in health services; and advancing community-rooted innovations in health services for Indigenous populations. She maintains a part-time clinical practice at Seventh Generation Midwives Toronto and has practiced and taught family medicine in a variety of Indigenous communities both urban and rural. A Métis woman, Dr. Smylie acknowledges her family, traditional teachers, and ceremonial lodge.
Dr. Bob Kayseas, First Nations University of Canada
Dr. Kayseas is a Saskatchewan born Anishnabe (Saulteaux) scholar. He obtained a degree in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Regina and Ph.D. (Enterprise and Innovation) from the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Dedicated to the expansion of studies, Dr. Kayseas is passionate about creating opportunities both in the classroom and within communities for Indigenous students to grow and thrive. Has held many positions during his more than 19 years at First Nations University of Canada and has been selected to take on the new role of Vice President Academic.
Karla Jessen Williamson, University of Sasketchwan
Dr. Karla Jessen Williamson is a faculty member in Educational Foundations at the University of Saskatchewan. She is a ‘kalaaleq’ – an Inuk from Greenland. Having undergone an education strongly influenced by assimilation, she learned to speak three languages and has become a notable presenter promoting deep cultural understandings. She is well versed in how Inuit arrive at gender equality and how this is arrived at in relationship to ancestors, animals, and the environment. Her teaching specializations include Indigenous epistemologies, oral traditions and resilience as they relate to education. She earned her PhD from the University of Aberdeen. She is the former Executive Director of the Arctic Institute of North America, and has been a Senior Researcher with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a national organization representing the rights of the Inuit. She has three grandchildren, each speaking their grandmother’s language.
Dr. Robina Thomas, University of Victoria
Qwul’sih’yah’maht (Robina A. Thomas) is a member of Lyackson First Nation and has Snuneymuxw and Sto:lo roots through her grandparents. Robina is an Associate Professor and holds a faculty position in the School of Social Work at the University of Victoria. Presently Robina is the Executive Director, Indigenous Academic and Community Engagement.