Much of my research and consultation work has focused on the history of colonialism and government policy. I have consulted for major government institutions, such as Parks Canada and the Museum of Immigration, and for many First Nations across Canada pursuing land and other legal claims. I have also worked with a local Aboriginal Friendship Center and in primary, secondary, and post-secondary curriculum development.
I am currently working with the Canadian Research Knowledge Network on the Researcher Council for their upcoming CFI Innovation Fund application, a large-scale grant that if successful, will support a world-class research platform for Canada's digital cultural and heritage content. The work is driven by researcher needs, accessibility considerations, and equity-based values.
My academic research has largely focused on post-secondary pedagogy, Metis History, and on race and racialization. My MA thesis, "The Scrip Solution: the North-West Metis Scrip Policy, 1885-1887" examined Metis scrip policy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Canada, while my PhD dissertation, "Mixed Race, Legal Space: Official Discourse, Indigeneity, and Racial Mixing in Canada, the US, and Australia, 1850-1950" examined government policies towards Indigenous peoples of mixed ancestry in Canada, the US, and Australia. My recent work with personal writing and autoethnography has been my focus in the past few years, especially as these writing modalities relate to reconciliation.
Select Reports and Publications:
Reconciliation through Student Narratives: Autoethnography, Decolonization, and Indigenous Methods-Based Assessment in Post-Secondary Education International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1363710
Knowledge Liaisons: Negotiating Multiple Pedagogies in Global Indigenous Courses, Canadian Journal of Higher Education (45,4): 1-17 (recipient of CJHE Sheffield Award)
The Corporate Institution of Mixed Race: Indigeneity, Discourse, and Orientalism in Aboriginal Policy,” Journal of Critical Race and Whiteness Studies (contact author for a copy)
Learning Indigenous Science from Place: Research Study Examining Indigenous-Based Science Perspectives in Saskatchewan First Nations and Metis Community Contexts. https://aerc.usask.ca/downloads/Learning-Indigenous-Science-From-Place.pdf
Metis Scrip, in Our Legacy https://digital.scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy/exhibit_scrip
Montana Métis, in Gagnon, D, D. Combet et L. Gaboury-Diallo (dir.), Histoires et identités métisses : Hommage à Gabriel Dumont / Métis Histories and Identities : Homage to Gabriel Dumont
Select Presentations and Talks:
“Classroom Conversations on Indigenous and Settler Histories in Canada: Roundtable Reflections from Intersecting Fields” Canadian Historical Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver, June, 2019
“Law, Culture, and Race: Exploring Metis Identity in a Colonial Framework” Metis Symposium: University of Ottawa/Metis Nation of Ontario, Ottawa, April 27-28, 2018
“Knowledge Brokers: Negotiating Multiple Pedagogies in Global Indigenous Studies Courses,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting, Saskatoon CND. June, 2013
“A Question of Race: Scrip, Allotment, and Late 19th-Century Mixed Race Categories,” Canadian Historical Association Annual Meeting, Victoria CND. June, 2013
“Transient Legal Spaces: Race and Identity in Aboriginal Policy in Canada, the US, and Australia,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting, Sacramento CA. May 20, 2011
“The Idea of Race, The Practice of Policy: Historical Native Policy as Critical Race Thought in Canada, US, and Australia, 1850-1950,” Public Presentation, American Indian Studies Program Series, Michigan State University (US). April 15, 2011
“The Legalization of Métis Identities in North America,” Genealogy and History Workshop, Métis Nation of Saskatchewan. Saskatoon SK, March 12, 2011
“’Mixed Race’ as Colonialist Category: A Comparative History of Indigenous Identities in Law” Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference, DePaul University, Chicago IL November 4, 2010
“Métis Legal Ethnogenesis: Law, Identity, and Racial Categorization” American Society for Ethnohistory, Ottawa CND. October 14, 2010
“Mixed Race, Legal Space” Transcultural Mapping Conference, University of Sydney, Sydney AU. April 10, 2010