Ioana Radu

Interdisciplinary Scholar

Ioana is a first-generation Romanian settler scholar based in Tiohtiá: ke/Montreal whose scholarship is situated at the intersection of health, justice and the land. She is Professor at the School of Indigenous Studies at Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) and member of the Aboriginal Peoples Research and Knowledge Network (DIALOG), Institut national de la recherche scientifique.

As a community-engaged researcher and educator Ioana focuses on creating decolonial solidarities through knowledge mobilization and research-creation, that supports local autonomy and social innovation. She is long-time community research associate with Inshiyuu Miyuupimatisiuun and Nihtaauchin Chisasibi Center for Sustainability in Eeyou Istchee (James Bay, Quebec).

She was member of the research expert team with the Public Inquiry Commission on relations between Indigenous Peoples and certain public services in Québec: listening, reconciliation and progress, and is core member of Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling at Concordia University.

Projects

Chisasibi Agroecology Initiative

The Chisasibi Agroecology Initiative is an integrated food sovereignty project led by Nihtaauchin Chisasibi Center for Sustainability and the Chisasibi Business Service Centre. It consists of a range of food security and social innovation projects, including the development of a greenhouse complex, a northern agricultural field, composting project, a landscape restoration initiative, and an intergenerational food production experimental…

Indigenous Jurisprudence

Provided conceptualization and supported deployment of a georeferenced and interactive database of Canadian jurisprudence in Aboriginal affairs produced by the Aboriginal Research and Knowledge Network (DIALOG). Presents contextual summaries of over 120 Supreme Court Decisions related to Aboriginal rights in Canada since the 1800s. App development Zerosum.

Nanonetan Mamo: assessing the needs for culturally safe services for Aboriginal patients in long-term care in Joliette

A partnership research project with the Centre d’amitié autochtone de Lanaudière (CAAL) aims to: 1) co-create a new knowledge base that will lead to a more contextualized and culturally appropriate understanding of the Indigenous urban experience in terms of healthcare system and service provision for long-term care in the Lanaudière region; 2) co-produce a position…

Decolonial Street Art

Co-organized with Aude Maltais-Landry, Unceded Voices: Anti-colonial street artist convergence, Laurence Desmarais, & Cedar Eve Peters). Installation aimed to promote the work of Indigenous street artists and recognize the importance of walls and structures as critical spaces to reclaim unceded Indigenous land. Included guided tour of Unceded Voices murals in St Henry and live painting by…

Cree women’s narratives of wellness and autonomy

A multimedia installation consisting of a series of 5 posters with embedded video screens of Cree women lifestory interviews focused on wellness and governance. Presented under the title La guérison au féminin: récits des femmes de Chisasibi at the 12th Edition Nomad University, Aboriginal Peoples and Knowledge Network DIALOG: Aboriginal Women: from systemic discrimination to…

Decolonization and healing in Chisasibi

This website is a companion to my PhD dissertation, in which I explore the connections between autonomy and wellbeing in Indigenous contexts through a case study in the Cree Nation of Chisasibi, Eeyou Istchee (James Bay, northern Quebec). The website includes five (5) Korsakow films (non-linear interactive film web platform) comprised of three (3) hours…

Miyupimaatisiiun in Eeyou Istchee

Documentary that follows a group of youth on their journey to healing and learning about Cree ways of living a good life. This video was the research-creation component of my doctoral research project. Shot in on location in Eeyou Istchee, James Bay, northern Quebec. Produced in collaboration with: Chisasibi Miyupimaatisiiun Committee, the Nishiyuu Department (Cree Board of Health…

Eeyou Histories: Cree socio-cultural meanings of resource development

Short digital story on the hydroelectric development that affected the Rupert River, the ancestral territories of Cree Nation of Nemaska in the James Bay. Based on the life-story interview of Bertie Wapachee, Nemaska and Chisasibi, Eeyou Istchee, Quebec (interviewed November 2009). Project presented at the Oral History Association of Australia conference Communities of Memories, Melbourne, 2010.

Rivers for Life

Short documentary on the controversy surrounding the construction of the Zapotillo Dam in Mexico. Shot on location in the village of Temacapulin during the 3rd International meeting of people affected by dams and their allies organized by International Rivers October 2010. Project developed in collaboration with Committee for Human Rights in Latin America (CDHAL). Documentary screened at LatiNordicos…