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 innovations projects, including the development of a greenhouse complex, a northern agricultural field, composting project, a landscape restoration initiative, and an intergenerational food production experimental site using Cree knowledge and building techniques.
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.
Restorying Tiohtià:ke: Globalization and the history of Montreal
These are the final research-creation projects produced by the students enrolled in the Indigenous Peoples and Globalization (FPST 341) class for the fall semester 2018, First Peoples Studies Program, at Concordia University. With the support of City of Montreal Archives and City Hall administration, the Indigenous Directions Leadership Group and the School for Community and Public affairs.
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 paper that meets CAAL’s strategic needs; and 3) co-develop knowledge mobilization activities and products that enhance the knowledge base of patients, their families, CAAL employees, and municipal service providers. A SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant.
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 Cedar Eve Peters. Part of History Inhabits Each of Us: An Oral History Exhibition at the Oral History Association Annual Meeting, Concordia University, October 10-14, 2018.
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 of footage or a total of 65 clips ranging from 2min to 7 min in length, edited from the eight (8) video interviews conducted during my PhD research.
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 and Social Services James Bay), and Zerosum Productions.
La guérison au féminin: récits des femmes de Chisasibi
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 at the 12th Edition Nomad University, Aboriginal Peoples and Knowledge Network DIALOG: Aboriginal Women: from systemic discrimination to social innovation, Institut National de la recherche scientifique, Montreal, 22-26 August, 2016.
Plan Nord and Indigenous peoples: Globalization and development in Northern Quebec
Students enrolled in Indigenous Peoples and Globalization course, First Peoples Studies Program, School of Community and Public Affairs at Concordia University have collectively createed a comprehensive website outlining the Quebec economic and infrastructure agenda, Plan Nord. The articles explore aspects including but not limited to: land rights, economic benefits, ecological reports, sovereignty, education and housing ramifications, as well as the research of different impact assessments on the environment and local populations.
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 Montreal Film Festival in 2010. Travel provided by DIALOG - Aboriginal Peoples Research and Knowledge Network.
The Indian Act Wiki
This wiki was created by the students enrolled in the The Indian Act course, First Peoples Studies Program, School of Community and Public Affairs at Concordia University. It summarizes the history of the Indian Act and its impacts on First Nations in Canada. This includes discussion of the events leading up to its imposition, its implications for First Peoples cultures and societies, as well as related policies and other instruments of assimilation and colonization. Issues of accommodation and resistance are discussed. Effects of proposed changes to the Indian Act are analysed and alternative solutions are explored in the last section.