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Spring 2011

Parker, Leanna

Contemporary resource use on Indigenous lands is not often well understood by the general public. In particular, there is a perception that “traditional” and commercial resource use are mutually exclusive, and therefore there is often an assumption that Indigenous communities are abandoning their

traditional economy when they participate in the commercial sector of the larger regional economy. This perceived tension between traditional and commercial resource use is caused in part by a limited understanding of the participation of Indigenous peoples in commercial industries historically and the

subsequent process of the commercialization of some aspects of Indigenous peoples’ pre-contact economies. This dissertation examines the seasonal cycle of activities and the patterns of consumption and production of the Indigenous peoples who participated in the fur trade at Ile a la Crosse in northwestern

Spring 2024

Beaucage, Nathan

Indigenous Canadians are in a mental health crisis and do not receive adequate mental health service. This is evident as Indigenous clients access mental health services at twice the average rate while still showing a twice as high rate of suicide. Indigenous clients also only have a 50% likelihood

of returned for a second session with a therapist. We know some therapists produce better outcomes than others and that some therapists produce better outcomes with clients of certain ethnicities. By looking at the qualities of therapists who have a reputation for being effective with Indigenous

clients, we could learn more about what makes a therapist effective with Indigenous clients. Reputable therapists were located through a snowball sampling technique by asking Indigenous Elders and individuals in mental health professions who they would refer an Indigenous loved one to for help with a

2021-05-01

Ana Isabel Oliveira e Silva Bandeira de Melo

Although Brazil has an extensive body of legislation which in theory protects Indigenous linguistic rights, including access to interpreters during legal proceedings, Brazilian courts seem unwilling to allow for Indigenous languages to be spoken alongside Portuguese (the official language) within

the judiciary system. Time and time again, Indigenous people navigating the judicial system have not been afforded the rights safeguarded for them by legislation. In particular, this thesis will argue through the analysis of various case studies focusing on various Indigenous tribes of the Brazilian

state of Mato Grosso do Sul, that Article 12 of the ILO Convention 169, Article 231 of the Federal Constitution, and more recently Resolution N 287, have been systematically violated. By forcing Indigenous people to speak Portuguese and by denying them access to interpreters, the courts have been

Spring 2014

Snyder, Emily

Indigenous laws are complexly gendered yet there is a lack of research on this subject. As the field of indigenous law is growing, and as indigenous laws are being revitalized, it is crucial that gender analyses be included given that law and decolonization politics are not disconnected from

broader social dynamics. In this dissertation, I engage in a discussion about the possibilities and challenges relating to research on indigenous laws and gender by examining Cree legal educational materials. This study focuses on: 1) how the educational materials, which are meant to advocate empowerment

of Cree people and laws, represent Cree women as legal agents, and 2) whether and how indigenous feminist legal theory and methodology facilitate this research. Indigenous feminist legal theory provides an analytic tool that is attentive to gendered power dynamics in indigenous laws. This

Spring 2019

Banksland, Roxanna E

success are affected, even when they do not believe the stereotype. They need only realize its relevance to society. Ultimately, stereotype threat becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. Stereotype threat is a worldwide phenomenon, which also affects Canadian Indigenous populations. Aboriginal

individuals’ academic achievement regularly falls behind non-Aboriginal counterparts. Most stereotype threat research addresses rural Indigenous populations in Canada. Much less research addresses urban Indigenous populations. My research includes participants of Edmonton’s urban Aboriginal community. Of

primary concern is how urban Indigenous persons are affected by stereotypes and associated social discourses, which claim that Indigenous people are unable to succeed. Strategies for effectively protecting Indigenous individuals from stereotype threat are also explored. Research is conducted

Spring 2016

Friedland, Hadley Louise

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada states the revitalization and application of Indigenous laws is vital for re-establishing respectful relations in Canada. It is also vital for restoring and maintaining safety, peace and order in Indigenous communities. This thesis explores how to

accomplish this objective. It examines current challenges, resources and opportunities for recovering, learning and practicing Indigenous laws. It develops a highly structured methodology for serious and sustained engagement with Indigenous legal traditions, based on reviewing existing methods, then

combining the methods of two leading Indigenous legal scholars, John Borrows and Val Napoleon. This method approaches Indigenous stories as jurisprudence. It uses adapted legal analysis and synthesis to identify Indigenous legal principles from stories and oral histories and organize these principles into a

Spring 2016

Niemi-Bohun, Melanie A

This dissertation highlights the responses of Indigenous leaders and communities to the emergence of the colonial order on the Canadian prairies between 1870 and 1890. The complexities of their actions reveal significant points of weakness in the colonial order. Colonial governance strategies for

the administration of Indigenous populations in western Canada intersected with Indigenous tactics in the face of the overwhelming economic transitions and other pressures of settler colonialism, and this resulted in unexpected outcomes. Paylist data, contextualized by other historical sources, reveal

the various ways in which Indigenous peoples used both mobility and manipulation of status categories as forms of tactical resistance to the implementation of government administrative strategies. Indigenous contestation of the colonial order was intertwined with elements of adaptation to new economic

Fall 2019

Nesdoly, Autumn

Physical literacy is a key focus within physical education and sport policy and practice in Canada. Although physical literacy has been suggested to benefit the general population, the experiences of Indigenous peoples are noticeably absent in the physical literacy literature. To facilitate

meaningful and inclusive sport policies and programs in Canada, it is necessary to develop a physical literacy evidence-base that is grounded in the voices of Indigenous peoples. The purpose of this research was to explore Indigenous peoples’ perspectives of physical literacy. Two research questions were

used to guide the research process: a) how do Indigenous coaches, educators, and youth mentors understand physical literacy?, and (b) what is the role of Indigenous coaches, educators, and youth mentors in facilitating physical literacy among Indigenous youth? Eleven Indigenous educators, coaches, and

Spring 2023

Gill, Taylor

Damaging colonial practices have disrupted the intergenerational transmission of culture to Indigenous children in early childhood. Culture and cultural identity play a central role in Indigenous peoples’ well-being. Despite their remarkable resilience and deep reserves of wisdom about healing

traditions, Indigenous cultures have been severely impacted by colonization (Kim, 2019). Pregnancy and early life are critical periods in children’s developmental trajectories (Barker, 2007). By promoting healthy environments through intergenerational cultural engagement during the child’s early years, we

can positively affect the health of future generations of Indigenous peoples. Indigenous Grandmothers play vital roles in promoting healthy environments in early life by providing a connection to kinship networks and passing on Traditional Knowledge. This research follows the lead of five Indigenous

Fall 2017

Johnson, Brittany C

“Indigenous Relationality: Sex, Women, and The Animate” discusses Indigenous relationality from within the context of animacy, kinship, and sexualities through a decolonial approach of Two-Eyed Seeing. Using nehiyaw ways of knowing as the foundational theoretical framework through which the author

analyzes texts, this thesis undertakes close readings of Louise Erdrich’s Tracks, Katherena Vermette’s The Break, Zoe Hopkins’ It Takes a Village, and Susan Power’s The Grass Dancer. The author draws exclusively from Indigenous women writers for primary texts, and primarily Indigenous theorists and

scholars to analyze the texts and formulate an argument for Indigenous relationality within Indigenous women’s writing. The creative practices of beadwork and burlesque are also analyzed as texts. Both are forms of Indigenous theorizing and relationality, and both serve as means of teaching, healing, and