Boozhoo Shé:kon Tánisi Kwe' Tunngasugit Koolamalsi
Find resources to support Indigenous graduate students through culturally respectful, relational, relevant, responsible and reciprocal supervision practices.
Dene Floral Design
Laura Grier is a Sahtu Délı̨nę artist and printmaker, born in Somba ké (Yellowknife), and currently living in Toronto.
A black-and-white repeating pattern of stylized flowers and leaves made from Dene syllabics, arranged in a dense, decorative design. Through the use of traditional print mediums, they instrumentalize the power of the handmade to reflect language, relationality, aesthetics, and lived experiences of urban Indigeneity, displacement, and inherent Dene spirituality.
Laura holds a BFA from NSCADU (K'jipuktuk) and an MFA from OCAD University (Toronto) and is a PhD candidate at York University. They have had work exhibited at The Bows, Ceremonial/Art, The Art Gallery of Guelph, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Xpace Cultural Center, Collision Gallery, Harcourt House, DC3 Art Projects, SNAP Gallery, and ArtsPlace.
Land Acknowledgement
First Nations peoples have lived on this part of Turtle Island for millennia, stewarding the land, the water and all that contributes to life in this region. Today, the culture and presence of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples enrich the lands and people of this territory where York University is located. Visit the official webpage to learn more about the cross campus Land Acknowledgment statements.
Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Languages
The Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages (CIKL) is an interdisciplinary research centre at YorkU that supports Indigenous and decolonizing scholarship. Bringing together Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, we aim to facilitate knowledge that re-centres Indigenous knowledges, languages, practices and ways of being.
New Resource
Gaswéñdah: A framework for graduate supervision with Indigenous graduate students (pdf). This is a graduate supervision framework that centers Indigenous ways of knowing and relational accountability to support Indigenous graduate students’ self-determination, safety, and success.
- Read The Indigenous Framework for York University: A Guide to Action (.pdf).
- Read The Indigenous Knowledge Implementation Packsack: A Handbook for Embedding Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Your Teaching by the Negahneewin Research Centre (2024) published by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (.pdf). The handbook is based on the experience and wisdom of Indigenous people doing this work at Confederation College over many years and is the product of authentic relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, in conversation with each other and with Indigenous Studies as a discipline. Know that the handbook is very specifically addressed to postsecondary (predominantly non-Indigenous) teachers, who have a mandate to include Indigenous Knowledges in their practice. For these teachers, bringing Indigenous Knowledges into the classroom is a professional and personal requirement. This handbook is an offering to those who would take up that responsibility.
- Read the student blog Integrating Indigenous Education: Recommendations for Graduate Students and Educators (2024) by Jared Hogan of Memorial University Newfoundland.
- Read Lessons from the Summit for Mentoring Indigenous Graduate Students by Moira MacDonald in University Affairs.
New Resource
Gaswéñdah: A framework for graduate supervision with Indigenous graduate students (pdf). This is a graduate supervision framework that centers Indigenous ways of knowing and relational accountability to support Indigenous graduate students’ self-determination, safety, and success.
- Watch the Centre for Indigenous Student Services video.
- Visit the First Nations Information Governance Centre: Our Data, Our Stories, Our Future. "We envision that every First Nation will achieve data sovereignty in alignment with its distinct world view. FNIGC is responsible for a wide range of work, from research and planning to surveys, capacity development, education, and training."
- View the 2022 compiled list of Graduate programs in Canada (.pdf).
- Visit the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) for conference information. It is an interdisciplinary, international membership-based organization comprised of scholars working in the fields of Native American and Indigenous Studies broadly defined.
- Read Presenting Your Research(.pdf) and view Presenting Your Research (.pptx).
- Visit the World Indigenous People's Conference(WIPCE) for information. It celebrates the sharing, promoting of, and advocacy for Indigenous-based initiatives through holistic educational efforts to maintain our unique cultures and enhance our world views and life ways.
New Resource
Gaswéñdah: A framework for graduate supervision with Indigenous graduate students (pdf). This is a graduate supervision framework that centers Indigenous ways of knowing and relational accountability to support Indigenous graduate students’ self-determination, safety, and success.
5 R's Model
- Listen to Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule discuss the inspiration for the development of the 5Rs model of Relationships, Respect, Relevance, Responsibility and Reciprocity. Included are some initial considerations when thinking about why and how to integrate Indigenous pedagogies into your online classroom along with examples, references, guiding questions and short videos.
Applying for Grants
- Visit the VPRI Grants Homepage for support to York researchers applying for external research funding, from application review to submission, among other grant-related services.
- Research Documents and Forms (Passport York login credentials required)
People, Groups and Spaces
- Visit Indigenous at YorkU. This page serves as a central hub for connecting with Indigenous groups and resources available to students, staff, and faculty across York University.
Working with Indigenous Communities and Researchers
- Visit Indigenous Community Research Partnerships to learn about the online open education training resource. It is designed to provide guidance on how to conduct research that reflects, advances and meets expectations for ethical, collaborative and culturally supportive engagement and assist researchers who are new to research in partnerships with Inuit, Métis and First Nations communities, or who are researchers-in-training to:
- Operationalize required regulatory policy requirements and research directives
- Ensure equitable inclusion of Indigenous and Western-oriented knowledge in research systems
- And, in the case of Indigenous-specific enquiry, to privilege or give primacy to Indigenous ways of knowing and doing
- Visit the First Nations Information Governance Centre: Our Data, Our Stories, Our Future. "We envision that every First Nation will achieve data sovereignty in alignment with its distinct world view. FNIGC is responsible for a wide range of work, from research and planning to surveys, capacity development, education, and training."
YorkU Funding Opportunities (for Indigenous Research Topics)
- Internal Funding Opportunities for Indigenous Research (password required - contact CIKL for access)
Watch Adjudicating Indigenous Research Excellence below. Indigenous colleagues at York University co-created the module to support members on hiring and adjudication committees learn more about Indigenous research excellence. Hear a professor discuss their experience balancing and integrating Indigenous worldviews through Academia. Listen to Indigenous faculty provide detail examples of Indigenous research excellence. The module concludes with three discussions on questioning competition in academia, Indigenous-only review panels, and advice received and for members adjudicating Indigenous research.
Dr. Susan Dion & Dr. Rebecca Pillai Riddell led the module and benefited from the input and wisdom from the following Indigenous Scholars: Dr. Angele Alook, Dr. Rebecca Beaulne-Stuebing, Dr. Kiera Brant-Birioukov, Dr. Maya Chacaby, Cora Coady, Dr. Jeremy Green, Dr. Ruth Green, Dr. Sean Hillier, Dr. Nicole Muir, and Nick Ruest.
Watch Non-Indigenous SFU Faculty Supporting Indigenous Graduate Students below. This webinar hosts faculty members and Dorothy Christian from Simon Fraser University who discuss what it means to serve on a committee for Indigenous grad students as a non-Indigenous person.
- The Centre for Indigenous Student Services at York offers a list of Off-Campus Aboriginal Organizations.
- Visit Hope for Wellness Helpline. This is a helpline available to all Indigenous people across Canada. Experienced and culturally competent counsellors are reachable by telephone and online ‘chat’ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Visit Pathways to Wellness which is an online wellness resource for Indigenous students.
- Read the Well-being Through the Supervisory Process: A Supervisor Guide for Action (.pdf). This guide provides a framework to intentionally consider how the supervisory process impacts the physical, social, and mental well-being of graduate students. From SFU.
- A 24-hour National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for former Residential School students at 1-866-925-4419.