Mahyar Saeedabadi
DARE Project: Archiving Migrant-Indigenous Crossings in the GTA
Program(s) of Study: Social Work
Project Supervisor: Soma Chatterjee
I hope this research helps people gain a deeper understanding of how the stories of Indigenous and migrant communities are connected.
Project Description:
The project’s goals were to expand and build upon the existing initiative Toronto: A City of Crossings? An interdisciplinary, creative, and critical research project exploring the intersections of migration, mobility, and Indigenous presence in the GTA. Grounded in Pratt’s (1991) concept of contact zones, the project examined how urban spaces such as cultural events, historical and heritage sites, and everyday street-level interactions can become sites of encounter, tension, and solidarity between Indigenous and migrant communities, while also revealing the layered histories they share. To carry this out, the project involved designing and refining a research framework, conducting site visits across the GTA, archiving and curating findings through journals and photography, and critically engaging with existing literature. These steps helped frame the political and decolonial implications of crossings and made visible the structural gaps that persist when migration and Indigenous histories are studied in isolation. Ultimately, the project emphasized that despite often being siloed in both academic and public discourses, the overlapping experiences of colonialism, displacement, and resistance demand to be understood relationally.The Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) - Undergraduate enables our students to meaningfully engage in research projects supervised by LA&PS faculty members. Find out more about DARE.