Graduate Scholars Panel on Indigenous Research Methodologies
Join Indigenous graduate students Michael Mahkwa Auksi (Kinesiology Sciences), Emilee Bews (Department of Integrated Studies in Education), Cameron Adams (Indigenous Language Revitalization), and John R. Sylliboy (Department of Integrated Studies in Education) for a panel discussion on their graduate-level research. Register here.
The discussion will be moderated by Oneida Professor Michelle Kennedy (Department of Integrated Studies and Education) and will include a Q&A with the audience.
More about the panelists:
Michael Mahkwa Auksi is a fourth year doctoral candidate in Kinesiology Sciences at McGill University. In his words, “Hockey is my game. My life turned on a dime in 2002, the first time I played for my community of Lac Seul First Nation in the Northern Bands Hockey Tournament. The pinnacle of my career in 2016 was also its end; representing my mother’s country of Estonia in Olympic Qualifications was the perfect hockey death”. Mike’s study explores Lac Seul’s hockey origin story, which began at Pelican Lake Indian Residential School in 1948. In 1970, a four-team all-First Nations tournament took place at the Sioux Lookout Memorial Arena, signifying the emergence of community-based hockey in Northwestern Ontario. The turn of the millennium through to the present is denoted by Lac Seul hockey players who assertively navigate community-based and mainstream hockey systems. Mike enjoys keeping active, coffee with friends, and dystopic films.
Emilee Bews (she/her) is a member of the Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways. She graduated with distinction from the University of Calgary in 2022 with a degree in English Literature, focusing on Indigenous stories and storytelling. She now attends McGill University as a McCall MacBain Scholar, pursuing her M.A. in Education & Society. Her work focuses on strategies to support Indigenous student success through culturally relevant learning opportunities. Additionally, she works with the Participatory Cultures Lab within the Education Department, focusing further on decolonizing educational spaces.
Cameron Adams (He/Him) is of ininiw and Anishinaabe ancestry and is a member of Berens River First Nation in Treaty 5 Territory. He graduated in June 2023 from the University of Winnipeg with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees. He now attends McGill University as a McCall MacBain Scholar pursuing his M.A. in Indigenous Language Revitalization. In 2021, he finished work on a Swampy Cree language app. His work is to help document and create resources in nēhinawēwin (Swampy Cree). During his time at McGill, he will be working on a Swampy Cree dictionary and learning best practices in language documentation. He is passionate about language revitalization and making space for Indigenous languages.
John R. Sylliboy is L’nu from the Millbrook Mi’kmaw Community in Nova Scotia. John’s primary focus is to advocate and build support for Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQQIA+ in the Atlantic region and nationally. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Wabanaki Two-Spirit Alliance.
John is pursuing his doctoral studies at McGill University at DISE to explore gender, sexuality and sex by integrating L’nuwey perspectives through Etuaptmumk or Two-Eyed Seeing. John collaborates on various regional and national health search projects at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax. As a research activist and senior consultant, he aims to improve access to health care for Indigenous people, advocate for Indigenous-based curricula and education, and develop Two-spirit research ethics and protocols in the region and Canada. John is also pursuing his deep interest in script writing, producing documentaries, and film.
Publications in relation to Etuaptmumk / Two-Eyed Seeing (E/TES)
Sylliboy, J. (2021) Coming Out is Part of the Life Cycle: A Qualitative Study using Two-Eyed Seeing to Understand A Two-Spirits Coming Out Process, Global Public Health, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1993953
Sylliboy J. Latimer M, Marshall EA, MacLeod E. Communities take the lead: exploring Indigenous health research practices through Two-Eyed Seeing & kinship. International Journal of Circumpolar Health. 2021 Dec;80(1):1929755. DOI: 10.1080/22423982.2021.1929755
Sylliboy, J., Hovey, R. Wisdom through Experience: Humanizing Indigenous People's Engagement in Healthcare. Canadian Medical Association Journal. Jan 2020, 192 (3) E70-E72; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.190754 Retrieved from https://www-cmaj-ca.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/content/192/3/E70
More about the moderator:
Michelle Kennedy is a member of Oneida of the Thames First Nation, raised in London, Ontario, Bear Clan. Michelle completed her BA in Indigenous Studies and BEd., specializing in Junior-Intermediate grades, at Laurentian University. She has a Master’s degree in Indigenous Relations, also from Laurentian University, where her research focused on Indigenous community leadership in the area of violence prevention of Indigenous women and girls. She is a PhD Candidate in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University, where her doctoral work focuses on Anishinaabe art creation, curation, and curriculum development. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrated Studies and Education.
To find out more about the 2023 Indigenous Awareness Weeks, which this event is part of, please visit the IAW webpage.
