Research Description

My current research focuses on the twentieth century modern Indian political movement in British Columbia, and specifically explores the pan-tribal political organization, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs. The Union emerged in 1969 as the predominant provincial Aboriginal political organization and was officially organized to oppose Trudeau’s White Paper Policy on Indian Affairs. My dissertation argues that the Union was uniquely situated at the intersection of emerging global social movements and the politicization of marginalized populations, national shifts in Aboriginal policy, and longstanding local political expressions. Using ethnohistorical lens with a significant community research component, my research uncovers the subtleties of activism in the long Sixties including the role of personality, leadership, community, Aboriginality, youth, and radicalism in the activation of Aboriginal politics. My research also engages in new debates about the role of ethnohistory in the analysis of a multi-community organization, and demonstrates how oral interviews become negotiated political spaces for Union activists navigating relationships with the researcher and other activists to shape the historiography of the organization. As a multi-spatial project, this dissertation contributes to several thematic, regional, national, and transnational historiographies including Aboriginal and Native-Newcomer, British Columbia, twentieth century political activism, and global social movements. Together, these discussions further contribute to debates in gender history and oral history methodologies.

Working Dissertation Title

“United we stand, divided we perish”: Identity, Community, and the Politics of Activism in the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, 1969-1980

Publications

Articles

“ ‘You’ll probably tell me that your grandmother was an Indian princess’: Identity, Community, and Politics in the Oral History of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, 1969-1983,” Oral History Forum d’histoire orale volume 34 (2014). Available online. 

“Negotiating Sovereignty: Indigenous Perspectives on a Settler-Colonial Constitution,” BC Studies. Co-Authored. (In progress)

“Homemakers, Activists, and Radical Mothers: Indigenous Feminism and Politicized Motherhood in the British Columbia Aboriginal Political Movement, 1950-1981.” (In progress)

“ ‘We want to live as Indians’: Political Resilience and the Negotiation of Aboriginal Politics in the
Union of BC Indian chiefs, 1969-1975.” (In progress)

“ ‘Spitting Out the Foreign Society’: Identity, Community, and Politics in the Oral History of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, 1969-1980.” (In progress)

Book Reviews

We Are Born with the Songs Inside Us: Lives and Stories of First Nations People in British Columbia, Katherine Gordon. BC Studies. (In progress)

For King and Kanata: Canadian Indians and the First World War, Timothy C. Winegard. BC Studies (Fall 2013)

A Lawyer in Indian Country: A Memoir, Alvin J. Ziontz. Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Volume 101 Number 3-4 (Summer/Fall 2010).

Conference Papers

“ ‘I am not a women’s libber although sometimes I sound like one’: Indigenous Feminism and Politicized Motherhood in the British Columbia Aboriginal Political Movement, 1950-1981,” Meeting of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, Washington, DC, June 2015. (Submitted)

“Future Directions for Ethnohistory in Canada: Taking Stock 60 Years after the American Indian Claims Commission Launched the Method of Ethnohistory.” Roundtable discussion for the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, Ottawa, Ontario, June 2015. (Submitted)

“Homemakers, Activists, and Radical Mothers: Indigenous Feminism and Politicized Motherhood in the British Columbia Aboriginal Political Movement, 1950-1981,” Annual Meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, Ottawa, Ontario, June 2015. (Submitted)

“ ‘This movement would shake the very bones of this country’: Radical Aboriginal Protest in British Columbia’s ‘Militant May,’ 1975,” Meeting of BC Studies, Vancouver, British Columbia, May 2015. (Submitted)

“Lessons from the Field: Experiencing Oral History Research,” Guest lecture for History 427: Re-Presenting Indigenous Histories.“‘You’ll probably tell me that your grandmother was an Indian princess’: Oral History Encounters with Political Activists,” International Oral History Association Conference, Barcelona, Spain, July 2014. (Accepted)

“‘We want to live as Indians’: Political Resilience and the Negotiation of Aboriginal Politics in the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, 1969-1975,” Western History Association. Tucson, Arizona, October 2013.

“‘Spitting Out the Foreign Society’: Identity, Community, and Politics in the Oral History of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, 1969-1991,” presented at “Talking about Protest: Oral History Methodology in Social and Political Movements Research,” Institute for Advanced Study, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK, September 2013.

“Navigating Community Politics and Conflicted Identities: A Graduate Student and Community based research,” American Society for Ethnohistory. Ottawa, Ontario, October 2010.

“The Politics of Activism: The Understanding and Implementation of Stó:lõ Political Activism.” American Society for Ethnohistory. New Orleans, Louisiana, October 2009.

“Problems and Processes: First Nations and Métis Activism in Saskatchewan, 1929-1945.”University of Saskatchewan Department of History Colloquium. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, April 2008.

“‘Sayeen! Sayeen! –Get Off My Land!’: The Historiography of the Nisga’a Final Agreement, 1999.” University of Saskatchewan Buffalo History Conference. Manitou Beach, Saskatchewan, May 2007.

Awards

Post Secondary Education Bursary, Indspire (formerly National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation), 2014

Aboriginal Student Bursary, Simon Fraser University, 2013

Post Secondary Education Bursary, Indspire (formerly National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation), 2013

Aboriginal Graduate Student Bursary Award for Academic Conference Attendance and Presentation, Office for Aboriginal Peoples, Simon Fraser University, 2013

Graduate Student Society Professional Development Grant, Simon Fraser University, 2013

Aboriginal Community Engagement Award, Simon Fraser University, 2013

Aboriginal Community Engagement Award, Simon Fraser University, 2012

Post Secondary Education Bursary, Indspire (formerly National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation), 2012

Dr. J.V. Christensen Graduate Scholarship, Simon Fraser University, 2012

Robert Russell Family/First Nations Graduate Award, Simon Fraser University, 2012

President’s PhD Scholarship, Simon Fraser University, 2012

Aboriginal Student Bursary, Simon Fraser University, 2012

Community Trust Endowment Funds Graduate Fellowship, Simon Fraser University, 2012

Graduate Student Society Professional Development Grant, Simon Fraser University, 2012

IODE Seaman Morley Scott Memorial Scholarship, Simon Fraser University, 2011

Graduate Fellowship, Simon Fraser University, 2011                                                 

Aboriginal Student Bursary, Simon Fraser University, 2011                                                               

Post Secondary Education Bursary, National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, 2010              

SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, 2010                                                                                     

William and Jane Saywell Graduate Scholarship in History, Simon Fraser University, 2010

Graduate Fellowship, Simon Fraser University, 2010                                                                           

Special Targeted Entrance Scholarship, Simon Fraser University, 2009                                       

Targeted Entrance Scholarship, Simon Fraser University, 2009          

SSHRC Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships - Masters, 2007                             

Simpson Scholarship, University of Saskatchewan, 2006                                                         

David De Brou Memorial Scholarship, University of Saskatchewan, 2006                           

Academic Scholarship, University of Lethbridge, 2001-2003; 2005-2006              

Entrance Scholarship, University of Lethbridge, 2001

Courses Taught

Sessional Instructor:

HIST 102: Canada Since Confederation, Fraser International College* (Fall 2012, Spring & Fall 2013 - 2015)

HIST 204: the Social History of Canada, Fraser International College (Fall 2014, Spring 2015)

HIST 485: Resistance, Radicalism, and Revolution: Social Movements and Activist Currents in Canada and the United States since 1960. Co-taught with Eryk Martin (Fall 2012)

* Fraser International College is affiliated with Simon Fraser University. History 102 curriculum and development is currently overseen by Professor Mark Leier, Department of History, Simon Fraser University.

Teaching Assistant:

HIST 102: Canada Since Confederation (Spring & Summer 2011)

HIST 101: Canada to Confederation (Summer 2010)

HIST 258.3: Prairie History since 1905, University of Saskatchewan (Spring 2007)

History 257.3: Prairie History to 1905, University of Saskatchewan (Fall 2006)