Indigenous

Maria Hupfield recognized by Eiteljorg Museum

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 13:53:15 +0000

Maria Hupfield recognized by Eiteljorg Museum

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 10/15/2024 - 09:53

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture Landscape and Design

U of T Mississauga

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Maria Hupfield (photo by Grégoire Féron)

Maria Hupfield, an assistant professor in U of T Mississauga's department of English and drama, has received a 2025 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship from the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indiana.

Given every other year, the fellowship aims to bring Indigenous contemporary art to the forefront and cast a spotlight on the works of leading Indigenous artists from across the U.S. and Canada.

Hupfield, who is Anishinaabe and a member of Wasauksing First Nation, holds a Canada Research Chair in Transdisciplinary Indigenous Arts and is the director and lead artist at U of T Mississauga's Indigenous Creation Studio. She also works with graduate students in the master of visual studies program at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at U of T.

Her current research program comprises a community medicine garden, Indigenous creation studio and a living archive, with each space designed to facilitate the development of creative work grounded in Indigenous oral traditions and the natural world.

Read the Eiteljorg Museum announcement

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Douglas Sanderson to receive honorary doctorate from Concordia University

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 15:07:35 +0000

Douglas Sanderson to receive honorary doctorate from Concordia University

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 09/20/2024 - 11:07

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(supplied image)

Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii), a professor, Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy and decanal adviser on Indigenous issues at the Faculty of Law, will receive an honorary doctorate from Concordia University.

The university awards honorary doctorates recognizing the exemplary contributions of distinguished individuals. Sanderson is recognized for his expertise and leadership in Indigenous and Aboriginal law.

Sanderson, who is Beaver Clan from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, completed his juris doctor (JD) at U of T and went on to become the managing editor of the inaugural edition of the Indigenous Law Journal. He has served as a senior advisor at what is now Ontario’s Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation, as well as Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General.

He's also the co-author of the award-winning book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation, co-written with his former student, Andrew Stobo Sniderman.

“As the decanal advisor on Indigenous issues at our faculty, Douglas's work has had far-reaching impact beyond the classroom to the very core of our community and the law's role in reconciliation,” says University Professor Jutta Brunnée, dean of the Faculty of Law and James Marshall Tory Dean’s Chair. “An honorary degree from Concordia University is a wonderful recognition of his expertise and scholarship.”

Sanderson will address graduates and receive his honorary doctorate at Concordia’s Faculty of Arts and Science ceremony on Oct. 15.

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John Borrows receives 2024 Guthrie Award from Law Foundation of Ontario

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 14:17:09 +0000

John Borrows receives 2024 Guthrie Award from Law Foundation of Ontario

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 08/12/2024 - 10:17

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John Borrows (supplied image)

John Borrows, professor and inaugural Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at the Faculty of Law, has received the Law Foundation of Ontario's Guthrie Award, which recognizes exceptional champions of access to justice.

Borrows was recognized for his transformative impact on how the academic and legal sectors understand and intersect with Indigenous law and for his innovations in teaching that have been recognized both nationally and internationally.

Borrows is Anishinaabe/Ojibway and a member of the Chippewas of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario. He teaches a course to first-year law students that addresses the intersection of Indigenous Peoples’ laws with Canada's laws. Over the past decade, he has taught an intensive course in Anishinaabe law and legal tradition, often bringing students to his People's Neyaashiinigmiing reserve to meet with Elders, Chiefs, colleagues and teachers and experience Indigenous law in context.

“John has integrated Indigenous law rooted in Indigenous Peoples’ natural and social environment into the very heart of legal education,” says University Professor Jutta Brunnée, dean of the Faculty of Law and James Marshall Tory Dean’s Chair. “His extraordinary work revivifying Indigenous law has also contributed to a re-envisioning of the potential of law and participatory democracy."

Read the Faculty of Law announcement

Read the Law Foundation of Ontario announcement

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Jade Nixon and kara lynch recognized by Black Research Network

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:48:44 +0000

Jade Nixon and kara lynch recognized by Black Research Network

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 07/26/2024 - 10:48

Students

St. George

Black Research Network

Indigenous

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

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L-R: Jade Nixon and kara lynch (supplied image, Melissa Lukenbaugh)

Jade Nixon, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Women and Gender Studies Institute, and kara lynch (spelled in lower-case), a New York-based artist and associate professor emerita of video and critical studies at Hampshire College, have been named inaugural Black Indigenous Waterways post-doctoral fellow and artist-in-residence, respectively.

The Black Indigenous Waterways research opportunity was developed by U of T's Black Research Network and led alongside the Indigenous Research Network, a U of T institutional strategic initiative. It aims to explore the relationships forged between Black and Indigenous peoples through historical encounters across the Americas, focusing on avenues such as place, identity, and environmental justice.

Nixon’s doctoral research aims to centre Black women’s theories of gathering, place-making, and their relations with the Atlantic Ocean. For her research, she will travel to Martinique, an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, to learn more about the histories of the Arawak Caribs. “What excites me the most is to be able to commune with these lands and waters and talk with people who have in-depth knowledge of the Indigenous history of Martinique,” Nixon said. “I will be able to turn to the people who have lived and place-based expertise that I can learn from and who have the desire to share what they know with me.”

For lynch, the artist-in-residence role offers an opportunity to consider how to push boundaries and broaden resources to maximize learning potential. “After seeing what gets unearthed when students are open to approaching material in an interdisciplinary way, our proposal to students is to consider how to visualize data and information,” lynch says. “That shift is what is necessary in a liberation curriculum.”

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John Borrows and David Walders receive TRC Teaching Awards

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 17:31:59 +0000

John Borrows and David Walders receive TRC Teaching Awards

Teaching

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 07/22/2024 - 13:31

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L-R: John Borrows and David Walders (Alice Xue Photography; supplied image)

John Borrows, professor and inaugural Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, and David Walders, an adjunct professor at the faculty, have received TRC Teaching Awards from the Students’ Law Society and the Indigenous Law Students’ Association.

The awards recognize faculty members who have made an outstanding contribution to the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s Call to Action #28 by teaching course content involving Indigenous perspectives, topics and law, as well as Canadian Aboriginal Law.

Borrows, a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario, began teaching a new course to first-year law students that addresses the intersection of Indigenous Peoples’ laws with Canada's laws. Over the past decade, Borrows has also taught an intensive course in Anishinaabe law and legal tradition, often bringing students to his People's Neyaashiinigmiing reserve to meet with Elders, Chiefs, colleagues and teachers and experience Indigenous law in context.

Walders is Anishinaabe and his family is from Alderville First Nation. In addition to co-teaching a seminar in Aboriginal Law and Policy, Walders was recognized for making a significant impact through his role in the Kawaskimhon Aboriginal Law Moot, a consensus-based, non-adversarial moot that incorporates Indigenous legal traditions alongside federal, provincial and international law.

Read the Faculty of Law story

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PhD student Sarah Hazell recognized with 2024 Governor General’s Innovation Award

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 28 May 2024 18:42:08 +0000

PhD student Sarah Hazell recognized with 2024 Governor General’s Innovation Award

Research & Innovation

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 05/28/2024 - 14:42

Students

St. George

Department of Anthropology

Faculty of Arts & Science

Governor General's Innovation Award

Indigenous

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Sarah Hazell (photo by Sara Cornthwaite)

Sarah Hazell, a PhD student in the department of anthropology in the Faculty of Arts & Science, has received a 2024 Governor General’s Innovation Award.

Launched in 2016, the annual awards celebrate exceptional Canadian individuals, teams and organizations for their excellence in innovation and their contributions in helping to shape our future and positively impact our quality of life.

Hazell was recognized for her contributions to the Canadian Archaeological Association Working Group on Unmarked Graves (CAAWGUG), which developed resources pertaining to the search for missing Indigenous children and unmarked burials associated with residential schools in Canada. The working group was nominated for the honour by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

A member of Nipissing First Nation, Hazell is an award-winning archaeologist and anthropologist with over 25 years of experience working in the Middle East, the Canadian Arctic, Alaska and northern Ontario. She has played a central role in building archaeological capacity in Indigenous communities, with the aim of achieving equity in the domains of research, legislation and industry.

“The significance of this award, hopefully, will bring more attention to the difficult work that communities are engaged in to bring their children home,” Hazell said. “Our working group continues to develop training resources so that communities can ultimately undertake all aspects of the work themselves.”

Read the Faculty of Arts & Science story about Sarah Hazell

Read about the 2024 Governor General's Innovation Awards

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U of T Scarborough's Indigenous House recognized by Canadian Architect

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 17:03:52 +0000

U of T Scarborough's Indigenous House recognized by Canadian Architect

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 03/27/2024 - 13:03

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Indigenous House (Image courtesy Formline Architecture and LGA Architecture Partners)

The University of Toronto Scarborough’s Indigenous House, a building that will be dedicated to learning about Indigenous culture and ways of knowing, has received a 2023 Award of Merit from Canadian Architect.

The award is given to architectural projects that bring innovation to the world of design and balance aesthetics with the effectiveness of social spaces.

Indigenous House was designed by Alfred Waugh, principal architect at Formline Architecture and a member of the Fond du Lac Denesuline Nation of Saskatchewan, along with LGA Architecture Partners. Waugh drew inspiration for the design from a traditional winter wigwam and longhouse, and also took into account suggestions of local Indigenous communities, elders and knowledge keepers.

Claire Weisz, a juror for the award, says the committee looked at many projects designed to serve Indigenous people. “Finding an appropriate and functional architectural expression was not always successful,” Weisz said. “In this case, it is: a new form of architecture consciously emerges from the landscape and looks to Indigenous precedents.”

Read the U of T Scarborough story

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Jaris Swidrovich receives Connaught Community Partnership Research Program award

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 20:22:07 +0000

Jaris Swidrovich receives Connaught Community Partnership Research Program award

Research & Innovation

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 03/14/2024 - 16:22

Faculty

St. George

Connaught Community Partnership Research Award

Indigenous

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

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Assistant Professor Jaris Swidrovich, right, is pictured with master's student Timothy Lim (photo by Steve Southon)

Jaris Swidrovich, an assistant professor, teaching stream in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, has received an award from the Connaught Community Partnership Research Program for his project exploring barriers and opportunities involved in accessing HIV prevention drugs among urban Indigenous Peoples.

Many people in Canada at high risk of HIV are able to access highly effective preventive care with pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), but Indigenous Peoples face more barriers in getting the care they need.

To examine the issue, Swidrovich has partnered with community organizations in the Greater Toronto Area, including the 2-Spirited Peoples of the 1st Nations and Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction, to host Talking Circles with Indigenous Peoples.

“We want to ensure that any folks who prescribe, suggest, dispense, monitor or follow patients on PrEP know why they’re not seeing Indigenous folks, or why they are seeing the ones who they are seeing,” Swidrovich said. “Hopefully we can provide some strategies for better knowledge, awareness, and uptake of PrEP.”

The Connaught Community Partnership Research Program aims to help create and nurture partnerships between U of T scholars and community partners that support community-driven research.

Swidrovich is one of four U of T scholars to receive awards from the program this year. The others are Ishtiaque Ahmed in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Amaya Perez-Brumer at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and Alicia Hawkins at U of T Mississauga.

Read the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy story

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Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson recognized by Quebec Writers Federation, High Plain Awards

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:11:46 +0000

Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson recognized by Quebec Writers Federation, High Plain Awards

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 12/14/2023 - 10:11

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Andrew Stobo Sniderman (L) and Douglas Sanderson (supplied images)

Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) have been recognized by the Quebec Writers Federation (QWF) and High Plains Book Awards for their co-authored book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation.

Sanderson is Swampy Cree, Beaver clan, of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and is a professor, Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy and decanal adviser on Indigenous issues at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law. Sniderman is a Faculty of Law alumnus who is a writer, lawyer, and Rhodes Scholar from Montreal.

Their book garnered QWF’s 2023 Concordia University First Book Prize and 2023 Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction. “Down-to-earth, colloquially vibrant, seamlessly and impressively structured, Valley of the Birdtail welcomes the reader inside the history, realities, and emotions of people we have likely never met [but] are very happy to know,” QWF jurors wrote in a press release.

Valley of the Birdtail also won in the Indigenous writer category at the 2023 High Plains Awards. Organized by the Billings Public Library in Montana, the awards recognize works that reflect life on the High Plains of the U.S. and Canada.

The book previously picked up the Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize and a J.W. Dafoe Book Prize.

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Shannon Simpson recognized with Mino Bomaadiziwin Award (Indigenous Award) by City of Toronto

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 18:39:04 +0000

Shannon Simpson recognized with Mino Bomaadiziwin Award (Indigenous Award) by City of Toronto

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 12/12/2023 - 13:39

Faculty

St. George

Indigenous

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Shannon Simpson (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Shannon Simpson, senior director of the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, has been recognized with the Mino Bimaadiziwin Award (Indigenous Award), part of the City of Toronto’s 2023 Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards, for her contributions to the well-being and advancement of Toronto’s urban Indigenous community.

Named after the Anishinaabemowin expression for “living the good life,” the Mino Bimaadiziwin Award recognizes people and organizations that have helped build a more equitable city by advancing reconciliation and justice, addressing discrimination and working to eliminate barriers to equality.

“I moved to Toronto over 25 years ago and the urban Indigenous community has become home to me,” said Simpson, who is Anishinaabe and Scottish and a member of the Michi Saagiig of Alderville First Nation. “I am so humbled by this honour and I look forward to continuing my journey to support, work alongside and learn from my teachers, friends and colleagues in Toronto’s urban community.”

In addition to over a decade working at First Nations House, Simpson co-chaired the Indigenous Students Working Group for U of T’s Truth and Reconciliation Steering Committee and is currently leading an Indigenous Student Advisory Circle. She played pivotal roles in the renovation of First Nations House and the Ziibiing landscape project, and championed a recent initiative that will cover the cost of tuition for members of nine First Nations communities.

“Since 2003, Shannon has led cumulative and substantial change to make our university a place where members of Indigenous communities feel supported, and where non-Indigenous students and employees are well-prepared to follow the path to reconciliation,” said Kelly Hannah-Moffat, vice-president of people strategy, equity & culture. “She is a patient advocate and innovative and inspiring leader.”

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