Indigenous Studies

Faculty and Staff

Julie A. Pelletier, PhD -
Chair and Associate Professor

Dr. Pelletier, descendant of the Wesget Sipu Band, earned her PhD and MA in Cultural Anthropology at Michigan State University. Her dissertation involved applied anthropological research in an Ojibway community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  This research, which focused on tribal identity and its relationship to ceremony and ritual, was funded by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Her interest in tribal identity includes recent research on Indian casino gaming, a site of contestation as essentializing notions about the “Noble Savage” conflict with the new stereotype of the “Rich Indian” who has given up his identity to be a capitalist. Dr. Pelletier is also interested in the economic impact of Indian casinos on surrounding communities and is compiling longitudinal data on perceptions of American Indians in those communities.

As an award-winning teacher, Dr. Pelletier has published on decolonized pedagogy with Dr. Becca Gercken who also helped found the American Indian Studies program at the University of Minnesota – Morris, a former Indian boarding school. Dr. Pelletier has done fieldwork in Aotearoa/New Zealand which influenced her understanding and application of decolonized methodologies, and she has written on the linkages between Indigenous and feminist methodologies with sociologist Dr. Jennifer Rothchild.  

Dr. Pelletier is a proponent of education as a tool of empowerment and is excited to facilitate the transition of what has been the Aboriginal Governance Program at the University of Winnipeg to its new status and identity as the Department of Indigenous Studies, offering a BA in Indigenous Studies and an MA in Indigenous Governance. The mission of the department remains the same: to educate Indigenous and non-Indigenous students about the unique place of Indigenous peoples and communities in Canada and around the world by providing a strong grounding in Indigenous policy, cultures, issues, and representations – preparing them to take an active part in the self-determination goals of Indigenous communities.

Email: ju.pelletier@uwinnipeg.

Gabriel Ricardo Nemogá Soto, PhD - Associate Professor

Gabriel Ricardo Nemogá Soto, is a descendent of the Muisca Indigenous People of Colombia, South America.  He has a PhD in Human Ecology (University of California-Davis), a MA in Socio-Legal Studies (Brunel, UK), a BA in Sociology (National University of Colombia), and a BA in Law (Free University of Colombia).

Gabriel Nemogá has experience in interdisciplinary research and teaching at the National University of Colombia, first at the Faculty of Law and then at the Institute of Genetics.  His research trajectory began almost 25 years ago in socio-legal studies on the Colombian judicial system; after postgraduate studies and field work his research shifted to biological and cultural issues.  His research interests include property rights, cultural and biological diversity, protection of traditional knowledge, and access regimes to genetic resources.  He has conducted field and community participatory work with Indigenous communities from Mexico and Indigenous People from different regions in Colombia.

Email: g.nemoga@uwinnipeg.

Jacqueline Romanow, PhD - Assistant Professor, Graduate Coordinator

Dr. Romanow is currently the Graduate Coordinator for the Department of Indigenous Studies. She teaches courses in human rights, indigenous rights and aboriginal politics. Professor Romanow has obtained her PhD in Political Studies (International Relations) at Queen's University and has an MA in Economics as well as a BA in English Literature from the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Romanow's research agenda is focused on the issue of property (or territorial) rights for Indigenous peoples under international law with a strong focus on Latin America . Her field work has focused on cases before the Inter-American Human Rights system for the rights of Indigenous peoples to their traditional territories. Using human rights models for norm implementation, she explored state level barriers to the implementation of Inter American Court rulings for indigenous property rights in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua and Sierra Nevada region of Colombia . In all three cases the state pursued exploration and exploitation of natural resources within traditional indigenous territories without prior, free and informed consent.

Dr. Romanow has worked extensively with indigenous communities in Canada as well as Latin America in the fields of property rights, economic development and self-government. Prior to joining The University of Winnipeg, she worked directly with First Nations governments for almost ten years providing economic development and management advisory services as well as comprehensive program and project evaluations. In addition, she worked in senior management for several years at the Tribal Council level, overseeing community-based programs for health, education and economic development.

Email: j.romanow@uwinnipeg.ca

Lorena Sekwan Fontaine, LLM - Assistant Professor, Doctoral Candidate

Lorena Sekwan Fontaine BA, LLB, LLM, is Cree and Anishnabe from the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. She is a member of the wolf clan and 1st degree Midewiwin. Currently she is a doctoral candidate at the University of Manitoba.

Professor Fontaine has taught for the First Nations University of Canada and the School of Public Policy Graduate Program at Queens University. She has also worked with Aboriginal political organizations for the past 19 years.

Since 2003 Professor Fontaine has been an advocate for Aboriginal Residential School Survivors as well as Children of Residential School Survivors. She has spoken nationally and has authored articles in Australia and Canada on Residential School issues. In 2003 Professor Fontaine was a task force member and contributor to the Assembly of First Nation's Report on Canada's Dispute Resolution Plan to compensate for abuses in Indian Residential Schools. Professor Fontaine has also acted as a legal consultant to the Toronto law firm Thomson, Rogers for the plaintiffs and their counsel in the Baxter National Residential School Class Action as well as to Mother of Red Nations Women’s Council in Manitoba on cultural harm issues. Currently, Professor Fontaine is organizing a group of Children of Residential School Survivors across Canada to facilitate their input in the Residential School Truth and Reconciliation process.

In addition to her advocacy work on residential schools, Professor Fontaine is a strong supporter of equality rights. Currently, Professor Fontaine is an Equality Rights Panel Member of the Court Challenges Program. Since 1995 Professor Fontaine has been involved with the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund as a board members and subcommittee member.

Internationally, Professor Fontaine has worked with the Inter-American Human Rights Commission of the Organization of American States as a legal intern, and has assisted in land rights cases for Indigenous peoples in Belize, and the United States.

Email: l.fontaine@uwinnipeg.ca

Shailesh Shukla, PhD - Assistant Professor

Dr. Shailesh Shukla's teaching and research interests range widely from indigenous knowledges for participatory governance, transmission and learning within indigenous knowledges, critical social science and mixed research methods including indigenous worldviews, to sustainable education and international development, gender-sensitive approaches to conservation and development, and community-based development and resource management.  He has collaborated with academic and research partners from Canada and South Asia on research projects on indigenous knowledge systems and community-based resources management funded by SSHRC, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, and IDRC Canada.  He is now serving as co-Principal Investigator (2011-2014) and thematic leader for the Indigenous Knowledge component of an international interdisciplinary research project that involves three Canadian universities (MSC CMU, UM, Guelph) and multiple partners in South Asia (India, Nepal and Sri Lanka).  The project is funded by the IDRC, Canada through its newly established funds on global food security.  He is also an International advisory committee member for the First and Second Global Summit on Sustainable Development and Biodiversity (GLOSS 2011). 

Dr. Shukla has taught undergraduate courses in International Development Studies at The University of Winnipeg and graduate courses on MA Thesis Research and Ethnoecology at the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Manitoba.  He has presented and published on indigenous knowledge systems, particularly traditional medicinal plant knowledge, community-based conservation, environmental education, sustainable agriculture and educational innovations. Due to Dr. Shukla's interest and expertise in food security and indigenous knowledges, he has served and continues to serve as project coordinator for Canadian and international research projects.

Email: s.shukla@uwinnipeg.ca

Ida Bear and Annie Boulanger, Indigenous Language faculty

These gifted teachers join us from Red River College and offer introductory courses in Cree and Ojibway, which are required for the MA in Indigenous Governance and strongly recommended for the BA in Indigenous Studies. Dedicated teachers, Ms. Bear and Ms. Boulanger created the curriculum used in their classes, which is regionally specific and intended for adult language learners.

Email: i.bear@uwinnipeg.ca
Email: a.boulanger@uwinnipeg.ca