Research

Projects

Indigenizing the Faculty: Recruitment, Hiring, Retention, and Advancement Practices at University of Winnipeg (Dr. Julie Pelletier)
The University of Winnipeg has achieved much in decolonization and Indigenization in the areas of curriculum development and implementation, and administrative initiatives. An ongoing area of focus and concern is recruitment, hiring, retention, and advancement of Indigenous academics. This project will review and evaluate relevant existing policies and procedures, research lived experiences of Indigenous faculty and, possibly, Indigenous candidates, and recommend effective changes and approaches to support institutional EDI goals in relation to Indigenous faculty.

Indigenous Histories of Tuberculosis in Manitoba 1930-1970 (Dr. Mary Jane McCallum)
This CIHR-funded project seeks to uncover, explain, and preserve the experiences of Indigenous people with tuberculosis so that these experiences are not forgotten. For more information, see https://indigenoustbhistories.wordpress.com/.

Language is Identity and Well-Being (Dr. Lorena Fontaine)
Language is Identity and Well-Being is a SSHRC-funded series of three outreach activities that focus on the link between retention of First Nations languages and holistic well-being. The goal of these events is to pilot a series of community training activities in order to co-develop trauma-informed language revitalization action plans among First Nations communities that reach beyond school classrooms.

Manitoba Indigenous Tuberculosis Photo Project (Dr. Mary Jane McCallum)
The Manitoba Indigenous Tuberculosis Photo Project is a collaborative, community-based project led by UWinnipeg post-doc, Dr. Erin Millions, and history professor, Dr. Mary Jane McCallum. The project features previously unseen historical photos of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit patients and staff at Manitoba tuberculosis hospitals, with the goal of making images accessible to former patients. Learn more about this project on their Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter.

Mite Achimowin (Dr. Lorena Fontaine)
The mite achimowin (Heart Talk): First Nations Women Expressions of Heart Health study was a CIHR- and SSHRC-funded collaboration between the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba. The first phase produced digital stories (3–5 minute videos) touching upon various themes affecting First Nations heart health. The second phase facilitated dialogue sessions with undergraduate students in medicine and nursing on the videos to discuss ways to integrate Indigenous concepts of mite (heart) knowledge and patients’ experiences with biomedical knowledge and practice. To learn more about the project, see the video mite achimowin: Heart Talk – First Nations Women’s Expressions of Heart Health Digital Story Research Project, the podcast recorded with the mite achimowin (Heart Talk) project team, and https://www.nccih.ca/563/mite_achimowin_-_Heart_Talk.nccah.

Shekon Neechie (Dr. Mary Jane McCallum) Co-founded and directed by seven Indigenous historians, including Dr. Mary Jane McCallum, Shekon Neechie provides a venue for Indigenous historians to gather as an e-community and share their ideas or works in progress. For more information see https://shekonneechie.ca/.

Swarming the Greenhouse Artlab: Artistic Encounters with Bee EcoCultures in the Age of Chthulucene - Digital Bee Stories (Dr. Lorena Fontaine)

This is a new research-creation project focusing on collaborative, queer, ecofeminist work and contextualizing our understandings of ecological knowledges alongside and in relation to Indigenous knowledges about land and language by working with the Cree concept of kwayekatasowin, "setting things right." Dr. Fontaine’s sub-project within this project is the recording of Indigenous bee stories and the creation of an illustrated book on Anishnaabe teachings about bees.

Publications

"Listening to First Nations women’ expressions of heart health: Mite achimowin digital storytelling study" (2019)
Lorena Fontaine,  Sarah Wood, Lisa Forbes, and Annette S. H. Schultz

Structures of Indifference: A Life and Death in a Canadian City  (2018)
Mary Jane McCallum  and Adele Perry