Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day!

From the team at IRSI, we wish you all a happy and peaceful Indigenous Peoples Day and encourage you to celebrate the diversity, resiliance and achievement of Indigenous peoples within Canada and around the globe. 

IRSI Speaker Series - “Bringing Education Home” 

June 28th, 12 - 1:30 PM

BC Hydro Theatre, CIRS Building, 2260 West Mall (UBC Vancouver Campus)

Join us for the second event in our new Speaker Series: “Bringing Education Home” with Deanna Nyce. Deanna is the CEO and a founding member of the Wilp Wilxo’oskwhl Nisga’a Institute (WWNI), which offers post-secondary education up to a Master's level for and by Nisga'a people. Deanna will tell the Nation’s story in successfully bringing Nisga’a education and research home, grounded in ancestral laws, teachings and wisdom. Register for Deanna's presentation here.

IRSI launched its Speaker Series in May with an inaugural presentation about Indigenous language revitalization by Suzanne Gessner, Linguist and Researcher for the First Peoples’ Cultural Council. Approximately 20 people attended the event and a lively discussion about Indigenous language revitalization techniques followed the presentation. After Deanna's presentation, the Series will break for summer and reconvene in September, with a monthly roster of events. Do you have an idea for a future speaker or topic? If so, let us know.

Meet The IRSI Team

The IRSI team has expanded considerably over the past several months. From its inception in 2017 to late 2018, IRSI was operated almost single-handedly by Associate Director Lerato Chondoma, acting under the guidance of VPRI Associate Vice-President Research & Innovation, Helen Burt andthe IRSI Indigenous Advisory Committee and with the assistance of the Network Assistant and Community Liaison until February 2019. In late 2018, a Communications Strategist came on board – just in time for the Principles of Engagement Gathering held at UBC’s Vancouver campus. In 2019, the office expanded substantially, adding eight additional members. With a robust team, IRSI is able to respond to an increasing amount of interest by both Indigenous communities and researchers in community-based collaborations. In addition, we are have been able to expand our service offering, with the addition of new events like the Speaker Series and resources such as a new website and portal (currently in development).

The IRSI team today, pictured above, top: Jody Olsson, Community Outreach; Jade LaFontaine, Digital Media Coorrdinator; Amanda Grey, Communications Coordinator; Marliese Dawson, Research Manager. Middle: Emily LeBaron, Manager, Administration & Special Initiatives; Brit Schottelius, Administrative Support; Samantha Nock, Information Management Officer. Lower: Julie Gordon, Communications Strategist; Lerato Chondoma, Associate Director.

Dealing with Data

The third in the series of Dialogues on Indigenous Data, Information and Records was held at the University of Northern BC in Prince George in May. Hosted by IRSI in collaboration with the Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, the objective of the Dialogues is to collaboratively and iteratively developing a model of engagement for Indigenous data, information and records housed at UBC, the RSHDC and beyond. As we convene with Indigenous community members, scholars and other experts who deal with Indigenous data and information, we are moving closer to having a draft framework of engagement for data collection and management. This draft framework will be presented at a fourth and final dialogue, to be held this fall in Victoria.

In a related initiative, IRSI is working in partnership with Indigenous partners, including the BC First Nations Data Governance Initiative (BCFNDGI) and UBC Advanced Research Computing (ARC), to co-develop an Indigenous data demonstration with seven participating Nations. The demonstration will allow us to explore best practices and protocols--based on OCAP™ principles and collaboratively developed with the participating Nations--to locate, repatriate and share data sets of interest to the participating Nations. Read more about Indigenous Data, Information and Records on our Blog.

Community Visit - Yunesit'in

Last month, members of the IRSI team had the opportunity to visit Yuneŝit'in, one of the six communities that comprise the Tŝilhqot’in National Government (TNG). There, we met with Chief Russell Myers Ross to hear about many of the community’s capacity-building priorities and discuss potential research collaborations that could support those priorities. One of the community’s goals is to develop culturally appropriate, fire resilient housing for a growing population. Other priorities include the Dasiqox Tribal Park or Nexwagwezʔan, land-based education, language revitalization, water quality and mitigating the impacts of climate change. We will be following up with Chief Ross in the coming months about how IRSI can support Yuneŝit'in and the TNG’s research needs. See images of our visit on Facebook.

UBC Congress 2019

The annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences took place at UBC's Vancouver campus earlier this month. The largest scholarly gathering in the country, Congress brings together more than 8,000 academics, researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners from over 70 academic associations for a full week to share findings, refine ideas, and build partnerships. 

Reconciliation was a key theme of this year's Congress and members of our team had plenty of opportunities to participate in presentations, workshops and events that are relevant to IRSI's role in transforming the research culture. Highlights witnessed by the IRSI team included Dr. Martin Yellow Bird’s presentation about Neurodecolonization, a concept that prescribes traditional, Indigenous, contemplative (mind/body) practices to liberate the brain and body from the harmful effects of colonization, and a panel of Indigenous faculty who shared their experiences in Canadian universities and suggested ways academic institutions can honour Indigenous wisdom. We will be publishing a Blog post about the Congress higlights that IRSI team members participated in, along with the theme of reconciliation, soon.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

The National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) released its final report at the beginning of June and a few days later the First Nations House of Learning (FNHL) at UBC hosted "Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women: An Epidemic Crossing the Medicine Line", a two-day conference held in collaboration with Georgetown University. The keynote was presented by the National Inquiry's Chief Commissioner Marion Buller and addressed issues of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. 

In a lead-up to both of those pivotal events, UBC's Margaret Moss, Director of the FNHL, published an exclusive commentary for Global News entitled "Why the U.S. should be outraged over Canada’s MMIWG report." The article highlights ways the epidemic of MMIWG is felt on both sides of the border despite different histories and Nations. Read the complete article.

Cultural Safety Training 

On June 12th, IRSI's team attended "Through an Indigenous Len: A Collaborative Learning Workshop on Decolonizing Health Research". The full-day workshop was hosted by Vancouver Coastal Health's Aboriginal Health unit and took place at the Holiday Inn Vancouver. There were 26 people from a variety of disciplines in attendance, representing such diverse organizations as UBC's faculty of medicine, School of Population Health, School of Nursing, Office of Research Ethics and the BC Centre on Substance Use. 

The day began with Elders opening the workshop with a prayer and teachings. There were some dynamic speakers that followed sharing their experiences and the way they applied an Indigenous lens on research and connecting it back to culture and values. The purpose of the training was to give an opportunity to look at colonialism and the impact it has had on First Nation communities and to understand the need now for research to be done and written about differently.

Congratulations to UBC Indigenous Graduates 

On May 25th First Nations House of Learning (FNHL) held its annual Indigenous graduation celebration, with 39 graduates out of a combined total of 175 from the Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 classes, along with honorary degree recipients Grand Chief Stewart Phillip and Leona Sparrow in attendance. We raise our hands to all the graduates for their hard work and dedication to higher learning.

The ceremony began with a welcome to the territory by Vanessa Campbell from Musqueam, and a welcome to the Longhouse from FNHL Director Dr. Margret Moss. Other presenters included Grand Chief Dr. Stewart Philip, who gave the Keynote Address, graduating student Lucy Hemphill, and Alec Dan, who provided a drum and song performance. Watch a video of the ceremony here.

"As I Remember it" published on RavenSpace

“As I Remember it: Teachings (ʔəms tɑʔɑw) from the Life of a Sliammon Elder" was published this month on RavenSpace, a new online publishing platform by UBC Press. The platform's inaugural publication, "As I Remember it" uses a combination of audio, video and text media to showcase stories from Sliammon Elder Elsie Paul's own life. In an engaging mixed-media experience, viewers learn about the Sliammon language, lifestyle and legends, and explore topics such as territory, community, colonialism and wellness.

RavenSpace is an new initiative for digital publishing in Indigenous studies created by UBC Press in partnership with the University of Washington Press, Indigenous and technology organizations, libraries, and museums. It provides a new model for collaborative authorship and publishing, meeting the standards of peer-reviewed academic publishing and respecting Indigenous protocols for the ownership, access and use of cultural heritage and traditional knowledge. 

Grant Funding Annoucements

SSHRC Funding Opportunity- July 10th

SSHRC and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) have launched a new Knowledge Synthesis Grants (KSG) competition to stimulate social sciences and humanities research that will help inform best practices related to environmental and impact assessments. The SSHRC deadline for this competition is Wednesday, July 10. The SPARC team will be offering proposal reviews for Knowledge Synthesis Grants received by 4pm on Wednesday, July 3. Applicants are welcome to contact Erica Machulak or Danica Kell for additional information.

MOA Collections Access Grant- September 30th

The Museum of Anthropology’s Collections Access Grant offers funding for Indigenous individuals (up to $500) or groups (up to $3000) to help cover the costs so they can travel to MOA to visit with and study the collections and archives. Eligible costs include accommodation and transportation, including parking. There are three deadlines annually for grants, with the next one September 30, 2019. Learn more.

Upcoming Events

Our office is always open to community members and researchers. We'd love to hear about the work you're doing with Indigenous communities this year! You can reach us at irsi.info@ubc.ca, or at 604-827-2801.

Our mailing address is:
Room 4156
2260 West Mall, Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability
UBC Vancouver Campus | xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Traditional Territory
British Columbia, Canada
V6T 1Z4

Copyright © 2019 Indigenous Research Support Initiative. All rights reserved.