Indigenous Directions Leadership Council

Ron Abraira has worked in the field of entrepreneurship and economic development for over thirty years. After serving in the United States Navy, he attended the State University of New York at Buffalo where he achieved a BS in Business Administration in 1986. Subsequently, he worked as a Business Services Officer in the community economic development agency in Kahnawake primarily writing business plans for local entrepreneurs, and performing industry and market research duties for community economic development projects and studies.

In the spring of 1990 he was named the Executive Director for the economic development agency in Kahnawake and guided the development of both the capital corporation (a business development investment fund) and the employment and training agency (a program that amongst its training activities helps educate potential entrepreneurs). During this time he also attended Concordia University and achieved his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 1995. His MBA research paper was a cross cultural study of entrepreneurship. Besides teaching entrepreneurship at the John Molson School of Business (Concordia University), he also works as a management consultant, and is a member of the Investment Committee of the First Nations Venture Capital Fund of Quebec.

Born in British Columbia and raised on Vancouver Island, Vicky Boldo is a transracial adoptee from the ‘60’s Scoop Era and is of Cree/Coast Salish/Métis heritage. Vicky is a registered energy medicine practitioner (ANQ), research coordinator, cultural support worker and has a certificate in journalism from Concordia. She is passionate about effecting change in policy, education and attitudes in social work, health care and education for First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

She is currently Co-Chair of the Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy NETWORK and sits on the boards of the National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network, The Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, the (Police Service of Montreal) SPVM Aboriginal Advisory Committee. In 2017, Vicky accepted the invitation to be the In-House Cultural Support Worker at Concordia University’s Otsenhákta Student Centre, as well as to work with the IDLG.

Director, Decolonizing Curriculum and Pedagogy, Ed.D.

Donna Kahérakwas Goodleaf is a citizen of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation, Turtle Clan, from the community of Kahnawake.

Some of Dr. Goodleaf’s previously held roles include Executive Director of the Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center, and part-time faculty member in First Peoples Studies.

She brings her rich knowledge, cultural teachings, and educational expertise to her position as Concordia’s first Indigenous Curriculum and Pedagogy Advisor. Based out of the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Dr. Goodleaf plans on working with faculty members to rewrite their curricula to help ensure that Indigenous students can see themselves and their stories reflected in their studies.

Associate Professor, Dept. of Art History, University Research Chair in Circumpolar Indigenous Arts, and Special Advisor to the Provost on Advancing Indigenous Knowledges

Heather Igloliorte, an Inuk scholar and curator from Nunatsiavut currently residing in Montreal, Quebec, has published extensively on Inuit and other Indigenous arts in academic journals such as PUBLIC, Art Link, TOPIA, Art Journal, and RACAR and in texts such as Mapping Modernisms: Art, Indigeneity, Colonialism  (2018), Negotiations in a Vacant Lot: Studying the Visual in Canada (2014), and Curating Difficult Knowledge (2011)​. She is the recipient of the CAA 2017 Art Journal Article of the Year Award for her essay, “Curating Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: Inuit Knowledge in the Qallunaat Art Museum” and her nationally-touring exhibition SakKijâjuk: Art and Craft from Nunatsiavut (2016-2020) received a 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Canadian Museums Association. Her recent curatorial projects include the contemporary circumpolar art exhibition Among All These Tundras (2018); the retrospective Alootook Ipellie: Walking Both Sides of an Invisible Border (2018); and the inaugural exhibitions of the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit Art Centre, opening 2020. 

Heather is very involved in service to Indigenous peoples through the arts and academia. She currently serves as the co-Chair of the WAG's Indigenous Advisory Circle, and sits on the Indigenous advisory committees of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the National Film Board of Canada. Heather also serves as a member of the Faculty Council of the Otsego Institute,​and on the Board of Directors of the Inuit Art Foundation, Native American Art Studies Association, and the Nunavut Film Development Corporation.

University Research Chair in Computational Media and the Indigenous Future Imaginary, Professor of Design and Computation Arts, Trudeau Fellow

Jason Edward Lewis is a digital media artist, poet and software designer. He founded Obx Laboratory for Experimental Media, where he directs research/ creation projects developing intriguing new forms of expression by working on conceptual, creative, cultural, and technical levels simultaneously.

He is the director of the Initiative for Indigenous Futures, a seven-year SSHRC-funded partnership focused on how Indigenous communities imagine themselves seven generations hence.

He co-founded and co-directs the Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace research network that investigates how Indigenous people can participate in the shaping of digital media as well as the Skins Workshops on Aboriginal Storytelling and Video Game Design.

Jason’s creative work has been featured in five solo exhibitions as well as at Ars Electronica, ISEA, SIGGRAPH, Urban Screens, Elektra, and Mobilefest, among other venues. His writing about new media has been presented at conferences, festivals and exhibitions on four continents and his work has won multiple awards. He is Cherokee, Hawaiian, and Samoan, born and raised in the mountains of northern California.

Undergraduate Student – Human Relations major, First People Studies minor.

Belle Ken’nikatsi’tsá:á Phillips is Kanienkeha:ka (Mohawk) from Kahnawake.

She is in her second year at Concordia University pursing a BA in Human Relations with a concentration in Community Development and minor in First People Studies.

Belle is part of the founding group of students that created the Indigenous Student Ambassadors at Champlain College St-Lambert. This group worked to help Indigenize the campus and offer support to First Nations students.

She also works part-time at Tewatohnhi’saktha in Kahnawake as the Youth Programs Assistant.

Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator, Office of Community Engagement

Geneviève Sioui grew up in Québec City. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology and a Specialized Graduate Diploma in Society, Public Policy and Health both from Université de Montréal. 

For the last decade, she has worked closely with urban Indigenous communities in Québec advocating for social justice in domains of education, health, and social services.

She has been involved in various research projects at the Dialog Network (INRS), CRI-VIFF (Université de Montréal) and Concordia University. 

Her professional experiences also include supporting and developing strategies for the educational success of Indigenous youth as an Education Support Agent at the Centre d’amitié autochtone de Lanaudière and offering socio-academic support to Indigenous students at the Cégep Régional de Lanaudière.

Geneviève has taught anthropology at Kiuna Institute, the only First Nations College in Quebec.

She is currently responsible for developing and stewarding partnerships with Indigenous community stakeholders as part of the University’s broad Indigenous Directions strategies.

Allan Vicaire is Mi’kmaw from the community of Listuguj within Quebec.

In his role as project coordinator, he provides strategic advice, project management and operational activities for the Office for Indigenous Directions.

Prior to joining the Office of the Provost, Allan worked at McGill University for 9 years serving as the Director of the First Peoples’ House where he was responsible for the management of the student resource centre and provided strategic input throughout the university to ensure Indigenous student success. He also worked as the Indigenous Equity Advisor where he was responsible for designing educational programming such as the Indigenous Awareness Week and developing training in order to educate the McGill community about Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Allan is also a Concordia alumnus, having graduated in 2009 with a BA in Political Science.

Orenda K. Boucher-Curotte is the Coordinator of the Otsenhákta Student Centre at Concordia University.

Previous to this, she served as the Coordinator of the First Peoples’ Centre at Dawson College, and she has taught at Kiuna Institute, the only First Nations College in Quebec, as well as both McGill University, and Concordia University.

She is of the Bear Clan from the Kanien’kehá:ka community of Kahnawake. 

Chad Cowie is Anishinaabe and from the Mississaugi community of Manominiiking (also referred to as Hiawatha First Nation) and of the Wolf Clan. Chad has been involved in the field of education not only as a student but through student governance and employment since 2004. While working on his undergrad in Political Science at Western University he was also actively involved with the First Nations’ Students Association now the Indigenous Students’ Association) and the Social Science Students Council. Upon completing his undergrad, Chad was a researcher and policy analyst for the Chiefs of Ontario. Between September 2011 and August 2013 he obtained his M.A in Political Studies from the University of Manitoba, where he also served a term as the Vice-President Internal of the Graduate Students’ Association. Most recently, since the fall of 2013, Chad has also been working on his PhD in Political Science at the University of Alberta.

From applying to scholarships/funding to persevering and succeeding in accomplishing his education goals, Chad comes to the role of Indigenous Student Recruitment Officer with a breadth of knowledge on what it is like to be an Indigenous person entering the world of post-secondary school. As part of his role, Chad works alongside the Otsenhákta Student Centre at times.  

Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Human Sciences

Elizabeth Fast has Métis and Mennonite ancestry and was born in St. François-Xavier, Manitoba. She teaches in the graduate youth work program and has created an interdisciplinary course on Critical Indigenous Perspectives at the undergraduate level.

Elizabeth is a community-based researcher with two decades of experience working in social service organizations and community settings that focus on child welfare issues in Québec and across Canada.

Her research focuses on Indigenous youth, with a particular focus on understanding of the cultural needs of Indigenous youth raised outside of their biological families or disconnected from their cultural roots. 

Communications

Emilee Gilpin completed a graduate diploma in journalism at Concordia University. She is of Saulteaux-Cree, Métis, Filipina, Scottish and Irish ancestry and considers a multi-layered identity a strength and responsibility.

Her form of storytelling is one rooted in community and relationship-based protocol and cross-cultural consideration. She is excited to be a part of a team dedicated to Indigenizing the academy.

Dr. K. S. Hele is a member of the Garden River First Nation community of the Anishinaabeg people and was educated at schools in Sault Ste. Marie.

He earned a B.A. (Waterloo) in 1993, a M.A. (Toronto) in 1994, and a Ph.D. (McGill) in 2003. His dissertation examined the Ojibwa encounter with nineteenth-century missionaries to Sault Ste. Marie.

He has served as the joint editor of the Algonquian Proceedings (vols. 39 to 41) and has presented and published papers on the history of the Anishinabeg and Métis communities in the Sault Ste. Marie region. More recent publications have examined how the international border has affected First Nations communities in the Great Lakes region. Additionally, Dr. Hele is a contributor of columns and book reviews to the Anishinabek News and a columnist to the Sault Star (Sault Ste. Marie).

He continues to work on topics related to the international border and the Hiawatha Pageant as well as other items of interest not only to himself but the Bawating Anishinaabe and Métis communities.

Cheryl Lahache is Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Kahnawà:ke.

As Student Mentor and Support Worker, she was an important part of the team at the Otsenhákta Student Centre from August, 2015, through August, 2017. 

Cheryl graduated from Concordia with a B.A. in Human Relations, and a minor in First Peoples Studies, in 2015. She has also completed training in Applied Suicide Prevention Skills, Mental Health First Aid, and Family Life Education.

She has been an active member of the Peacekeeper Ethics Committee, which reviews community complaints about policing.

In summer, 2017, she returned to working in her home community as an Employment and Training Counselor with Tewatohnhi’saktha. 

Senior Director of the Office of Community Engagement

In her role as Senior Director of the Office of Community Engagement, Charmaine Lyn oversees and leads efforts to support and promote community-engaged scholarship, research and learning at Concordia.

Charmaine is an experienced higher education professional who has led admissions, recruitment, and community outreach initiatives for professional programs in law and medicine.

She has extensive experience in developing equity and diversity policies and programs in university settings. She has a particular interest in dismantling unnecessary barriers to higher education for marginalized and under-represented populations.

Charmaine is a first-generation university attendee who studied at McGill University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Common Law and a Bachelor of Civil Law. She is of Chinese ancestry, was born in Jamaica, West Indies and raised on Kanien'kehá:ka Territory (in Montreal).

Graduate student, McGill University

Charlie is Métis, with ties to the Bourassa and St. Germain families of northern Alberta (Treaty 8 territory) and the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO); he also has a long list of white settler ancestors (Irish, English, French, Dutch, Swiss-German, Scottish). He grew up in Toronto, Ontario, and has lived in Montreal since 2001.

He worked with the Indigenous Directions Leadership Group (IDLG) as Project Coordinator from May 2017 to June 2018, and was Acting Chair of the group from February to June 2018. 

Charlie graduated with a B.A. in First Peoples Studies from Concordia University in 2017. Under the supervision of Dr. Louellyn White (Mohawk, Akwesasne), he completed a small research project, and found that 19 out of 20 Concordia students had not learned anything about the TRC or residential schools through their studies at the University. 

In September, 2017, he began studying in the M.A. - Second Language Education, thesis option program at the Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE) at McGill University. He is currently consulting with Indigenous people at McGill, asking: “What role should the university play in Indigenous language revitalization?”

Trudeau Scholar,
PhD student, Communication Studies
Concordia University

Cherry Smiley is from the Nlaka’pamux (Thompson) and Diné (Navajo) Nations. From B.C., she is a feminist activist and artist and is currently a Trudeau Scholar and PhD student in Concordia’s Department of Communication Studies.

She has nearly a decade of experience working with Indigenous women and girls in different capacities, including as a front-line anti-violence worker at a transition house and rape crisis centre, assisting in the coordination of an anti-violence group for Indigenous girls, and as a project manager in violence prevention and safety for the Native Women’s Association of Canada.

Cherry’s research, through the creation of a documentary, focuses on ending sexualized male violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada. 

Undergraduate student, Management

Brooke Wahsontiiostha Deer is Mohawk from Kahnawake. She is in her final year as a management student at Concordia’s John Molson School of Business and is the president of the Indigenous Student Council.

She also works as a marketing and campaigns intern at the Concordia Food Coalition and is interested in sustainable food systems, Indigenous food sovereignty, and agricultural economics.

shewalksabout.com

Graduate Student (MA), Individualized Program

Wahéhshon Shiann Whitebean (B.A. First Peoples Studies) is Wolf Clan of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation at Kahnawà:ke. Her knowledge and experience is rooted in her extensive background within the Longhouse and community efforts for language and culture revitalization.

Wahéhshon has received several scholarships and academic awards including Sustainability Champion, and Arts and Science Valedictorian 2017.

She is currently enrolled in Concordia’s Individualized Master’s program pursuing a degree based in First People’s Studies. She is conducting an oral history research project on the Indian day schools in her home community of Kahnawà:ke.

Concordia Affiliations: Member Indigenous Directions Leadership Group, Founder First Peoples Studies Member Association, Founder Indigenous Student Council, Founder Solidarity Food Movement. 

Watch Wahéhshon Shiann Whitebean's 2017 Concordia Valedictorian Speech.