Knowing Where I Stand
In my academic practice, I recognise that engaging with the self is a critical first step. Explicitly stating my self-location and my relationship to place is fundamental to the process of “coming to know.” I approach my teaching and research through a lens of relational accountability — extending beyond transactional interactions to prioritise connections based on respect, reciprocity, and responsibility to both human and more-than-human relatives.
I acknowledge that I live and work on the unceded traditional territories of the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. This is not a performative gesture — it is a recognition that shapes how I approach my work every day.
Decolonisation is not a metaphor.
Declaring moral opposition to colonisation does not excuse one from active complicity in the structures that continue to enrich settler institutions. Critical consciousness is essential — but only if it translates into material action.
How I Work
Relational Accountability
My practice is grounded in respect, reciprocity, and responsibility — not just to human communities, but to place and to the more-than-human world. Accountability is not a checklist; it is a continuous, relational process.
Two-Eyed Seeing
Etuaptmumk — or Two-Eyed Seeing — guides my research by integrating the strengths of Indigenous holistic, relational frameworks with Western methodologies. Neither worldview dominates; both are held with equal respect.
Ethical Space
I strive to foster Ethical Space — a non-hierarchical venue where distinct Indigenous and Western knowledge systems, legal orders, and cultural traditions can coexist and dynamically engage without one dominating the other.
Indigenous Data Sovereignty
My research actively respects Indigenous intellectual and data sovereignty, ensuring alignment with community-defined priorities and adhering to the First Nations principles of OCAP® — Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession.
Beyond Performative Pedagogy
In the classroom, I am committed to dismantling the ongoing structures of settler colonialism — recognising that it is an enduring system rather than a completed historical event. My pedagogy actively rejects the “spectacle of reconciliation”: performative displays that centre settler comfort and innocence while leaving systemic power asymmetries intact.
Rather than presenting feel-good cultural content or re-centring whiteness as the normative starting point, I design courses that compel students to critically examine how they benefit from settler-colonial structures. I strive to move educational spaces beyond rote, performative land acknowledgements and toward material commitments — ensuring that Indigenous scholarship, activism, and histories are centred in a constructive and actionable manner.
Community-Driven Knowledge
My research methodology is guided by a commitment to transition away from historically extractive academic models toward equitable, community-driven knowledge co-creation. I strive to foster an Ethical Space where distinct Indigenous and Western knowledge systems can respectfully coexist without one dominating the other.
In practice, this means my research respects Indigenous intellectual and data sovereignty, ensuring alignment with community-defined priorities and the First Nations principles of OCAP®. Ultimately, my work is grounded in the understanding that decolonisation is not a metaphor — and that critical consciousness, if it does not translate into material actions such as structural reform and the support of Indigenous sovereignty and futurity, functions merely as a “move to innocence.”
I remain dedicated to practising humility, active listening, and adapting my academic work to be accountable to the communities whose lands and knowledges I engage with.
Key References
- Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Indigenous Knowledges Digital Learning Library.
- Daigle, M. (2019). The Spectacle of Reconciliation: On (the) Unsettling Responsibilities to Indigenous Peoples in the Academy. Reading and Walking.
- Sinclaire, M., et al. (2021). Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) and Ethical Space: Ways to Disrupt Health Researchers’ Colonial Attraction to a Singular Biomedical Worldview. Witness: The Canadian Journal of Critical Nursing Discourse.
- Yarchuk, K., et al. (2024). Co-creating Ethical Space in wildlife conservation: a case study of moose (Mooz; Alces alces) research and monitoring in the Robinson Huron Treaty region. Facets Journal.
- Monani, S., Walsh, D., & Wertzberger, J. (2023). Care and the Funny Business of Unsettling Land Acknowledgements. The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College.
- McGregor, D., & Nelson, E. (2022). Reconciling Relationships with the Land through Land Acknowledgements. Osgoode Digital Commons.
- The Steering Committee on Canada’s Archives. (2022). Reconciliation Framework: The Response to the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Taskforce.
- Clímaco, J. C., et al. (2026). Strengthening Indigenous community engagement in clinical research: a formative evaluation in Northern British Columbia. PMC.