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Melanie Braith
Senior Research Associate
Melanie Braith is the Senior Research Associate of the Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak Partnership Project, and the Research Coordinator for the Centre for Research in Young People's Texts and Cultures at the University of Winnipeg. Melanie holds a PhD in Indigenous literatures from the University of Manitoba and she worked for the Six Seasons project as a research assistant from 2018 to 2020 and as a postdoctoral fellow from fall 2020 to spring 2021. Her research focuses on Indigenous storytelling and she is excited about the many learning opportunities that this project has to offer. Melanie is from Germany and worked as a journalist for print, online, and TV before she came to Winnipeg for her PhD.
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Linda DeRiviere
Research Evaluation and Policy Development Team
Linda DeRiviere is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration from the Department of Political Science at The University of Winnipeg. She has taught a variety of courses in evaluation methods and public policy. She has published policy and evaluation papers on a wide range of topics, including Indigenous issues involving women’s health, gender-based violence against women and girls, early childhood education, child welfare policy, fetal-alcohol effects, youth homelessness, and community-university engagement. Her research is interdisciplinary, participatory, and community-based.
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Kevin Brownlee
Archaeology Team
Kevin Brownlee is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and the Curator of Archaeology at the Manitoba Museum. He was a co-leader of the Archaeology Team from 2017-2020. He was the lead author on the volume documenting the archaeological and anthropological record of the Nagami Bay Woman (Kayasochi Kikawenow: Our Mother From Long Ago). Kevin’s interest in pursuing a career in archaeology was based on his deep interest in understanding his Cree heritage. The ingenuity of his ancestors helps motivate him in his work, and he uses archaeology to inspire youth to be proud of their ancient past. Kevin will be the co-leader of the Archaeology team and will guide the fieldwork, the analysis of found objects, and the research into material culture. He will work with the Anthropology Department at Lakehead University and assist them in training graduate students working on the project. Analysis conducted by the archaeology team will be woven into the narratives and into the supplementary notes in the picture books, teachers’ guides, and digital texts. Kevin will oversee the development of the exhibits to be mounted by the Manitoba Museum. Brownlee has collaborated on the Pīsim and Six Seasons research projects with Reimer and others since 2008 and on the Kayasochi project and many others with Dumas since 1993.
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Myra Sitchon
Research Evaluation and Policy Development Team
Myra Sitchon was a Co-Team Leader for the Research Evaluation and Policy Development Team From 2017-2020. Myra has a diverse professional and academic background in Indigenous community-based initiatives, policy development, Crown-Indigenous consultations, heritage resources management, education, archaeology, skeletal biology and forensic anthropology. Her scholarly work with the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak (Rocky Cree) communities in northern Manitoba examines the range of legal traditions, meanings and values tied to land and identity through Cree philosophies, reasoning, language and resource use. Myra works with Rocky Cree communities to empower youth with this knowledge in reclaiming their culture, identity and history and to promote reconciliatory relationships through Cree culture and language education. Myra holds an Hons. B.Sc. in Biological Anthropology from the University of Toronto and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Manitoba.
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Jason Lewis
Jason Edward Lewis is a digital media poet, artist, and software designer. He founded Obx Laboratory for Experimental Media, where he leads research/creation projects exploring computation as a creative and cultural material. He co-directs the Initiative for Indigenous Futures, the Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace research network, and the Skins Workshops on Aboriginal Storytelling and Video Game Design. He is a Trudeau Fellow, and University Research Chair in Computational Media and the Indigenous Future Imaginary as well as Professor of Computation Arts at Concordia University, Montreal.
Before joining academia, Lewis spent a decade in Silicon Valley exploring early digital and networked media at the Institute for Research on Learning, Fitch Design, and Interval Research. In 2009 he founded Arts Alliance Laboratory, the research and development arm of London-based venture capital firm Arts Alliance
Lewis' creative work has been featured at Ars Electronica, Mobilefest, Urban Screens, ISEA, SIGGRAPH, and FILE, among other venues, and has been recognized with the inaugural Robert Coover Award for Best Work of Electronic Literature, a Prix Ars Electronica Honorable Mention, several imagineNATIVE Best New Media awards and five solo exhibitions. He's the author of chapters in collected editions covering mobile media, video game design, machinima and experimental pedagogy with Indigenous communities. He is Cherokee, Hawaiian, and Samoan, born and raised in northern California.
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Dawn Sutherland
Curriculum Team
Dawn Sutherland is currently a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Winnipeg. She was the Canada Research Chair in Science Education in Cultural Contexts from 2006-2016. Her research covers areas related to the influence of culture while learning science, self-efficacy of First Nations youth in science related career development and educators’ perceptions of culturally relevant science teaching. She has worked with First Nations communities to develop science education programming that incorporates Indigenous Knowledge and currently works with the Boys and Girls Club of Winnipeg to create after school learning experiences in engineering and science.
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Jim Jones, Jr.
Archaeology Team
To come.
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Kevin Lamoureux
Curriculum Team
Kevin Lamoureux is faculty at the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba, and a well-known public speaker. He has recently served as the Associate Vice-President, Indigenous Affairs at the University of Winnipeg and Education Lead for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation on secondment. Lamoureux has also served as co-Chair for the Provincial Task Force on Educational Outcomes for Children in Care, scholar-in-residence for several school divisions, and education consultant throughout Manitoba and across Canada. His writing has been featured frequently in newspapers and many academic journals. Lamoureux is working towards his PhD in the University of Manitoba’s Wellness and Sustainability cohort. He works closely with schools throughout Manitoba in support of Indigenous education and the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives; enrichment and talent development, and works with troubled and disengaged students.
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Val McKinley
Archaeology Team
To come.
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Tomasin Playford
Archaeology Team
Tomasin Playford had always been interested in archaeology as a child, but didn’t realize that it could be her career until she attended Brandon University (BU) and enrolled in anthropology and archaeology courses. After her first year of field work, she was hooked and completed a Four Year Specialist Degree from BU. She continued her education at the University of Saskatchewan where the focus of her Master’s degree was a comparison of Vickers Focus and Blackduck subsistence strategies. She then spent a few years teaching sessional courses at Brandon University before completing her doctoral studies in the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Manitoba. Her dissertation was an extension of her MA thesis in which subsistence strategies of various archaeological groups are compared using quantitative methods. As part of this study, she also developed a growth and development sequence for foetal bison which can be used to estimate site seasonality. She has worked mostly in southwestern Manitoba as a field crew worker, site supervisor or field school assistant for Drs. Bev Nicholson or Scott Hamilton. She spent one summer as the SaskPower summer assistant and was able to see most of Saskatchewan. She was also blessed with the opportunity to work in Northern Manitoba and is always excited about undertaking field work. When she was an undergraduate student, she was actively involved in the Archaeological Society of Southwestern Manitoba and served as President of the Manitoba Archaeological Society. In 2013, Tomasin accepted the role as the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society (SAS). The SAS delivers over 30 programs and services each year to connect people to Saskatchewan's past.
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E. Leigh Syms
Archaeology Team
Leigh Syms is the retired, but very active, Curator Emeritus of Archaeology at the Manitoba Museum, an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba, and a long-standing advocate and promoter of the importance of the ancient heritage/history of First Nations. In addition to writing numerous and technical articles, he has devoted much of his life to presenting knowledge on the richness of First Nations heritage through public presentations at various events; to schools, various conferences and to numerous groups in his Archaeology Lab at the Museum. He has held major workshops in First Nations communities such as Nisichawayasik First Nation and has run lab programs such as the Young Archaeologists Club.
In recent years he has focused on producing highly readable and beautifully illustrated books on First Nations ancient heritage for the public These include: Kayasochi Kikawenow: Our Mother from Long Ago(with Kevin Brownlee) (1999); Inninew (Cree) Material Culture and Heritage at Sipiwesk Lake: Results of the 2003 Archaeological Survey(with Teija Dedi and Wendy Hart-Ross) (2013); and Stories of the Old Ones from the Lee River, Southeastern Manitoba: The Owl Inini, Carver Inini, and the Dance Ikwe) (2014). This latter book was awarded the Canadian Archaeological Association award for an outstanding contribution to Public Communication. He received the Order of Canada in 2015 for his commitment and contributions to returning heritage knowledge to First Nations and developing the appreciation for it.
In 2014-2018 he coordinated and provided extensive information for the TV documentary, Mysteries Beneath: The Story of First Nations Farmersproduced by the First Nations film producer Coleen Rajotte and premiered at the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival in November 25, 2017. This is a film on the important Lockport Site which has produced outstanding evidence on First Nation cultivation. Syms established a research strategy for the documentary that includes a variety of new scientific techniques to discover new insights into traditional plant use, the results of which will require researchers to develop new approaches to recovering and interpreting resource utilization.
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Jino Distasio
Co-Chair of the Advisory Board
Jino Distasio is the Vice President of Research and Innovation, and a Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Winnipeg.
Jino joined the University of Winnipeg in 1999 as a member of the Department of Geography. For over two decades, Jino guided the University of Winnipeg’s Institute of Urban Studies where he worked extensively in the inner city as well as exploring broader Canadian and urban global issues. During this period, he was actively engaged in over 200 projects, publications and community initiatives. Areas of interest include urban revitalization, housing market analysis, urban economic development, mental health, homelessness and local and national urban policy.He has also served on numerous local and national committees and boards within the housing and community sectors. Additionally, he has extensive experience in the housing industry, supporting the building of affordable ownership, rental and student housing along with property management experience.
In an administrative capacity, he has served as Vice President of Research and Innovation, supporting faculty research. This role has also involved working with the senior management team at the University of Winnipeg.
At the national level, Jino has led several large, multi-city projects that have examined housing markets, tenancy supports, homelessness and developing of a national index of neighbourhood distress in Canadian cities as well as a toolkit for eviction prevention. Of note is he served as senior member of the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s At Home Chez Soi project which was a $110 million dollar study of mental health and homelessness in five cities. He recently completed an Indigenous Housing First Toolkit for the Federal Government.
As a faculty member in the Department of Geography, Jino focuses on urban issues. He has held Adjunct Professor status in the departments of Psychiatry, Geography and City Planning at the University of Manitoba where he supports graduate students. He enjoys writing commentary and provides local and national media comment on issues relating to urban policy, poverty, transportation, inner city renewal and other civic and urban concerns.
