AIGSC Members

AIGSC Student Profiles

Nkasi Adams, indigenous (Amerindian), Guyana, South America

College of Law, LLM (Master’s) student, Aboriginal Law

My thesis "Guyana’s Pioneering REDD Model and Amerindians Rights" illustrates how Guyana's Innovative Reducing emissions from Deforestation and forest degradation Model as currently being developed, has the potential to significantly undermine Amerindian peoples’ traditional ways of living and continued forest use, by failing to be developed within a framework that adequately protects the rights of Amerindians in a way that mirrors developing norms in international law regarding Indigenous peoples rights.

I have a keen interest in Indigenous peoples Human rights issues, and I hope to specialize in this area of the law.

Kelly Anne Butler, Mi’kmaq, Seal Rocks, Newfoundland

PhD Student, History

“Caves, Stones, and El Cristo Negro: A History of Discourses of the Sacred in Esquipulas” explores the continual interplay between indigenous worldviews and Western Christianity over a five-hundred year period in the municipality of Esquipulas in eastern Guatemala, with a heavy emphasis on shrines and the phenomenon of pilgrimage. My interest in this topic extends across all of the Americas, with a specific focus on the ways in which indigenous spiritual practices inform and inevitably alter the manner in which non-indigenous peoples practice and approach Christianity.

Omeasoo Butt, Saddle Lake

PhD Student, History

"Aboriginal House and Home: Architecture and Family Values in a Colonial Context" will examine how human value systems shape architecture, and are reflected in architecture, and how values and architecture change together through time, in two Indigenous Canadian communities.
Other Information: I am interested in collaborations with various indigenous communities and especially work with youth. I am especially happy to help young people to learn, understand and use history in their own context and how it shapes our world today.

Jennifer Campeau

Tobi Jeans, Ojibway, Matachewan First Nation

MES in Environment and Sustainability

With supervisor Dr. David Natcher, my thesis will focus on how enforcement of new border regulations between Canada and the USA has affected the Vuntut Gwitch’in’s ability to access traditional food sources—including the harvest, sharing and receiving of these traditional foods.

While working towards my BA in Political Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland, I focused my educational pursuits and progressively responsible experience on First Nation and Inuit communities. A strong foundation in my culture prepared me for work with Native Child and Family Services of Toronto’s Native Women’s Transition House; Youth Director, traditional dancer and Coordinator for Native Art Camp for the St. John’s Native Friendship Centre; researcher and editor for academic text and not-for-profit native advocacy groups. My success in achieving as much as I have in an academic setting has not been without its challenges. I am intimately aware of the unique situations all Aboriginal students come from and aim to ensure there are no more barriers created for them in the Aboriginal-Indigenous Graduate Student Council.

Rebecca Major

Dawn Y. Pratt, Muscowpetung Saulteaux First Nation

M.Sc. Chemistry Student

Sorption of Arsenic (V) using Synthetically Engineered Chitosan Based Biopolymer Sorbent Materials.

Other Activities: Science Ambassador/Role Model; I enjoy inspiring First Nation youth through hands-on science activities and experiments.

Terri Thunder, Saskatchewan Cree, Thunderchild First Nation

M.Sc. Student, Chemistry

Thesis: Triplet-Triplet Annihilation in Sol-gel Materials

Stan Tu’Inukuafe, indigenous, Tonga

Ed Foundations, Master’s student in Education, curriculum based

Focus is on Adult Education