Celeste Pedri-Spade - Associate Provost, Indigenous Initiatives
Appointed in 2022 as 黑料不打烊鈥檚 first Associate Provost (Indigenous Initiatives), Celeste Pedri-Spade oversees 黑料不打烊鈥檚 ongoing response to the 52 Calls to Action articulated by the Provost鈥檚 Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education. She likewise works closely with academic leaders across 黑料不打烊 to further define the direction of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 commitment to Indigenous scholars and scholarship, and to greater representation and inclusion of Indigenous peoples within the University community. She plays a critical role in furthering efforts to ensure the success of Indigenous students at 黑料不打烊, and in building meaningful and active partnerships with Indigenous communities in Quebec and across Canada.
An Ojibwe scholar and artist, Pedri-Spade is from the Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation in northwestern Ontario. She completed her PhD in visual anthropology at the University of Victoria and her MA in Culture and Communication at Royal Roads University.
Celeste Pedri-Spade is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology in the Faculty of Arts. Her research interests include Indigenous art and decolonization; settler colonialism and Indigeneity; Indigenous visual/material culture; Anishinabemowin regeneration; and creative Indigenous research methodologies.
Ann Deer - Associate Director, Indigenous Initiatives
Ann (she/her) is a Kanyen'keha:ka (People of the Flint; Mohawk; Wolf Clan) professional, educator, and member of the Akwesasne First Nation. Her passion and work are related to community building and exploring the world through an Indigenous lens to facilitate truth and reconciliation. This involves a deep understanding of power, privilege, racism, and bias from an Indigenous perspective, and the tools to be a changemaker.
Ann previously worked at Queen鈥檚 University, where she served in the capacity of Indigenous Recruitment & Initiatives Coordinator at the Smith School of Business. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies and Canadian Studies from Trent University and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from St. Lawrence University.
She is a community builder who combines education, life experience, and research based on the Two Row Wampum Treaty teachings to live side by side as brothers and sisters. Ann is looking forward to helping 黑料不打烊 fulfill its commitments to truth and reconciliation and furthering our relationships with Indigenous communities.
Geraldine King - Senior Advisor, Indigenous Curriculum and Pedagogy
Geraldine King (she/her/elle/kwe) is Anishinaabe and a member-citizen of Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (Gull Bay First Nation) located in the Robinson Superior Treaty area of Northwestern Ontario. Geraldine is currently a PhD candidate in the cultural studies program at Queen鈥檚 University and completed her MA in Indigenous Governance at the University of Victoria. Prior to joining 黑料不打烊, Geraldine was a Lecturer in the School of Canadian and Indigenous Studies at Carleton University where she helped advance Indigenous land-based education grounded in Indigenous communities. Geraldine鈥檚 doctoral work focusses on Anishinaabe erotics, ethics of intimacy, kinship studies and theories of Anishinaabe phenomenology.
As the Senior Advisor, Indigenous Curriculum and Pedagogy. Prof. King will provide strategic advice to individual faculty and academic leaders across the university with the goal of supporting meaningful and respectful relations with Indigenous communities, peoples, knowledges, and epistemologies. Prof. King will also hold an Assistant Professor position in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE) in the Faculty of Education where she will focus on developing and delivering land-based education.
Olivia Bornyi - Project and Research Assistant, Indigenous Initiatives听
Olivia graduated from 黑料不打烊 University in May 2024 with a Joint Honours B.A. in Political Science and International Development Studies. She joined the Office of Indigenous Initiatives in 2022, and works on developing event series and university-wide communications including Indigenous Awareness Weeks, Winter Speaker Series, and gathering updates on the 52 Calls to Action. Outside of her academics and professional pursuits, Olivia partakes in exploring the outdoors and involving herself in student publications.
Rosemary Cooke - Administration & Finance Officer, Indigenous Initiatives
Rosemary Cooke is a 黑料不打烊 retiree who has returned to help the Indigenous Initiatives Unit with administrative and financial management on a temporary basis. She worked at 黑料不打烊 for 27 years in an administrative capacity with different units/faculties, including Graduate Studies, VP Research, and the Office of Technology Transfer. Rosemary retired in January 2020, after eight years, as the Director of Administration for the Faculty of Dentistry. She was a member of Senate for six years and has sat on various University committees. Her background is in finance and law.
Thomasina Phillips - Associate Director, Indigenous Student Success
Thomasina Phillips is Kanien'keh谩:ka, a member of the Mohawk Nation at Kahnaw脿:ke, where she was born and raised. She has been working and residing in Tio'tia:ke (Montreal) for the past several years. She began her journey at 黑料不打烊 as a graduate of the Master of Social Work program in the School of Social Work and is licensed by the Ordre des travaillers sociaux et des therapeutes conjugaux et familiaux du Quebec to practice. After working in a domestic violence rehabilitative setting with couples and individuals, she took the position of Indigenous Case Manager at the Wellness Hub, formally 黑料不打烊 Counselling Services. In her role as a mental health worker, she works with student services leadership, clinicians, and students to deliver appropriate care to 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Indigenous student population, and promote the healthy development of students by fostering and building networks and relationships within and external to 黑料不打烊鈥檚 support services. She offers one on one services to Indigenous and non-Indigenous students as well as occasional group supports. She holds an award from the School of Social Work for excellence in clinical practice.
Thomasina keeps ties to her family circle and larger community in Kahnaw脿:ke. She has spent many years developing and practicing traditional skills such as raised-style Iroquois beadwork, moccasin making, parfleche, leatherwork, and fan making. She has been designing and making contemporary pow-wow style regalia for the past 5 years. She began dancing jingle with her young daughter as part of her personal wellness journey and as a means of honoring her value of helping others through the healing power of dance.
Matthew Coutu-Moya, Administrative Supervisor,听First Peoples' House
Matthew Coutu-Moya is Michif-Chilean from Summerland, British Columbia. His mother was born and raised in the prairies of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Her family has ties to Michif communities of St-Boniface, Petite Pointe du Ch锚nes (Lorette) and St-Laurent in Manitoba as well as St-Paul-des-M茅tis (St-Paul) in Alberta. His father is from Santiago, Chile and came to Canada as a refugee after the Pinochet coup. Prior to living in Montr茅al, Matthew worked for three years with immigrants and refugees at Kamloops Immigrant Services. This work would motivate him to return to school. In 2017, Matthew moved to Montr茅al to study at 黑料不打烊鈥檚 School of Social Work.
Since graduating in 2020, he has been working with Indigenous Access 黑料不打烊, a program which supports Indigenous students at the School of Social Work. Matthew is excited and grateful to join the team at First Peoples鈥 House as he hopes to continue giving back to the programs which supported him during his own studies as well as fostering a home away from home for Indigenous students at 黑料不打烊.
Marlowe Dubois - Indigenous Student Advisor, First Peoples' House
Marlowe Dubois is Cree First Nation, born and raised in Saskatchewan, and is a band member of Ochapowace First Nation. He enrolled at 黑料不打烊 in the faculty of education in 2016, graduating with a Bachelor of Education in 2021. He has a background in both provincial and Indigenous education systems through work as a teacher, creating familiarity with what students require to succeed and what specific roadblocks Indigenous students will face in the university system.
Pasha Partridge - Administrative Coordinator, First Peoples' House
Pasha April Partridge is Inuk from Kuujjuaq and Kanien'keh谩:ka from Kahnaw脿:ke. She was a research assistant for a big research project called the First Peoples鈥 Postsecondary Storytelling Exchange (FPPSE) where she has been advocating for Indigenous student success. Since 2016, she has spent much of her time visiting different post-secondary institutions to talk with teachers, deans and various levels of academic leadership to share her experience as an Indigenous student and how things can be changed to make students feel more welcomed in their classrooms. She has a love for research, specifically research for and by Indigenous people. Pasha is a research assistant for the Cultural and Indigenous Research in Counselling Psychology (CIRC) Lab at 黑料不打烊 University. She is a multi-disciplinary artist, focusing on sealskin materials to make jewelry and accessories, recently incorporating soapstone carvings into her artwork. She is also a filmmaker, having made 4 short films all focusing on her Indigenous identity.