Cash Ahenakew, PhD, holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples’ Well-being (CIHR) and a Plains Cree and a member of the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation. He has dedicated his career to exploring ways in which local knowledge and practices can contribute to the resurgence of Indigenous wisdom, knowledge, education, well-being, and healing practices. As a CRC, Dr. Ahenakew focuses on decolonizing health-related research, practices, and education, as well as revitalizing Indigenous health practices.

Áurea Vericat Rocha 

I was born and raised in Mexico City and have Mexican and Spanish ancestry. As a Ph.D. candidate in UBC’s Faculty of Education Cross-Faculty Inquiry Program, I have been occupying space in the Unceded, Traditional, and Ancestral xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Territory.

Back in Mexico, I worked in the revitalization of Indigenous games and languages using a play-based approach, and coordinated projects in marginalized and Indigenous communities across Mexico seeking to enhance young children’s education and Indigenous identities. Through that work, which lasted more than 15 years, I started to learn to develop relationships and to work collaboratively with schools, Elders and rural and urban communities in support of the revitalization of Indigenous cultures.

Furthering my education as an early childhood educator, I have been working in partnership with the British Columbia Aboriginal Child Care Society and had the privilege of serving as the First Nations Pedagogies Network Provincial Coordinator.

My doctoral research celebrates Indigenous early childhood educators’ practice and pedagogical leadership, and informs the creation of Indigenous Professional Development programs. By working in celebration of and collaboration with Indigenous early childhood educators, I seek to contribute to the articulation of research that is collaborative, responsive, and respectful of Indigenous professionals and communities as

Lily Ivanova

I am a 1.5 generation immigrant from the Balkans (Bulgaria) who grew up as a settler on Anishinabe Algonquin Nation territory (Ottawa). I am a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at UBC, where I have been researching how states and communities represent human rights violations, genocide, and trauma, and how people navigate these stories in daily life.

One of my case studies looks at the interactive theatre play šxʷʔam̓ət (home), which toured across communities in British Columbia and Alberta in 2018, inviting audience members to take the place of Indigenous and non-Indigenous characters and work through blockages towards more true and honourable reconciliation. The final performance of šxʷʔam̓ət (home) is available on Theatre for Living’s YouTube channel at this link.

Other parts of my research look at how legally recognizing cases of genocide over time, like the Holocaust and the Cambodian genocide, influences people’s perceptions and understandings of what state violence and human rights abuses look like.

During the last ten years I have also been an advocate for increasing community responsibility, literacy, and skills for supporting mental health in post-secondary workplaces.