Executive Brief

Chair, Department of Indigenous Studies
Simon Fraser University

February 2022

About the Department of Indigenous Studies

Simon Fraser University respectfully acknowledges the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Swx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Qayqayt, Kwantlen, Semiahmoo and Tsawwassen peoples on whose unceded traditional territories our three campuses reside.

The Department of Indigenous Studies is part of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at SFU. Both engaging and interdisciplinary, the Department partners with Indigenous and other communities and individuals to build dynamic relationships that restore and revitalize traditional knowledges, ancient and modern aesthetics, and literatures.

Indigenous Studies gives students a progressive, comprehensive learning experience rooted in both traditional and contemporary Indigenous logic, practice and theory. Throughout their studies, students will gain experience in a wide range of academic subjects including archaeology, history, gender, sexuality, and women's studies, linguistics, cultural resource management, sociology, anthropology, fine arts, criminology, English and more.

Indigenous Studies’ programs are designed for all students, Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Students will gain detailed insight into the cultures, histories and contemporary developments of Indigenous peoples in British Columbia and North America. Students will develop a solid foundation in the study of Indigenous issues from a variety of disciplinary approaches.

Programs

The following programs are offered through the Department:

Major

Joint Major

Minor

Certificate and Diploma

Co-operative Education Program

With focuses on Indigenous knowledge, cultures, languages, and histories, as well as the development of federal and provincial policy toward Indigenous peoples, Indigenous rights and title questions, economic development and self-government, the INDG major and minor critically presents and examines these issues with the perspectives of Indigenous peoples, and will present research methods pertinent to past, present and future issues affecting Indigenous peoples. The Department allows students to:

Faculty & Staff

As a community of teachers and learners, the Department is committed to connecting with students, and honouring Indigenous perspectives through activist research, creative work, and community engagement.

Learn more about Faculty & Staff:

The Department is proud to announce that its staff received the 2020/2021 FASS Employee Achievement Award in the Team category. The Departments staff team was recognized as a high-performing team which exemplifies collaboration and cooperation, and which demonstrates a significant contribution with results on behalf of the Department and FASS.

Founding Chair

Eldon Yellowhorn

Professor and Founding Chair

Dr. Yellowhorn is Piikani and has family and cultural ties to the Peigan Indian Reserve. His Piikani name, Otahkotskina, which translates as Yellow Horn, has been in the family for generations. His early career in archaeology began in southern Alberta where he studied the ancient cultures of the plains. He is especially interested in the mythology and folklore of his Piikani ancestors in both ancient and recent times.

He was appointed to faculty at Simon Fraser University in 2002 and established the Department of First Nations Studies in 2012. He served as Chair from 2012–17 and he teaches courses dedicated to chronicling the experience of Aboriginal people across Canada. He is the past president of the Canadian Archaeological Association (2010–2012) and the first Aboriginal person to hold this title. He continues his involvement in the CAA and is now the co-chair of the Ethics Committee. He is also working on the Ethics Task Force with the Society for American Archaeology as it reviews its statement of ethics for its membership.

Throughout his career, Dr. Yellowhorn has been an advocate of the right of Aboriginal people to be active participants in examining the past through their internal dialogue on the nature of antiquity. He developed his internalist approach to bring a self-reflexive quality to field research that enhances this perspective by appropriating the methods of archaeology to pursue internally defined objectives.

Dr. Yellowhorn is a writer whose compositions have appeared in scholarly and popular journals. His published works included encyclopedic treatments of Indigenous people and educational books for young readers.

Learn more about the Department

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