Story by Craig Gilbert • 4h ago
Associate professor Temitope Oriola spoke at the Black Parents Association of Alberta (BPAA) rally at the Alberta legislature against racism experienced by Black students and parents in Alberta schools on July 25, 2020.© Greg Southam
Sheer elation, delight, joy. Ecstasy.
Dr. Temitope Oriola had all the good feels when he learned he would be one of eight winners of the recently reinstated Dorothy Killam Research Fellowships , part of the 2023 Killam Prize administered by Canada’s National Research Council (NRC).
But there was an extra layer of delight for the professor since his University of Alberta colleague, Dr. Kisha Supernant, was also named a Dorothy Killam Research Fellow.
That means the U of A is the only school in Canada with more than one recipient of the two-year, $80,000 annual research prize.
“Keep in mind, this is a national award from a national competition,” Oriola, a criminologist, said Thursday. “To be among eight winners is absolutely thrilling.”
The funding means Oriola, a professor in the U of A’s Centre for Criminological Research, will be able to hire four or five graduate students for his research project, which will seek out the perspectives of Black, Indigenous and people of colour working in the criminal justice system as lawyers, judges, police and correctional officers.
“This will bring in more graduate students who will be involved in the process not just as data collectors but collaborators,” he said, co-authoring papers and presenting the work to the public by attending conferences, for example.
They’ll be exploring how BIPOC individuals manage their identities as they navigate the criminal justice bureaucracy as employees.
“While much of what we hear about BIPOC people and the justice system is about victimization, these are BIPOC professionals who work in these organizations who do their best, like their other colleagues, to make a difference,” Oriola explained. “In a time of Black Lives Matter and calls to defund the police, how do BIPOC people view their role in the system?”
Oriola is inviting anyone who fits that description to contact him directly at oriola@ualberta.ca
The award represents a sort of reckoning of Oriola’s academic career. Being named a Killam Fellow about a decade after he was a Killam Scholar, supported by the same trust as a doctoral student, means coming “full circle” to what is a household name for established academics.
“Killam is an incredibly efficient and focused organization,” Oriola said. “They do a great job of showcasing cutting-edge research across the social sciences in Canada. It’s a path-breaking organization, one that’s been at the forefront of funding emerging scholars.”
Digging roots
Supernant’s work, which is closely tied to the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential school sites, could hardly be contained by a two-year fellowship. There is some groundwork she’s already done for her project, titled recognizing Indigenous data sovereignty and Indigenous rights in heritage management.
“Indigenous people don’t have rights to our own archeology,” she said. “This project is about empowering First Nations to assert their rights. How do nations themselves create a framework for protecting their heritage?”
Supernant also aims to advance the national conversation on the subject with an eye to aligning Canadian legislation with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Dr. Kisha Supernant, director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology, University of Alberta, speaks about the discovery of 169 potential remains with ground penetrating radar at the former Grouard Mission site in Treaty 8 during a news conference in Edmonton on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Photo by Ian Kucerak© Ian Kucerak
She hopes the work she’ll be able to do during the fellowship will build some momentum, and get to a place where the conversation can continue.
“No one expects all our work on this will be completed in two years,” she said. “The fellowship is designed to give me the space I need to move this forward and it’s a wonderful and exciting opportunity. It alleviates some teaching and administrative tasks I’d have otherwise, allowing me to focus on the project.”
Supernant will remain director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology during her Killam fellowship, which will be “essential to the work of the project.”
Part of the plan involves the institute hosting a workshop/gathering of Indigenous leaders. The students she will have working will be involved in that conversation, as well.
“For me, the motivation for this work is thinking about the next generations,” she said. “There’s a lot of power in recognizing heritage. I’m always thinking about, ‘How can we build a better future for everyone?’”
A professor in the U of A’s anthropology department, she said it’s the right time to look to the past for a better future.
“I don’t think this work would have even been possible 10 or 15 years ago,” Supernant said. “When Indigenous people are empowered to tell their own stories, everyone benefits from an enriched understanding of the past.”
crgilbert@postmedia.com
@yegcraig
Related
No comments:
Post a Comment