Intermediate Inherent Right to Indigenous Governance - Spring 2023

Alice Kaquitts is a proud member of the Stoney Nakoda Wesley First Nation. Alice is a respected elder and community leader in the Stoney Nakoda nation and is the daughter of Alice Kaquitts Sr. and Thomas Simeon, and great-granddaughter of renowned Chief Hector Crawler. Alice grew up in a traditional way of life where Nakoda language, culture and protocols were taught and followed.

Alice’s formal education includes a diploma from Mount Royal College and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Calgary. Alice has been working within the Stoney Nakoda Nation in senior level positions for over 20 years.  Alice is the former Director and Co-Founder of Nakoda Solutions and the Founder of Okiyabi Consulting, where she has developed teaching models on Traditional Parenting, Community Reconciliation and Cultural Awareness training. Alice has also previously worked with the IAP process in translating Nakoda testimonies fort Nakoda Residential School survivors.

Alice currently co-hosts the radio show “Conversational Nakoda” on Windspeaker Radio FM 88.1, serves on the planning committee for the National Gathering of Elders, and works with the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Mount Royal University on the imbedding of Indigenous Knowledge into course curriculum.

Alice is a healthy, proud grandmother to 5 beautiful grandchildren and mother to two adult sons, and enjoys passing on her traditional knowledge and teachings to the future generations.

Gina Starblanket is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Calgary and holds a PhD and MA from the University of Victoria. She is Cree and Saulteaux, was born and raised in Regina, and is a member of the Star Blanket Cree Nation in Treaty 4 territory. Her work focuses on Indigenous politics and Canadian politics and takes up issues surrounding racism and settler colonialism in the prairies, Treaty implementation, Indigenous-state relations, gendered oppression, questions of identity, decolonization, resurgence, and relationality. She has been the principal investigator on a SSHRC Connections grant and an Insight Development Grant, and is committed to undertaking collaborative research that is directed by and stands to benefit Indigenous people.

Dr. Starblanket is co-editor of the 5th edition of Visions of the Heart: Issues Involving Indigenous Peoples in Canada (Oxford University Press) and is published in the American Indian Culture and Research Journal and the Canadian Journal of Political Science. She is currently working on two manuscripts: one involving the racialized narratives surrounding the trial of Gerald Stanley, and another on the contemporary politics of treaty implementation in Canada. She also has important work in the 2nd edition of Making Space for Indigenous Feminism (Fernwood Publishing, 2017) and in an edited collection entitled Resurgence and Reconciliation: Indigenous-Settler Relations and Earth Teachings (University of Toronto Press, 2018).

Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark is Turtle Mountain Ojibwe and an Associate Professor in Indigenous Governance. She is the Director of the Centre for Indigenous Research and Community-Led Engagement at the University of Victoria. She received her PhD in American Studies and her B.A in American Indian Studies from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her research interests include Indigenous law and governance and Indigenous politics in the United States and Canada. She is the co-editor of Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Understanding the World Through Stories with Jill Doerfler and Niigaanwewidam Sinclair and is the co-author of the third and fourth edition of American Indian Politics and the American Political System with Dr. David E. Wilkins. Her research background includes collaborative work with Indigenous communities in the United States and Canada with the aim to advance the development and resurgence of Anishinaabe political structures and institutions that are informed and shaped by Anishinaabe philosophies, values, and teachings. She has also been awarded various SSHRC grants that entail projects examining Anishinaabe law and Governance, Community-Engaged research practices and Indigenous jurisdiction and infrastructure in the wake of extractive industry projects.