The Faculty of Native Studies

Our newest Massive Open Online Course, Indigenous Engagement and Partnership Development, is launching soon! Are you signed up for course alerts yet?

Be the first to know when it goes live: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/EF9DD377604C87DF

Congratulations to Crystal Gail Fraser on winning the Pierre Savard Award for her book, By Strength We are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples and Indian Residential Schooling in Inuvik, Northwest Territories!

Fraser holds a joint appointment as an associate professor in the Department of History, Classics, and Religion and the The Faculty of Native Studies. Her vital work -- the first comprehensive study of Indian residential schools in the North -- was recognized by the International Council for Canadian Studies for its outstanding contribution to scholarly research on Canadian topics.

Learn more: https://iccs-ciec.ca/pierre-savard-awards/

Online classes for our micro-course, Indigenous Peoples and Canada, start July 6! Enrol now and increase your understanding of the legacy of settler colonialism.

More info here: https://www.ualberta.ca/en/native-studies/programs/continuing-education/indigenous-peoples-and-canada.html

Microcredential certificate! 🎓

Online classes are open now (starting July 7) for our Indigenous Peoples and Technoscience microcredentials.

These courses highlight broader dynamics of colonialism and increasing demands for Indigenous governance of science and technology.

Enrol today! https://www.ualberta.ca/en/native-studies/programs/continuing-education/indigenous-technoscience-microcredential/index.html

Congratulations to 78-year-old Loretta (Wuttunee) Jobin for receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies!

Loretta is from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation and first started her degree here with FNS 30 years ago. She was just about finished her degree — all she had left were the exams for her last three courses — when her mother suddenly got very sick. Tending to her mother, Loretta was unable to write her final exams to finish her degree. Her mother died shortly after that, and she never wrote those exams.

Today, Loretta would have been supported through her difficult time. She would have been given an exam deferral and would have been supported until she could return to school and graduate. She essentially finished her degree, but because these systems didn't support Indigenous students the way they should have, she wasn't able to complete it.

The success of our students is paramount for us — our faculty takes great pride in ensuring our students have everything they need to succeed. Loretta earned this degree. We are righting a wrong and sending a message to our students that our faculty is here to support them and help them thrive.

Loretta says she "hasn't stopped smiling" since she found out she would be graduating and that it was one of the most important days of her life.

We are so proud of Loretta and honoured to have her cross the stage with her degree, like she deserved to 30 years ago.

The proposed separation of Alberta from Canada (and First Nations leadership rejecting it) harkens back to 1970, when, faced with assimilationist policies, First Nations leaders published 'The Red Paper.'

Watch Connor McNally's 15-minute documentary on 'The Red Paper,' a revisit of the powerful rejection of the federal government and its proposed policies that would have otherwise fundamentally changed the relationship between Canada and First Nations.

Serving as an important reminder today, this film features FNS alumnus, the late Tara Kappo, who was also one of its executive producers.

Beading Red: The Red Paper Through Generations In June 1970 the Indian Chiefs of Alberta – with leadership from the Indian Association of Alberta’s President Harold Cardinal, presented Citizens Plus to the Right Honourable P.E. Trudeau, Prime Minister, and to the Government of Canada. Citizens Plus, also known as 'The Red Paper,' delivered a...

Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day, and Happy Solstice! From all of us at CSSH and Native Studies, we hope you can take in, enjoy and celebrate Indigenous culture, wherever you are.

University of Alberta School of Business University of Alberta Faculty of Law Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta University of Alberta Faculty of Education

Dr. Florence Glanfield, the vice-provost of Indigenous Programming & Research, writes that each person who lives on treaty land should (re)familiarize themselves with the treaty in which they live.

Understanding the concept of Treaty National Indigenous History Month and the 150th anniversary of Treaty 6 is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of Treaties and our responsibilities as Treaty People.

More than a building, the new First Peoples’ House is a place of truth, healing and belonging.

In this reflection, Shana Dion shares the significance of its opening this summer and the powerful symbolism of a doorway created to welcome generations of First Nations, Métis and Inuit students.

Read more: https://www.ualberta.ca/en/the-quad/2026/06/more-than-a-building.html