Indigenous students get early glimpse of grad school life

Intensive summer program pairs 22 indigenous students from across Canada with researchers at McMaster University
Growing up on a reserve on Manitoulin Island, Shanna Peltier thought her dream of going to grad school would remain just that — a dream.
But that dream is now a little closer to reality thanks to a summer program at McMaster University that gives indigenous students from across Canada an early taste of graduate school life.
Peltier is one of 22 students taking part in the Indigenous Undergraduate Summer Research Scholars program that pairs students with researchers from many different areas of expertise. The eight-week session, known as IUSRS, also incorporates indigenous studies in the research projects and includes various cultural teachings and activities.
“I thought it was too good to be true,” said Peltier, 20, a psychology and women’s studies major at Laurentian University in Sudbury. “It’s giving a small town girl like me who grew up on the reserve the opportunity to work in a school like McMaster and gain experience in graduate style work.”
Bernice Downey, program coordinator of IUSRS who launched the project last summer, said they did some things a bit differently this year by collaborating with Six Nations, which is handling and hosting the indigenous-related activities of the program. The session was also expanded from six weeks to eight, to allow more time for research.
“We heard from the students that the first two weeks were too intensive. It was too much information all at once and they only had four weeks left to become engaged with their supervisors and the research projects they were involved in,” said Downey.
“This year, we made it eight weeks long and they come for the workshop one day a week on a Wednesday. In addition to that, we have a talking circle process so they can talk about their experiences and receive support from the other students.”
Students experience hands-on research, take part in academic workshops, connect with local communities, network and more.
Downey said the main focus is to get indigenous undergrad students thinking about going to graduate school.
“We are producing graduates from university now. But we want them to go on, we want them to become the faculty in the university and that is the next frontier,” she said.
Peltier said she loves the collaboration between modern research and indigenous issues.
“They’re adding this cultural aspect where we’re able to learn in a different sense, they’re trying to show us that western knowledge isn’t the only way of knowing,” said Peltier.
“There are two different worlds and we’re learning, by being indigenous, we’re learning to navigate those two worlds and it’s okay to have one foot on this side and one on the other.”
Peltier, who is currently researching Indian child welfare and transnational adoptions after the Second World War, said the program hasn’t just taught her basic skills, but also the barriers she may face being an indigenous woman in grad school.
“It’s really given me an opportunity to see how other scholars have done advocacy work in their specific field and gain the respect.”
Besides supporting Peltier and other students in their academic research, the program pays for their travel, food and accommodation, and even gives them a $5,000 stipend.
For many indigenous students, including Peltier, it means everything.
“I would not have been financially able to come here without having the support that McMaster has given the students,” she said.
Next up for Downey is to find ways to keep the program going for future years, including “exploring options with private donors.”
Doug Welch, acting dean of the School of Graduate Studies, said he is very optimistic everything will work out. “I certainly have every intention to continue to do it in the future. It’s been such a success,” he said.
Meet some of the students:
Shanna Peltier
20, is from Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island. In the Indigenous Undergraduate Summer Research Scholars program at McMaster, she is working with Professor Karen Balcom researching transnational adoptions after the Second World War.
“What I’m doing is looking at bills that were made in order for families to bring their kids into the United States without having to go through immigration laws.”
To touch on the indigenous aspect of the program, they’re looking at Indian child welfare and the Sixties Scoop in Canada — a period of mass adoptions of indigenous children into non-indigenous homes.
Outside the IUSRS program, Peltier is majoring in psychology and women’s studies at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
Brandon Gaudette
24, of Pic Mobert First Nation in northwestern Ontario, is working with Professor Karen Bird on a pilot study to better understand indigenous conceptions of citizenship.
Gaudette says he feels it’s important they brought indigenous teachings and culture into modern research, and even says he wants to continue on this path.
Outside of the IUSRS program, he studies Law and Justice at Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie.
Brittany Lickers
23, is from Six Nations. In the IUSRS program, she is working with Professor Chelsea Gabel on a photo voice project with an Inuit community in St. Lewis, Labrador.
“I’m working on a newsletter right now that will be distributed in St. Lewis to get the community involved . . . We’re going to do a photo exhibit and once that’s all done we’re going to do a report that will also be distributed to the community.”
Lickers stressed how important she thinks it is for indigenous students to see other indigenous students who have gone out and left their communities and were able to pursue a university education.
“I know a lot of people don’t get this opportunity and I feel like it’s my responsibility to keep doing what I’m doing for future generations, and just having role models and seeing that they can do it too.”
Lickers is a third-year gerontology student at McMaster and is doing an indigenous studies minor.
Evan Jamieson-Eckel
23, of Waterford, Ont., is spending the summer working with engineers making apps to teach kids about engineering. His role is to find the appropriate Mohawk words for the engineers to use on the apps.
“The app is a ‘choose your own adventure’ story. They have a list of words and they score points for using those words. So we’re going to give them a separate window that consists of Mohawk words so they can learn how to incorporate that in English sentences as kind of a stepping stone in between learning English and learning Mohawk.”
Jamieson-Eckel praised the McMaster program for the doors it opens.
“It gives you the chance to see if you really want to do this and it can inspire you to do it or it can show you that, hey, this is not my thing, It’s a stepping stone that helps indigenous students succeed, and we need more things that help us succeed.”
Outside of IUSRS, Jamieson-Eckel is a fourth year indigenous studies student at McMaster.
Stephanie Morningstar
40, is from Six Nations but grew up in Buffalo. As part of the IUSRS program, she is looking at indigenous approaches to alternative dispute resolution and child welfare cases.
“What I’ve been doing is researching and networking with communities all over Ontario to write provincial curriculum for an aboriginal approach to (alternative dispute resolution.) What we’re doing at this current moment is we’re flying out to all these different communities all over Ontario to do our data collection through focus groups facilitations.”
Like the other students, Morningstar agrees that adding an indigenous aspect to the research is very important.
“When it comes to indigenous issues, we’ve been silenced for so long that it’s only been in the past decade or two that we’ve really been able to find our voices within research and have our indigenous ideologies recognized as something that is valid.”
Morningstar is currently a McMaster student and is working on a research project in Six Nations.