2021 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN INDIGENOUS STUDIES
THE BLUE METROPOLIS FOUNDATION PRESENTED $6,000 IN AWARDS
TO INDIGENOUS STUDIES STUDENTS
IN 2021
AS PART OF ITS SOCIAL INNOVATION AND FIRST NATIONS PROGRAMMING
The Blue Metropolis Awards for Excellence in Indigenous Studies are an initiative of the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival and the McConnell Foundation. They are part of an expansive social innovation program dedicated to the promotion and bolstering of Indigenous values and cultures. The program includes the First Peoples Literary Prize, a prize awarded annually to an Indigenous author of international renown, an Indigenous storytelling series for children and parents alike, professional meetups focused on the publishing of Indigenous works, and the Awards for Excellence.
The Awards, an important part of this programming, recognize two students, one anglophone and one francophone, studying or holding a degree in Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Literatures, or anthropology with a link to Indigenous Studies. The student candidates presented here have been recruited by seasoned professors at participating universities, and each candidate for the awards presents their strong vision for a better, further inclusive, and further responsible world.
We are thrilled to give them this public platform.
2021 WINNERS
BIANCA LAUNIÈRE
Université de Montréal
Work mentioned:
Je suis une maudite sauvagesse
de An Antane Kapesh
BIOGRAPHY
Bianca Launière est une Innue de Mashteuiatsh, au Lac-Saint-Jean. Elle a grandi sur le territoire non cédé de Kanien’kehá:ka (aujourd’hui Montréal), puis elle a déménagé à Saguenay et obtenu un baccalauréat en psychologie à l’Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. Elle a ensuite entrepris, à partir de son territoire de Mashteuiatsh, des études à distance afin d’obtenir un DÉSS en récits et médias autochtones de l’Université de Montréal.
SPENCER ISAAC
University of New Brunswick
Work mentioned:
This Place 150 Years Retold
Collective work
BIOGRAPHY
Spencer Isaac is from Listuguj First Nation, a Mi’gmaq community within Gesgepewa’gi (7th district in Mi’gma’gi) and is the third born of four brothers. He is currently a guest within Wolastoqey territory, and is grateful for their hospitality.
Isaac holds a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Allison University (2018) and is completing the 10-month B.Ed. program at the University of New Brunswick in 2021. His passion is education and he hopes to make meaningful change for Wabanaki learners. He aspires to earn his Master’s degree in education within the next five years.
2021 CANDIDATES
SALMA EL HANKOURI
Simon Fraser University
Work mentioned:
Ajjiit: Dark Dreams of the Ancient Arctic
de Sean Tinsley et Rachel Qitsualik
BIOGRAPHY
Salma El Hankouri is a Ph.D. candidate in interdisciplinary humanities at Concordia University. Her research focuses on the manifestations of Indigeneity in the urban context of Montreal through the arts, as well as how contemporary urban life structures Indigenous–settler relations in Quebec from a non-white settler/global Indigenous perspective.
KAYLA MOORE
Concordia University
Work mentioned:
In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience
de Helen Knott
BIOGRAPHY
Kayla Moore is a First Nations Cree from the community of Waswanipi located in Northern Quebec. She lives in Tiohtià:ke with her partner and her daughter. She is in her second year of university as a double major in Creative Writing and First Peoples Studies at Concordia.
VALENTINA MONROY
Université Laval
Work mentioned:
Mythes et réalités sur les peuples autochtones
de Pierre Lepage
BIOGRAPHY
Valentina Monroy est étudiante en anthropologie à l’Université Laval. Il y a 20 ans, elle a quitté son pays natal, la Colombie, pour venir s’installer au Canada. C’est ici qu’elle s’est découvert une fascination pour les cultures autochtones. Depuis plusieurs années déjà, elle découvre et étudie la diversité et la créativité des Premières Nations. Cette passion l’a menée à comprendre de nombreux aspects de sa propre culture et à se redécouvrir elle-même en tant que femme autochtone.
THOMAS PICARD
Université Laval
Work mentioned:
L’Art presque perdu de ne rien faire
de Dany Laferrière
BIOGRAPHY
Thomas Picard est membre de la nation huronne-wendat et étudiant au deuxième cycle en anthropologie à l’Université Laval.
SHERYL THOMPSON
Simon Fraser University
Work mentioned:
Magic Island
de Tomorrow X Together (ou TXT)
BIOGRAPHY
Sheryl is Cree-Metis and of mixed settler ancestry. Her people come from treaty 6 territory and she was born and raised on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm peoples. As a master’s student at SFU, Sheryl is exploring the intersections of Indigenous wellness and Indigenous-defined education. Sheryl lives with her husband on the unceded territory of the Katzie people, where they raise their six children.
CHEYENNE CUNNINGHAM
Simon Fraser University
Work mentioned:
My Ancestors
des soeurs Cunningham en collaboration avec le Katzie First Nations Youth Language Class
BIOGRAPHY
Cheyenne Cunningham resides on the Katzie First Nation reserve. Her research interests focus on the exploration of Katzie place names and stories in relation to the landscapes within their traditional territory and, more specifically, how land-based knowledge and education contribute to Indigenous language revitalization and Indigenous education.
CAMILLE ROBERGE
Université de Montréal
Work mentioned:
The Marrow Thieves
(en français:
Pilleurs de rêves)
de Cherie Dimaline
BIOGRAPHY
Camille Roberge est inscrite au programme de DÉSS en récits et médias autochtones de l’Université de Montréal. Née à Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, sur le territoire de la nation Mi’kma’ki, elle vit actuellement dans la région de Montréal, sur les terres non cédées de la nation Kanien’kehá:ka. Bachelière en anthropologie, elle s’intéresse tout particulièrement aux questions ontologiques.
STÉPHANIE DUFAULT-BÉDARD
Université de Montréal
Work mentioned:
Frayer
de Marie-Andrée Gill
BIOGRAPHY
Bachelière en histoire de l’art, Stéphanie Dufault Bédard a poursuivi ses études au programme de DÉSS en récits et médias autochtones de l’Université de Montréal. Elle y est actuellement candidate à la maîtrise en littérature comparée. Ses recherches portent sur l’art public et sur la toponymie autochtone, notamment sur leur historicité liée au continuum littéraire-oral.
TREENA CHAMBERS
Simon Fraser University
Works mentioned:
La série : The Thorn Birds serie
de Colleen McCullough
Injun
de Jordan Abel
A mind spread out on the ground
de Alicia Elliott
BIOGRAPHY
Treena Chambers is a Métis scholar who has worked as a union organizer, writer, bookseller, and researcher. She is a Masters student at Simon Fraser University’s School of Public Policy and completed her undergraduate degree in International Studies at SFU. She brings her experience as a mature student and her Métis background into her studies of nationhood and identity.
SPOTLIGHT ON PREVIOUS WINNERS
2020 EDITION
PEYTON JUHNKE
UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK
Regarding her essay, judge Darrel J. McLeod wrote: “In a few paragraphs Peyton was able to establish a clear and compelling voice, to articulate a powerful and clear vision of hope for Indigenous peoples, persuading the reader that there could indeed be a more just life for Indigenous people in Canada if each of us, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, steps up and does his or her part.”
ÉMILIE SARAH CARAVECCHIA
UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTREAL
Regarding her essay, “Que veut dire une société juste?” judge Rodney Saint-Éloi wrote : « Fluide, puissant et documenté, ce court essai d’Emilie Sarah Caravecchia offre un condensé de l’histoire de l’injustice du Canada envers les Premiers peuples. Caravecchia montre la force de l’inertie qui caractérise les différents gouvernements du Canada depuis Pierre Trudeau jusqu’à Trudeau fils, et la nécessité de parvenir aujourd’hui à une conscience décoloniale afin de pouvoir construire une société juste et égalitaire où le vivre-ensemble entre Euro-canadiens et Autochtones soit possible. »
2019 EDITION
MATTHEW JOHN MICHEAL LEBLANC
UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK
Matthew John Micheal Leblanc, member of the Natoaganeg Nation and undergraduate student in Nursing at the University of British Columbia, for his essay titled “Understanding the Indian Condition.”
COLINE SOUILHOL
UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTREAL
Coline Souilhol, a master’s student in English Studies at the Université de Montréal, for her essay titled “La responsabilité du conteur d’histoire face aux perceptions historiques.”
2018 EDITION
MELANIE MERCER
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Melanie Mercer, an undergraduate student in Indigenous Studies at Simon Fraser University, for her essay titled “Dearest Canada: A Letter from Your Daughter.”
BLUE METROPOLIS FIRST PEOPLES LITERARY PRIZE
Each edition of the Blue Metropolis Festival includes an Indigenous Voices series, showcasing the richness of Indigenous literatures and their voices and inviting us to look at the world from different perspectives. These diverse voices contribute to a renewal of the literary landscape and speak of the beauty of life, of its grandeur and fragility. The Blue Metropolis Festival is pleased to provide an opportunity for them to be heard. Additionally, during each edition of the Festival the Blue Metropolis First Peoples Literary Prize is awarded.
The aim of this prize, which was created five years ago, is to increase the national and international visibility of writers from Indigenous communities, be they novelists, nonfiction writers, playwrights or poets. The prize is awarded thanks to the sponsorship of the McConnell Foundation, the Chadha Family Foundation, Concordia University, and the Cole Foundation.
For four years now, its jury has been entirely comprised of Indigenous authors, critics and industry professionals. In 2020, the jury members were: Rain Prud’homme Cranford, Smokii Sumac et David Truer.
2019
TERESE MARIE MAILHOT
2018
LEE MARACLE
2017
DAVID TREUER
2016
THOMAS KING
2015
MARIE ANNHARTE BAKER
