Meet the Research Team

Onowa McIvor, Ph.D.

Onowa McIvor, PhD

Onowa McIvor, PhD is maskiko-nehinaw (Swampy Cree) and Scottish-Canadian. Her nehinaw family is from Norway House and Cross Lake in northern Manitoba. She is a grateful visitor in SENĆOŦEN and lək̓ʷəŋən speaking territories. As a Professor in the Department of Indigenous Education at the University of Victoria, Onowa leads a SSHRC Partnership Grant in collaboration with nine Indigenous community partners across Canada. The NEȾOLṈEW̱ ‘one mind, one people’ project aims to deepen the understanding of adult Indigenous language learning (AILL), how adult Indigenous learners contribute to passing on their language to others in their communities and families, in addition to how language is linked to health and well-being. In addition, she holds the President’s Chair for Research in Indigenous language Revitalization at UVic.

Kari A. B. Chew, Ph.D.

Kari A. B. Chew, PhD

Kari A. B. Chew, PhD (she/her) is a Chickasaw citizen and Chikashshanompa’ (Chickasaw language) learner based in the Chickasaw Nation. Dr. Chew’s work contributes to intergenerational Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation. Engaging decolonizing methodologies, she researches technology to support Indigenous languages, pedagogies for Indigenous language learning and teaching, and Indigenous language-in-education policy. She currently works closely with the Chickasaw Nation on language education projects, including Chickasaw Rosetta Stone and curricula for high school world language courses. She holds a doctorate in Indigenous Language Education and Linguistics from the University of Arizona. She was a postdoctoral fellow and then a collaborator with NEȾOLṈEW̱.

Charlotte Ross

Charlotte Ross

Charlotte Ross is pursuing a PhD in Indigenous Language Revitalization at the University of Victoria. Her first language is Cree (Woodland TH dialect) and her home territory is in northern Saskatchewan, although she now makes her home in southwestern Saskatchewan. Her greatest honour in life is to be a mother, an auntie, and a grandmother. Her graduate degree was in Adult Continuing Education while her undergraduate specialization was in Native Studies. She provides Indigenous Language Revitalization support to various programs in SK.

Nicki Benson

Nicki Benson

Nicki Benson was born and raised on Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səl̓ilwətaɁɬ, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territories in Vancouver and now lives in W̱SÁNEĆ and lək̓ʷəŋən territories in Victoria. She has an M.A. in Language Education and worked for over a decade as a language teacher before turning her focus to research and consulting to support Indigenous language revitalization. Nicki is a PhD candidate in Education at UVic where her research explores strategies for advanced Indigenous language learning. She is an advanced second language speaker of Spanish and is raising her children with Spanish as their first language.

Kanen'tó:kon Hemlock, Ph.D.

Kanen’tó:kon Hemlock, PhD

Kanen’tó:kon Hemlock, PhD is a citizen of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) Nation, from the community of Kahnawà:ke. He is a member of the Bear Clan. He earned his PhD in Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization from the University of Hawaii at Hilo. He has been actively involved in revitalizing and strengthening the Kanien’kéha language and culture for many years, and has been working to revive the ancient dormant tattooing traditions of his people.

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