Boodweh Centre for Indigenous Knowledges & Languages
The new Boodweh Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages will be the catalyst for new research, translating our vision of connecting the academy, local communities, and Elders in collaborative local, national, and international initiatives related to Indigenous knowledges and Indigenous language scholarship. We will nurture students’ curiosity by linking the new Boodweh Centre for Indigenous knowledges and Languages to our course curricula, connecting students with opportunities to learn and practice research and professional skills through the Centre, as well as drawing upon the latest research to inform course content.
If Indigenous knowledges are to be of importance at Trent, the institution will need an organized strategy to reach out to the University community. Making Indigenous knowledge available across disciplines to faculty colleagues is one of the purposes of the School. The Boodweh Centre will organize opportunities for exchanges of Indigenous research and scholarship, building on our successful Indigenous Research Day, which attracts researchers from across the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Faculty colleagues and graduate students will be able to share their research and moreover, allied scholars will be welcomed to participate in research opportunities generated through the Boodweh Centre.
One of the value-added contributions of the Boodweh Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages is to bring together Indigenous knowledges generated by Indigenous Elders and Traditional peoples with knowledge generated by Western scholars in Western paradigms. Indigenous Studies faculty and doctoral students are already engaged in research to think through the complexities and possibilities of bringing these knowledges into conversation. We see important future research emerging from IK and Western science collaborations that have been growing in the past decade not only in the academy but in policy environments related to environmental assessments, clean water supplies for communities, food sovereignty, climate change, justice, law, education, the performing arts, and public histories.
Meet the Faculty
Dr. Paula Sherman, director of the Boodweh Centre
Dr. Shirley I. Williams, Nishnaabemowin language and culture programs
Skahendowaneh Swamp, chair, Indigenous Knowledge, Trent University
Joeann Argue, acting-director, Nozhem: First Peoples Performance Space
Marrie Mumford, director, Nozhem: First Peoples Performance Space
