RCMR recognized for contributions to the advancement of women

Faculty of Native Studies
RIBBONS
Published in
4 min readMay 23, 2024

The Sarah Shorten Award recognizes outstanding achievements in the promotion of the advancement of women in Canadian universities and colleges.

2 women, Amanda Evans and Nathalie Kermoal, stand behind a table that reads “Rupertsland Centre for Metis Research” and in front of banners for the Faculty of Native Studies and RCMR.
Amanda Evans (Administrator, RCMR) and Nathalie Kermoal (Director, RCMR)

At the end of April, the Rupertsland Centre for Métis Research (RCMR) was awarded the 2024 Sarah Shorten Award. The award was established in 1990 in honour of Sarah Shorten who served as both Vice-President and President of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). It is presented to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions to the promotion of the advancement of women in Canadian universities and colleges.

Since 2011, RCMR has served as an expansive academic research program specifically geared toward Métis issues. Housed in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Native Studies, it has demonstrated an exceptional, long-standing commitment to engaged scholarship and teaching with the Métis community, embodying the “4 Rs” of Indigenous research — respect, reciprocity, relevance, and responsibility — with the goal of creating mutually beneficial partnerships between the university and the Métis community, and between Métis scholars, students, and community members — locally, regionally, and nationally.

“RCMR is not only committed to building research capacity to advance Métis-specific research; it also provides educational opportunities outside the walls of the U of A. It fosters creative and innovative co-constructed educational projects that benefit communities and in this case more specifically young Métis women,” said Dr. Nathalie Kermoal, professor and Director of the RCMR.

This acknowledgement from CAUT follows Dr. Kermoal being awarded the Community Scholar award in 2023 in recognition of her work furthering awareness and appreciation of Métis research, education, art and culture. This latest award recognizes the continued excellence that RCMR brings to research and education.

Métis Women’s Leadership Course

A group photo of 4 people at the award ceremony where the RCMR was presented with the Sarah Shorten award.
Susan Spronk (CAUT Co-Chair Equity Committee); Amanda Evans(RCMR Administrator); Lisa Pigeau (Les Femmes Michif Otepemisiwak Director of Intergovernmental Relations); and Marvin Claybourn (CAUT Co-Chair Equity Committee).

Starting in March 2021, RCMR worked in partnership with a Métis national organization situated in Ottawa: Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak (LFMO) — the national organization representing Métis women–in designing an online Métis Women’s Leadership course. The course, EXNS 2802 — Reach for the Sky — Métis Women’s Leadership, is part of a broader educational package for young Métis women.

“This course was fully co-created with LFMO from beginning to end during the pandemic, and was created by an exclusively female team (Métis and non-Métis),” said Kermoal.

The course features instruction from leading Métis women scholars such as Dr. Brenda Macdougall (University of Ottawa), Dr. Shalene Jobin (University of Alberta), Dr. Brenda Gunn (University of Manitoba) and Dr. Cindy Gaudet (University of Alberta).

“The course challenges students to think critically about conceptual norms of leadership and to consider the ongoing project of settler colonialism and how it marginalizes, excludes, and ignores the experiences of Métis women from the broader narratives, particularly their role as leaders within the nation. This is achieved by emphasizing concepts like kinship, nationhood, peoplehood, and wahkohtowin (relationality),” Kermoal said.

Overall, through this unique educational opportunity, the participants gain knowledge about Métis women’s leadership roles from a contemporary and historical context, and gain access to different role models from Métis communities, while developing skills to become leaders and mentors. The course gives them the tools to assert their place within the Métis nation’s leadership structure.

The course is offered as part of the Reach for the Sky program (a LFMO community training program), geared to young adult Métis women (age 18 to 30 years old) living across Canada.

Since this credit/non-credit combined course started in Spring 2021, it has been completed by 152 U of A students with another 34 enrolled for the Spring/Summer semester. Community partner LFMO has graduated 102 young Métis women from their Reach Métis Women’s Leadership program across Canada.

“By offering the course online and asynchronously, RCMR is reaching students in Métis communities across the Métis homeland, as well as increasing access for other underserved populations, such as students with disabilities, who can learn at their own pace, access captions and scripts, etc.,” Kermoal explained.

“This commitment to increased access furthers the advancement of equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education.”

Looking forward, the RCMR will be developing a course on Métis Health co-created with the Health team of the Métis Nation of Alberta and recently published a booklet on Métis food sovereignty.

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