Indigenous Initiatives
The College of Social Sciences & Humanities has an important role to play in fostering reconciliation and acknowledging Indigenous rights, territories and knowledge. Together, we are building community and taking action to ensure that our classrooms, boardrooms and learning opportunities are open and accessible to Indigenous students and staff within a safe and welcoming environment and with an appreciation for Indigenous ways of teaching, learning and knowing. We are also taking vital steps to support Indigenous-engaged research and deepen connections with the communities that we work with.
Our activities are guided by the following frameworks:
- Braiding Past, Present and Future: the University of Alberta Indigenous Strategic Plan
- SHAPE: The University Strategic Plan
- Changing the Story: An Integrated Action Plan for transforming our vibrant and interconnected university community
- The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls To Action
- The United Nations Declaration On The Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Looking for a place to get started?
Leadership
Kisha Supernant
Associate Dean
Indigenous Engagement
Dr. Supernant (Métis/British) is a professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology (IPIA) at the University of Alberta. An award-winning teacher, researcher and writer, her research focuses on Métis archaeology, digital archaeology, and heart-centered archaeological practice. Dr. Supernant collaborates extensively with Indigenous communities in western Canada, emphasizing ethical research relationships and Indigenous rights to cultural heritage.
Her work integrates Indigenous ways of knowing into archaeological processes, from excavation to interpretation. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing, she supports Indigenous communities to tell their stories and reclaim their cultural heritage. She leads the Exploring Métis Identity Through Archaeology (EMITA), a collaborative research project which takes a relational approach to exploring the material past of Métis communities, including her own family, in western Canada.
Dr. Supernant has also been at the forefront of using technology to locate and protect unmarked graves near residential schools over the past several years. In 2022, she was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Missing Children and Unmarked Graves. She is the Chair of the Canadian Archaeological Association’s Working Group on Unmarked Graves, which received the 2024 Governor General’s Innovation Award.
Her scholarly contributions include peer-reviewed journal publications, co-edited books, media interviews, and knowledge mobilization initiatives. Dr. Supernant’s achievements led to her induction into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists in 2021, and she received the Dorothy Killam Fellowship in 2023. Since 2025, Dr. Supernant has led the Braiding Fieldwork & Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Co-Lab as part of an international project with the Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is currently president of the Indigenous Heritage Circle.