Indigenous Nationhood: Empowering Grassroots Citizens

Pamela Palmater is a Mi'kmaw lawyer and Indigenous rights activist from Eel River Bar First Nation in New Brunswick. She has four university degrees, including a doctor of law degree focusing on Indigenous rights, and currently serves as professor and Chair in Indigenous Governance at Toronto Metropolitan University. An award-winning podcaster and documentary filmmaker, Pam has harnessed the power of digital and social media platforms to help educate the public on important Indigenous issues. Her determined advocacy has earned her many awards, including Top 25 Movers and Shakers, Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers, Most Inspiring Women, and more.

Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, PhD., (he/him/his) is Anishinaabe (St. Peter's/Little Peguis) and an associate professor at the University of Manitoba. He regularly speaks and writes about Indigenous issues for national and international media outlets and his writing appears bi weekly in the Winnipeg Free Press. He has also published short stories in books like The Exile Edition of Native Canadian Fiction and Drama and graphic novels like This Place: 150 Years Retold. He is the 2018 recipient of a National Newspaper Award for best Canadian Columnist and also was named 2019 Peace Educator of the Year by the Peace and Justice Studies Association at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Niigaan is co-editor of the award-winning Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water and Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Understanding the World Through Stories and the editorial director of The Debwe Series (published by HighWater Press).