I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Chantal Fiola (she/her) as Interim Associate Vice-President, Indigenous. Dr. Fiola will commence this role effective July 1, 2023. She will maintain her tenured Associate Professor appointment in the Urban and Inner-City Studies Department, Faculty of Arts.
Dr. Fiola is Michif (Red River Métis), a registered citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), and a founding member of the Two-Spirit Michif Local of the MMF.
Dr. Fiola joined the University of Winnipeg with an Assistant Professor tenure track appointment in 2016 in the Department of Urban and Inner-City Studies; she was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in 2021. She was named UW’s Distinguished Indigenous Scholar’s Chair in 2021(-2024). She is also an adjunct professor with the University of Manitoba’s Inner-City Social Work Program.
An accomplished researcher, Dr. Fiola is the award-winning author of two books, Returning to Ceremony: Spirituality in Manitoba Métis Communities, and Rekindling the Sacred Fire: Métis Ancestry and Anishinaabe Spirituality. Her research has been consistently funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and other local and community funding entities. With funding from SSHRC’s Partnership Development Grant, and from the Manitoba Research Alliance among other funders, she is Project Director on a new three-year research study titled, “Expressions of Métis Spirituality and Religion Across the Métis Homeland.” Her work has been published in peer reviewed book chapters, journal articles, and other publications.
Dr. Fiola is an active and contributing member of her Indigenous communities. In 2023, she received the Métis Matriarch Award from the national organization Lii Femmes Michif Otipimisiwak/Women of the Métis Nation (LFMO), which honors outstanding Métis women and 2SLGBTQ+ who are leaders in the Métis Nation via their life’s work. She is also featured in LFMO’s new Ready2Learn campaign.
Since 2018, Dr. Fiola has been a member of the Board of Directors for Two-Spirit Manitoba (2SMB); they are preparing to host the first ever Two-Spirit Sundance in the summer of 2023. With assistance from 2SMB, and QTPOC Winnipeg, Dr. Fiola co-chaired a national conference titled, “Two-Spirit and Queer/Trans People of Colour: A Call to Conversation with LGBTQ and Allies,” at the University of Winnipeg. (See the Calls to Action, launched in 2019)
Most recently, Dr. Fiola is co-creator and member of the circle of editors for Pawaatamihk: A Journal of Métis Thinkers; a peer reviewed academic and community journal launching shortly from the University of Winnipeg.
Dr. Fiola holds a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies (University of Manitoba), a Collaborative Master of Arts in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education and Women’s Studies (OISE/University of Toronto), and a PhD in Indigenous Studies (Trent University).
Given Dr. Fiola’s exceptional academic record, her deep and abiding commitment to Indigenous, community-based research, and her dedication to meaningful Indigenous engagement, excellence and success, and to the University of Winnipeg, I am confident that she will excel in the role of Interim Associate Vice-President, Indigenous.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Angeline Nelson who has been serving as Acting Lead, Indigenous. She has done excellent work carrying these substantial responsibilities, in addition to her role as Director of Community Learning and Engagement at Wii Chiiwaakanak.
Dr. Todd Mondor
President and Vice-Chancellor
