Jarita Greyeyes, ©Alan Greyeyes of Indigo Arrows
Jarita Greyeyes continues to make history. The University of Winnipeg alumna and former Director of Community Learning and Engagement at Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre is the inaugural UWinnipeg Weweni Future Scholar. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Race, Inequality, and Language in Education at Stanford University in California.
“As I begin my journey as a doctoral student, I am honoured to be the inaugural Weweni Scholar,” shared Greyeyes. “I would not have been able to undertake this endeavour without a tremendous amount of help from my family, friends, and colleagues, and any successes that I have had are a reflection of all the support I have received over the years.”
As an inter-generational survivor of the residential school system, Greyeyes knows the harmful effects systems of schooling can produce. Greyeyes plans to use her experience, combined with her research in educational systems, to uplift and amplify the voices of Indigenous women, who as faculty and staff of universities have undertaken the hard work to make these spaces where Indigenous knowledge is recognized, valued, and included.
“As I move ahead in my doctoral program,” noted Greyeyes, “I will be deepening my own understandings of the concept of Weweni (taking care or doing things properly) in the context of research and scholarship. To complete the circle of learning, I hope to become a university faculty member at the conclusion of my doctoral studies, with an eventual return to senior administration.”
Greyeyes graduated from UWinnipeg with a BA in 2006, followed by an MA in Indigenous Governance from the University of Victoria.
The Weweni Future Scholars Award assists Indigenous UWinnipeg alumni who are entering a PhD program to further their research and expertise.
