“I was drawn to UM’s Labour Studies Program because I knew I would be off work for a lengthy time, and completing this degree would give me the best chance of returning to my career in a capacity that my body could tolerate in the future,” said Breddam. She hoped to leverage on the program’s field placement – which includes research experience – to eventually transition into a role that offered better accessibility options within her field.

She found a home in labour studies and became heavily involved with the Labour Studies Students’ Association, serving as president for two consecutive years. “The highlight of my time with LABSSA is the lasting friendships that have been formed within our small community,” she shared. “I am proud to graduate with four past and present council members this spring and excited to see what they accomplish next.”

Breddam took further leadership roles outside of campus – as Chair of the Provincial Council of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities and a board member of the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties. She also completed the prestigious United Nations Young Leaders Immersion Program, which culminated in a one-week experience in Geneva, Switzerland. “This experience solidified my desire to tackle human rights issues from a labour rights perspective by demonstrating how intrinsically interconnected the world of work is with all other human experiences,” said Breddam.

Breddam shared that these achievements did not come easily. She found herself regularly navigating ongoing accessibility challenges and advocating for herself to address the barriers she faced on campus. She fondly recalls that she found support in the Labour Studies Program. “My experience within labour studies was exceptionally positive,” she said. “When you have a disability, you unfortunately must consistently prove your need for accommodation because our society is hyper concerned about the few who might abuse the system. The professors in the Labour Studies Program take the approach that students know their needs best. They demonstrated time and time again that they prioritize removing barriers over gatekeeping and showed kindness. They truly made me feel welcome.”

Her advice to UM students and grads who are facing accessibility barriers is to be mindful of the emotional burden they are carrying and share it with others. “When requesting accommodation, it’s crucial to recognize that you are best equipped to determine what you need for success, but that doesn’t imply you’ll have all the solutions,” said Breddam. “Surrounding yourself with encouraging voices can significantly impact your ability to identify opportunities to alleviate and address accessibility barriers.”  Her message to the UM community is to expand and deepen campus accessibility practices. “Accommodations aren’t just about wheelchair accessible classrooms or having a quiet place to write an exam. It’s also the little things like making sure someone puts the doorstop in before I get to class so I don’t need to ask for help opening the door, allowing me to leave 10 minutes early or be 10 minutes late because it takes me longer to wheel across campus between classes, and using short sentences and plain language on exams because dyslexia makes reading long complicated paragraphs more difficult,” explained Breddam. ”Without this support, I would not have had the energy to spare to fight for accessibility changes on campus.”

As for the future? Breddam has been accepted to Brock University’s MA program in social justice and equity studies. “I am truly excited about this opportunity. Not long ago, I couldn’t envision myself completing a bachelor’s degree, and now I’m a graduate and move on to graduate studies,” she said. “My goal is to enhance my skills in policy development and research through this program and apply them in an NGO that focuses on labour rights, or within Canadian unions and labour groups.”

Learn more about the Labour Studies Program in the Faculty of Arts.

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UM Bisons are at the centre of it all, making a difference here in Manitoba and around the world. 3058 degrees were awarded at Spring Convocation 2025 (over 620 are from the Faculty of Arts), bringing the total number of UM graduates to 4200 so far this year. Many of these new alumni will stay in Manitoba, supplying high-demand skills to the labour market and contributing to UM’s $7.3 billion economic impact on our community.

Scott Saindon, a third-year Indigenous Studies student, and Arshpreet Gill, a third-year Psychology student, both in the Faculty of Arts, were recognized as winners in the 2024 showcase for their outstanding contributions.

Scott Saindon achieved second place honours in the Social Sciences and Humanities poster competition for his research, ‘Métis’: a decade in review, that delves into the debates and discourses surrounding Bill C-53, an Act respecting the recognition of certain Métis governments.

“I’m Red River Métis, and this research project was very specific to my own peoplehood,” Saindon shared, reflecting on the personal connection he felt to his work.

Encouraged by two of his professors to apply for the URA, Saindon spent 16 weeks over the summer of 2024 working on his research under the guidance of Professor David Parent of the Department of Indigenous Studies. “I enjoyed the creative freedom I was granted to explore my ideas,” Saindon noted. This was an opportunity for him to independently explore while receiving expert mentorship.

The experience reinforced his belief in the importance of pursuing research topics you are passionate about, as it makes the work feel deeply rewarding.

Saindon emphasized the benefits of the URA, “you get to do research over the long-term, it’s a good test if you are thinking about going into graduate studies, and one of the big benefits was networking. I was able to connect with other students, Indigenous people and researchers.”

What’s next for Saindon? “My long-term career aspirations are to become a graduate student at the University of Manitoba to pursue a master’s degree and PhD, hopefully leading into a professorship and research in Métis Studies and Indigenous Studies.” He also aims to present his research at the 2025 Indigenous Relationality Workshop during the Prairie Political Science Association Conference in Banff, Alberta.

Arshpreet Gill achieved first place honours in the Social Sciences and Humanities oral competition for his research, Incentives for renewable energy: Capital-dominated vs. Margin-dominated projects, focused on how tailored incentives can drive progress in sectors like aviation and heavy-duty trucking. Gill was supervised by Professor Maryna Klymchuk of the Asper School of Business.

Gill applied for the URA with a clear goal – to share his research’s broader impact: “It wasn’t just about policies or data- it was about understanding the bigger picture of how Canada can meet its climate goals and how students like us can contribute to that vision.”

The showcase event gave him the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals passionate about sustainability and inspire conversations around innovative solutions. “More than anything, I wanted to show that research isn’t just for experts- it’s a tool for anyone who wants to make a meaningful difference,” he said.

Gill encourages students to pursue undergraduate research, emphasizing the personal and academic growth it offers. “Choose a project that excites you; that passion will carry you through any challenge. Don’t hesitate to seek guidance from your mentor and embrace the opportunity to learn, even if it feels intimidating,” he advised.

Gill’s commitment to sustainability doesn’t end with his URA. After completing his Bachelor of Arts, he plans to attend law school at Robson Hall to gain the legal expertise needed to advocate for renewable energy policies. Following law school, he aims to purse an MBA at the Asper School of Business, equipping himself with leadership skills to make a meaningful impact in the renewable energy sector. For Gill, his work is more than a research project- it’s part of a long-term vision to influence policy and drive positive change on a global scale.

Congratulations to all students who presented their research at this year’s Undergraduate Research Showcase! Your hard work and dedication exemplify the spirit of innovation and academic excellence at the University of Manitoba.

Are you an undergraduate student interested in conducting research? Applications for the 2025 URA are open now. There are over 50 researchers in the Faculty of Arts ready to work with undergraduate students this summer. Deadline to apply is February 17, 2025.

On June 20, ten student, staff and faculty honourees were recognized for their exceptional contributions at the 2024 Honouring our Indigenous Campus Community recognition ceremony.

Formerly the Indigenous Awards of Excellence, this event strives to reflect the diverse gifts of the Indigenous community at UM. This is the eighth year of recognizing honourees in a blanketing ceremony.

Meet the 2024 Honouring our Indigenous Campus Community recipients: 

Student Honourees  
Brad Albert, Faculty of Science
Elora Cromarty, Faculty of Arts
Monica Cyr, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Charlene Hallett, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Lauren Hallett, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Kiana Tait, Max Rady College of Medicine

Staff Honourees 
Elder Charlotte Nolin, Ongomiizwin Institute of Health & Healing
Marla Robson, College of Nursing

Faculty Honouree
Dr. Lisa Monkman

Legacy Honouree
Ken Paupanekis

New this year, the Legacy category honours former, or in the case of this year, outgoing, self-declared Indigenous UM faculty or staff who have made a positive impact on the campus community.

Vice-President (Indigenous) Angie Bruce welcomed honourees, friends, family members and colleagues with opening remarks and shared these words: “We cannot impact change on our own. Doing this work – creating space for Indigenous people, uplifting Indigenous voices; and integrating Indigenous ways of knowing and being into the fabric of the University of Manitoba – requires a community. And today, we honour that community. We hold events like this to recognize the staff, students and faculty that are leading the conversations, advocating for policy and structural change and inspiring others to continue this important work.”

The 10 honourees were presented with Star Blankets, by Kookum Leslie Spillett and Isca Spillett. Being wrapped in a Star Blanket is an honouring experience and a showing of gratitude from the community. 

Congratulations and miigwech to the 2024 honourees!

“I’m originally from Ohpáskowayáhk, also known as OCN/The Pas, and I spent a lot of my teenage years feeling confused and secluded,” says Queskekapow. “I just didn’t see a lot of people who were like me and so I didn’t really know who I was.”

In late 2020, they left their home community to pursue post-secondary education at the University of Manitoba where they are now doing their undergrad with a B.A. in Indigenous Studies.

Sunday Queskekapow (photo by Azka Ahmed, bolo tie by artist Eli Bird)

Queskekapow also works as a community and youth engagement coordinator with 2Spirit Manitoba Inc., a research advisor with Manitoba Harm Reduction, and they sit on the provincial government’s advisory circle for suicide prevention policy, overseen by the Honourable Bernadette Smith.

“It’s definitely a lot of work for one person to do,” says Queskekapow. “But this isn’t just work for me, it’s my life. It’s the life that I’ve lived and it’s the life my community members are living.”

When Queskekapow was seventeen, they made the decision to pursue gender affirming care. With no access to a general practitioner, Queskekapow says they would pack up their rusted 2003 Dodge Neon and make regular trips into Winnipeg, seven hours away from their family and their supports, to receive the care they needed. They became homeless and spent some time sleeping on the couches of friends before saving enough money to move to Winnipeg and enroll in university.

“I had to be displaced from my community to receive care that everyone should have the right to,” says Queskekapow. “And because of all these obstacles, I made a vow to make it my life’s commitment to ensure that other 2SLGBTQIA+ youth in northern and rural communities will someday have equal access to gender affirming care.”

Queskekapow says they realized they needed a post-secondary education to do the work they wanted to do and were drawn to the Indigenous Studies program at UM.

Outside of school, Queskekapow’s work focuses on aiding 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Manitoba, with a more recent focus on northern and rural Manitoba communities. As someone from northern Manitoba, Queskekapow says they bring a perspective to the table that is often overlooked.

“I’ve sat in meetings where everyone is talking about very important issues, but I’ll notice that no one has mentioned how we’re going to help people in northern and remote communities,” says Queskekeapow. “And I’ve realized how important it is to have people like me, with my similar lived experience, in these spaces and in these rooms.”

Queskekapow says their goal is to go into policy work.

“My path has just been very clear. I see the need for Two-Spirit people at the decision-making tables, helping with policy – especially at different levels of government. Whether that might be within reserves, local municipalities, provincially or federally, it’s needed at all levels.”

As they continue to work toward their goals, Queskekapow is grateful for the community they’ve found in Winnipeg, and the connections they’ve made with Two-Spirit Elders – including Elders Charlotte Nolin, Barbara Bruce, Albert McLeod and Gayle Pruden.

“Just hearing all their stories of what they’ve done and what they’ve gone through helps me to realize that I can keep going,” says Queskekapow. “They’re making sure that things don’t have to be as hard for us as they were for them and now it’s our turn to do the same for the next generation.”

For Queskekapow, having Two-Spirit and Trans representation in their life has made a huge impact and helped them to see a future for themself they never could have imagined.

“I never thought I’d be where I am right now,” says Queskekapow. “I’ll be sitting in the Manitoba Legislative building and thinking to myself ‘how many northern, Two-Spirit Trans individuals have sat here?’”

And Queskekapow says they hope the work they do will help 2SLGBTQIA+ youth see that they can grow up to be happy adults.

“I was them once. And that part of me is still in here, guiding me and driving me to do the work that I do,” says Queskekapow. “Having representation and reassurance in my teenage years would have made things a lot easier for me.”

And that’s also why Queskekapow says celebrating Pride is so crucial for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

“It’s to show youth that they have the community, the support and the representation. To show them that people are always fighting for them,” says Queskekapow. “Pride is so much more than a celebration. It means freedom for all and it’s about showing 2SLGBTQIA+ youth that they can grow up to become happy adults and eventually, happy Elders too.”

Carleton’s work, in various ways, aims to raise awareness about Indian Residential School history and create opportunities for other non-Indigenous people to play roles in reconciliation efforts. 

In the last year, Carleton has actively contributed to important reconciliation work on and off campus. As part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in September, he was part of the team that installed a Heart Garden in the quad, featuring messages of reconciliation and inviting the campus community to consider ways they can take action to support reconciliation efforts. Additionally, He gave a talk about his research on what is known as residential school denialism, or the attempt by some to twist, misrepresent, or downplay truths about residential schooling to protect the colonial status quo.

Related to denialism, in October, Carleton and UM graduate student Reid Gerbrandt published a new report, supported by the Centre for Human Rights Research at UManitoba, debunking the “mass grave hoax” theory. This theory, promoted mostly on the far-right, holds that there is a conspiracy by mainstream media, First Nations, and the government to misreport potential unmarked graves at former residential school sites as “mass graves.” In October, Carleton and Gerbrandt’s report was also presented at St John’s College Soup and Bread event, where they shared their research findings.

Outside of his research, Sean is engaged in the community, supporting various Indigenous Nations with their efforts related to reckoning with residential school knowledge and trauma. He is the Historical Consultant for the Squamish Nation’s Yúusnew̓as project, looking into the history and legacy of the St. Paul’s Indian Residential School in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Carleton grew up near the school but “never learned” about residential schooling and how it negatively affected his Squamish neighbours. Volunteering his labour to help the Squamish Nation understand the experience and ongoing legacy of the school is just one way that Carleton is demonstrating reconciliation leadership.

In February, Carleton was invited by members of the Tla’amin Nation and The Names Matters to speak in gathet, or the City of Powell River, in British Columbia, on the history and legacy of Israel Wood Powell. Powell, as Carleton’s recent book Lessons in Legitimacyreveals, was a pivotal figure in helping day and residential schools targeting Indigenous children take root on the West Coast. Carleton’s talk was based on a new article he wrote on Powell and his relationship to schooling and settler colonialism in British Columbia.

Finally, Carleton was invited to be a keynote speaker at the National Advisory Committee on Residential Schools Missing Children and Unmarked Burials in Regina, Saskatchewan, March 5-7. This gathering brings Survivors, researchers, and Indigenous leaders together to support the ongoing work to understand the whole truth about residential schooling and its legacy.

Carleton was able to share some of his experience working as part of the Yúusnew̓as research team, and his talk was about the need to understand and confront residential school denialism as part of the work of putting truth before reconciliation and facilitating healing and justice for the future. 

To learn more about Sean’s work, visit his profile.

Jasmine spent a year in an Indigenous military program in Ontario. Upon completing her program and getting accepted to the University of Manitoba, an advisor at the Indigenous Student Centre on campus recommended to Jasmine to live in St. John’s Residence in her preparation for first year.

“The Residence welcomed me with open arms, and it has given me the space and support to realize and evolve into the person I want to become while also letting me focus on my studies in a way I wouldn’t be able to if I lived off-campus.”

St John’s Residence became a home to Jasmine, and over the course of her undergraduate degree she has stayed.

“The staff and community have allowed me to feel safe and secure with a sense of home away from home. I have gained a lot of self-confidence and learned a lot about myself in my time living in St. John’s Residence.”

Now in her fifth year as an Indigenous Studies major, Jasmine looks to graduate next spring with aspirations of making a difference with contributions to Indigenous voices, rights, and education. 

“I want to use my studies to help boost Indigenous people up, create more opportunities, and make a difference for Indigenous success. I know I’m an ambitious person who wants many things, but I can’t help but want to achieve them all with the education I’m learning.”

Jasmine looks forward to seeing her aspirations realized with her post-secondary education. She hopes that with all her endeavors and efforts that she will be able to meaningfully give back to the communities that she has been a part of, including but not limited to the youth, students coming into St. John’s Residence, and her community up north.

To learn more about the residence and its benefits, visit our website. 

National Indigenous Languages Day was first celebrated in Canada in 1993. Originally meant to encourage public awareness of endangered languages, it has expanded to provide an opportunity for conversations about many other benefits and opportunities including educational and economic benefits to both Indigenous communities and the broader Canadian society.

An endangered language requires more support than just teaching new speakers to use it in the home. To bring a language back, it takes an overall effort to build up both human and teaching resources. This can be accomplished through teaching individuals how to understand, speak and write the language, how to respect and acknowledge the teachings and knowledge built into a language, how to use the language in professional settings, how to teach the language to others, and how to document the language by creating resources such as dictionaries, textbooks, worksheets and videos.

Universities can play a pivotal role in supporting Indigenous language revitalization efforts through their courses, their experts, their resources, and their cultural programs and supports.

UM currently offers language instruction in Ojibwe and Cree. Students are supported in their learning with language tutors, resources and language drop-ins led by Elders. Courses help to teach the languages along with the history and structure of the languages. This combination assists those looking to not only learn to speak and understand but also to teach others; to help grow the number of speakers in Manitoba. Academics and graduate students in the Faculty have also provided their expertise in the development of various resources to document Indigenous languages; helping to secure their existence into the future.

Proficiency in Indigenous languages can open-up diverse career opportunities. In sectors such as education, healthcare, government and public service, social services, and law, there is a growing demand for professionals who can communicate effectively with Indigenous communities in their own languages. Documentation and transcription professionals are also in demand. Industries across Canada including resource and environmental management, arts and media, publishing, and tourism and hospitality have an increased need for bilingual speakers. Bilingualism in English or French and an Indigenous language can increase employability and the ability to serve Indigenous populations more effectively.

Over the next two years, the Faculty of Arts is working to expand the Indigenous languages program offerings to help meet the growing occupational demand and to make the programs more accessible to adult learners and those outside of Winnipeg.

With the growing interest in learning Indigenous languages from both a cultural and economic perspective, there are more courses and programs being offered in K to 12 schools, universities, and by community groups than ever before. “The more programs and supports we can offer to new learners, the better chance we have to document and grow the languages,” said Dr. Lorena Sekwan Fontaine, associate professor and department head of Indigenous Studies, “with the additional benefit of developing speakers who can turn their new language skills into a variety of job opportunities.”

As we celebrate National Indigenous Languages Day in 2024, let’s take a moment to celebrate the work that’s been done so far and look forward to continuing the tasks necessary to revitalize Indigenous languages in Canada.

Learn more about the Department of Indigenous Studies and the Indigenous languages minor.

Learn more about the Department of Linguistics.

Lucasfilm, the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council and the University of Manitoba say they’ve reached an agreement to record a dubbed Ojibwe version of “Star Wars: A New Hope.”

The first film in George Lucas’ popular sci-fi series introduces many of the beloved characters, including Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca.

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“I think it’s because she’s done the kind of heavy lifting that it takes to build relationships,” he said. 

“And so I think for a lot of Indigenous people, they may still claim her regardless of any other evidence that comes to light.”

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“Unfortunately, these types of comments have been particularly noticeable on the far right and in Alberta in particular,” he said.

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