Dangling in the Glimmer of Hope: Academic Action on Truth and Reconciliation demonstrates actions academics have taken in relation to some of the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Poetry, short stories, and children’s stories sit alongside scholarly chapters, mixing personal and academic voices to challenge and engage both the head and the heart about what Truth and Reconciliation—and the Calls to Action—require of us all. Garry Gottfriedson, Victoria Handford, and their collaborators invite readers not only to explore the diverse facets of Indigenous identity, but also to embark on a transformative, collective journey towards mutual understanding and respect. Contributions by Dorothy Cucw-la7 Christian, Georgann Cope Watson, Garry Gottfriedson, Victoria (Tory) Handford, Sarah Ladd, Patricia Liu Baergen, Tina Matthew, Rod McCormick, Gloria Ramirez, Fred Schaub, and Bernita Wienhold-Leahy
Dorothy Cucw-la7 Christian (Contributor)
Dorothy Cucw-la7 Christian is Secwépemc and Syilx from the interior plateau regions of what is known as British Columbia. She is happy to be a good relative to her Coast Salish cousins while she lives, works, and plays on their lands. Her research centralizes land, story, cultural protocols, and how Indigenous knowledge informs and guides interrelationships with Canadian settler society. Her curiosity about how cultural knowledge influences Indigenous production practices started when she was working for the national broadcaster VisionTV to bring Indigenous stories to the screen.
Dorothy works as the associate director, Indigenous Policy and Pedagogy at Simon Fraser University. While she writes scholarly chapters and participates in community on many levels, Dorothy remains involved in the Indigenous visual storytelling culture in Canada. She serves as a board member of the Indigenous Screen Office in Toronto and curated programs for the 2018 and 2019 ImagineNATIVE film festival, the largest Indigenous film festival in the world.
Georgann Cope Watson (Contributor)
Georgann Cope Watson is an Open Learning faculty member in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Thompson Rivers University. She is invested in qualitative research methods that inquire into decolonization and reconciliation, the praxis of critical and feminist pedagogy, the pedagogy of adult education, and the pedagogy of online teaching. Current research projects include the praxis of reconciliaction. Georgann lives, works, studies, teaches, and plays on the traditional territory of Ktunaxa First Nation.
Sarah Ladd (Contributor)
Sarah Ladd is currently the administrative coordinator for the graduate programs in Education at Thompson Rivers University, responsible for non-academic coordination of two programs, which have more than 500 students annually. She is regularly involved in the hiring of staff and faculty. Prior to this, she spent 14 years as a post-secondary career advisor at TRU, the University of British Columbia, the University of Calgary, and Simon Fraser University. She remains passionate about all aspects of career Contributors 181
development and is working to learn more about how Western career models can be changed and improved to be more inclusive for newcomers and Indigenous people.
Tina Matthew (Contributor)
Tina Matthew is a proud Secwépemc woman and member of Simpcw First Nation located in the North Thompson Valley in the interior of BC. She is honoured to hold the position of executive director in the Office of Indigenous Education at Thompson Rivers University. Tina holds a Master of Education and an undergraduate degree from Simon Fraser University. She is an education professional with over 30 years’ experience working with Indigenous communities, organizations, public and private institutions, and industry. She has particular strengths in conducting research, developing organizational processes, and connecting Indigenous people with training and collaboration opportunities. She is an active community member who always strives for self-governance and leadership for all Indigenous people through mentorship and respectful leadership.
Rod McCormick (Contributor)
Rod McCormick is an Indigenous health researcher and clinician. His nation is Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk). He lives on reserve in his partner’s home community of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc. His professional training and experience is in counselling psychology and in Indigenous mental health. He was a psychologist and counselling psychology professor at the University of British Columbia for 18 years and a professor of education at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) for the last 11 years. His research focuses on community capacity building in Indigenous mental health and research as well as the reclamation of traditional forms of healing. He has been a clinician, consultant, trainer, and researcher in Indigenous mental health for approximately 35 years. He was the lead for the BC Aboriginal Capacity and Developmental Research Environments, the BC Network Environments for Aboriginal Health Research, the Kloshe Tillicum research network, and he is currently the lead on the national/international Indigenous mentorship network Ombaashi, as well as the Knowledge Makers program and the All My Relations Research Centre at TRU.
Gloria Ramirez (Contributor)
Gloria Ramirez is a professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Thompson Rivers University, where she teaches courses on language, literacy, and research methods in education. She has more than 30 years of teaching experience in K–12 and higher education in Colombia, England, and Canada. Her research examines language and literacy development across different languages, bilingual learning, and the revitalization of Indigenous languages. Specifically, she examines effective teaching strategies to accelerate language learning and reading development. She has been collaborating with Secwépemc scholars, educators, Elders, and knowledge keepers for about 12 years on initiatives to revitalize Secwepemctsín. She is currently learning Secwepemctsín as an act of decolonization.
Alfred Schaub (Contributor)
Fred Schaub is an online learning faculty member and sessional instructor with Thompson Rivers University and a sessional instructor at Vancouver Island University. As an educational leader, Fred has worked at all levels of the K–12 public education system, including at an independent band school in British Columbia. For the last 20 years, Fred has been on a journey of learning to walk respectfully in both worlds, the Indigenous and the non-Indigenous. He has developed close relational and professional ties to Indigenous communities along the BC coast and holds the honour of being adopted into two Indigenous families. One of Fred’s greatest accolades is being described as a cultural ambassador by an Indigenous Elder and Knowledge Keeper; he attempts to honour this description every day.
Bernita Weinhold-Leahy (Contributor)
Bernita Weinhold-Leahy is a university instructor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Thompson Rivers University. Bernita worked in special education in the K–12 system for more than a decade, when she became concerned by the numbers of students suffering from mental health issues. She studied contemplative practices and became a mindfulness and compassion teacher to help students build resiliency. Her research interests relate to mindfulness and compassion toward students and teachers to encourage personal well-being and inner strength.
Garry Gottfriedson (Editor)
Garry Gottfriedson is from Kamloops, BC. He is strongly rooted in his Secwépemc (Shuswap) cultural teachings. He holds a Master of Arts Education degree from Simon Fraser University. In 1987, the Naropa Institute (now University) in Boulder, Colorado, awarded a Creative Writing Scholarship to Gottfriedson for Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. There, he studied under Allen Ginsberg, Marianne Faithfull, and others. Gottfriedson has 12 published books. He has read from his work across Canada, the United States, South America, New Zealand, Europe, and Asia. Gottfriedson’s work unapologetically unveils the truth of Canada’s treatment of First Nations. His work has been anthologized and published nationally and internationally. He recently received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Northern British Columbia.
Victoria Handford (Editor)
Victoria (Tory) Handford is a professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Thompson Rivers University and is currently the chair of the School of Education. Prior to moving to TRU, Tory held multiple positions in JK–12 education as a teacher, vice-principal, and principal. She has been an education officer (Leadership) for the Ontario Ministry of Education and program officer (Standards of Practice and Accreditation) for the Ontario College of Teachers. Her recent publications include a three-book series that addresses experiences of faculty in Canadian universities. Tory has also published multiple articles and chapters addressing components of school and district leadership.
