naw̓ ʔeləy̓ məlsteyəxʷ.ʔi čxʷ wəɬ tecəl ʔi ʔə tə n̓a CEDaR website wə niʔ ʔə ƛ̓ UBC kʷ s ʔam̓ət təšxʷʔam̓əts tə xʷməθkʷəy̓əm məsteyəxʷ. hay ce:p q̓ə k̓ʷəθ ʔəm̓i kʷətxʷiləm ʔiʔ təwtaʔəlt tə sya:ys ct.

Hello good people.
You have arrived at the CEDaR website of UBC which is situated on the homelands of the Musqueam people.
Thank you for coming and learning a little about our work.

Welcome

Community Engaged Documentation and Research (CEDaR) is a collaborative new media space at UBC Vancouver designed to facilitate community-led innovation of relational technologies to support cultural survivance through tools and technologies grounded in local contexts, politics, and protocols.

CEDaR is grateful to the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking Musqueam people for their long-standing commitment to creating spaces of learning in their traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory, and for welcoming us to work with them in their homelands.

Who We Are

Profile picture of David, one of our advisors at CEDaR.

David is an Assistant Professor specializing in new media and digital storytelling with the Institute of Critical Indigenous Studies at UBC. While new media theory grapples with race and social justice in provocative ways, it has historically not contended with the principles and practices of Indigenous studies. Gaertner's research brings Indigenous studies to bear on technology and communications theory, with the particular aim of theorizing land-based storytelling practices in the "landless" territory of cyberspace. In focusing his analysis on place-based knowledges, he connects land, technology, and storytelling in ways that reorient new media to settler colonialism, and Indigenous sovereignty, and self-determination.

He has presented on this research internationally, including invited presentations at the Technocultural Futures Summit at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the G7 "Data to Insights" Research Summit in Gatineau, Quebec. He has also delivered keynote presentations on my research for the University of Victoria Digital Humanities Summer Institute (June 2018), the Digital Studios at the University of Melbourne, Australia and the Annenberg School for Communication. Gaertner and Jentery Sayers co-organized, "Decolonizing Technology, Reprogramming Education," the 2019 HASTAC conference, which feature keynotes from seven Indigenous women that mobilize technology in their creative and critical practices. He has recently published articles with Critical Inquiry, and the Modern Language Association (MLA). He is the editor of Sohkeyihta: The Poetry of Sky Dancer Louise Bernice Halfe and the co-editor of Read Listen Tell: Indigenous Stories from Turtle Island. Gaertner's first monograph, The Theatre of Regret: Literature, Art and the Politics of Reconciliation, is now available from UBC Press.

Profile picture of Daisy, one of our advisors at CEDaR.

Daisy is an Assistant Professor in the First Nations and Endangered Languages Program within the Institute of Critical Indigenous Studies, and Anthropology, at UBC. She focuses on methods, partnerships, and products that contribute to community-based language reclamation, the decolonization of linguistic research, and the community-led deployment of technology to support intergenerational linguistic and cultural continuity. As a linguist, she specializes in collaborative multi-modal documentation and description of Indigenous languages of North America, with attention to how people talk about place, space, motion, and their relationships with land. She has worked with the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations to support the reclamation and mobilization of place-based knowledge in the Bak̕wa̱mk̕ala-Kwak̕wala language, encompassing in situ documentation with Elders of place-based knowledge and the creation of related curriculum; the use of archival and newly-recorded video as stimuli for conversation; the training of community partners in methods of audio and video recording, transcription, and translation; the mobilization of resources through development of new technologies; and the development of data-management protocols through an iterative and emergent process of consultation and collaboration. She is a 3rd-generation New Yorker raised in Lenape territory, with family roots in Catalonia, Northern Germany, and Eastern European Ashkenazi communities.

Profile picture of Dante, one of our advisors at CEDaR.

Dante graduated in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from UBC. Since then, he has worked at a variety of labs working on educational or research applications at the Brain Attention and Reality (BAR) Lab in Psychology, Hackspace for Innovation and Visualization in Education (HIVE) Lab at Faculty of Medicine, the Emerging Media Lab at UBC IT, and now is thankful to be Lab Supervisor at CIS's own Community Engaged Documentation and Research (CEDaR) space. Over the years he has developed and supervised web apps, Wordpress plugins and VR/AR applications. The most important thing he has learned (and is still learning) is that users are everything! For a project to be successful, user feedback and user acceptance is critical.

Profile picture of Sara, one of our advisors at CEDaR.

Sara MacLellan is a settler art historian and multidisciplinary creative whose work encompasses research, writing, art and design, public art programming, and project management with a focus on community-engaged, land-based, and decolonizing approaches to arts and culture. She is a project manager at CEDaR, where she helps facilitate community-led research and collaboration.

Sara holds an MA in the History of Art, Design, & Visual Culture from the University of Alberta and a BHum in Humanities and Art History from Carleton University. Her doctoral research at McGill University investigated contemporary intersections between art and medicine, the production of knowledge, and performativity through a critical feminist lens and embodied perspective. Her professional practice has focused on curating and managing public art projects with attentiveness to local contexts and the placement of public art on sovereign Indigenous lands. She currently serves on the City of Vancouver’s Public Art Committee.

Sara was raised on the traditional homelands of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek in Robinson-Huron Treaty territory, colonially known as Sudbury, Ontario, and has Polish, Ukrainian, Irish, and French roots. She is grateful to live and work on the shared traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓- and Sḵwxw̱ú7mesh-speaking peoples, and is inspired by their continued stewardship and care of the land.

About CEDaR

CEDaR (Community Engaged Documentation and Research) is an experimental new media space within the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies at UBC Vancouver where faculty, students, and staff that engage in community-driven research can collaborate and innovate what we call “relational technologies.” Our mission is to evolve community research by supporting the creation of and access to digital technologies for immersive and interactive storytelling that support local contexts, politics, and protocols across three broad areas: digital curation, mapping, and gaming.

Community stories are situated in territory, shared intergenerationally, expressive of crucial identities, and governed by ethical protocols. At CEDaR, we develop relational technologies to translate these stories into digital space: tools and techniques that connect us more deeply to each other, and to the places we inhabit. Amidst artificial intelligences, machine learning models, data-mining and algorithmic assumptions that impose colonial-capitalist paradigms on cyberspace, we join the call for technology to exist in constellations of kinship among human and non-human partners.

Advisory Commitee

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Profile picture of Henry Yu, one of our Member at CEDaR.

Henry Yu is involved in the collaborative effort to reimagine the history of Vancouver and of British Columbia through the concept of "Pacific Canada," a
perspective that focuses on how migrants from Asia, Europe, and other parts of the Americas engaged with each other and with First Nations peoples historically.
Read "Our Own Not-So-Quiet Revolution" and Prof. Yu's essay "Global Migrants and the New Pacific Canada," written for the 25th Anniversary of the Asia Pacific Foundation. Also visit Henry Yu's blog "Past Present" at http://henryyu.blogspot.com. Prof. Yu has been the Principal since 2011 of St. John's Graduate College, UBC's international graduate college, and served as its Associate Principal from 2005-2009.

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Profile picture of Courteney Durand , one of our Member at CEDaR.

Courteney is a multidisciplinary artist, and her work focuses on representations of her traditional territory and language in digital media through live visual performances, videography, animation, and computer programming. Through her art, she has found ways to speak about complex issues and historical references employing her knowledge of the nehiyawewin language and North American histories that predate English. You can find some of her work at ag47.bandcamp.com. Courteney's work, artistic and academic, is rooted in the ethics she has learned from her culture and her teachers. She is an undergraduate research assistant with Jeffrey Ansloos and David Gaertner on a project called Indigenous Research Ethics for Social Media Data. She has an interest in Indigenous autonomy and the intersections of technology and surveillance.

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Profile picture of Sarah Dupont, one of our Member at CEDaR.

Sarah Dupont is the Head Librarian of the Xwi7xwa Library at The University of British Columbia (UBC). In addition to administrative, collections, and strategic work on Indigenous initiatives, she was the Indigitization Program Manager Librarian from 2012-2020. Sarah previously served as the UBC iSchool's First Nations Curriculum Concentration coordinator and co-taught Information Practice and Protocol in Support of Indigenous Initiatives there. She is the Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries' (COPPUL) Chair of the Indigenous Knowledge Standing Committee and the British Columbia Library Association's First Nations Interest Group Convenor. Sarah has Métis-settler heritage and uses she/her pronouns.

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Profile picture of Maize Longboat, one of our Member at CEDaR.

Maize Longboat is Kanien'keha:ka from Six Nations of the Grand River and was raised on the unceded territory of the Skwxwu7mesh Nation near Vancouver, BC. He is the Skins Workshops Associate Director with Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) and the Initiative for Indigenous Futures (IIF). He holds an MA in Media Studies from Concordia University and a BA in First Nations Studies and History from the University of British Columbia. His MA research examined Indigenous videogame development through the production of his game Terra Nova, an award-winning cooperative platformer with an interactive narrative.

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Profile picture of Leona Sparrow, one of our Member at CEDaR.

Leona Sparrow is the director of Treaty, Lands and Resources for the Musqueam Indian Band, on whose traditional territories UBC's Vancouver campus is located. This comparatively small but historically influential band has been prominent in shaping Aboriginal relations in Canada, as well as current practices in First Nations communities. Ms Sparrow has held leadership roles within the band for many years, and is an active participant in First Nations affairs in Canada. During this time, as the designated liaison between the Musqueam and UBC, she has provided valuable advice to the university as it seeks to improve and expand its relations with the Musqueam and other First Nations peoples. Without her skilled involvement, many significant developments and initiatives on this front would have been difficult if not impossible to achieve.

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Profile picture of Darcy Cullen , one of our Member at CEDaR.

Darcy Cullen, Assistant Director, Acquisitions, at the University of British Columbia Press, is a publishing professional with twenty years' experience in Indigenous studies. She is an ardent supporter of inclusive modes of publishing that take into account digital and collaborative scholarship and she is the founder of RavenSpace, a strategic initiative and international partnership for the publication of community-university collaborative, media-rich works. She has written in The Journal of Scholarly Publishing and for the white paper "Public Humanities and the Publishing Life Cycle," and is the volume editor of Editors, Scholars, and the Social Text (University of Toronto Press, 2012).

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Profile picture of Bernard Perley, one of our Member at CEDaR.

Bernard C. Perley is Maliseet from Tobique First Nation, New Brunswick. He holds Bachelor of Fine Arts (studio arts) and Master of Architecture (architectural design) degrees from the University of Texas, Austin. His PhD is in Social Anthropology from Harvard. His academic training is interdisciplinary and aims to transcend disciplinary boundaries to serve his commitment to Indigenous community-based research and advocacy. Bernard is an activist/advocate Indigenous anthropologist.
His professional contributions to the American Anthropological Association include: Core Member/Member of the Task Group on Language and Social Justice (since 2010), Minority seat representative on the AAA Executive Board (2013-2017), Ombudsperson (since 2018), and President-Elect of the Society for Linguistic Anthropology (2019). His language research and advocacy continue to be expressed through publications and professional conferences as well as community-based projects such as collaborative art installation pieces, keynote presentations, and language revitalization workshops.

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Profile picture of Adina Williams, one of our Member at CEDaR.

Adina Williams is from the Squamish Nation, and she also descends from the 'Namgis (Kwakwaka'wakw) peoples from Alert Bay, B.C. She grew up in Xwemelch'stn (Capilano Reserve) in what is now more commonly known as West Vancouver. Adina completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at UBC in 2019 in First Nations and Indigenous Studies and Anthropology. Since September 2019, Adina has been working as the Community Liaison at the Indigenous Research Support Initiative (IRSI) at UBC. She has previously worked as a student researcher at the First Nations House of Learning, Indigenous Initiatives at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT), and the Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden at the UBC Farm.

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Profile picture of Meighan Giesbrecht, one of our Member at CEDaR.

Meighan is an artist, maker, and designer, of Kwakwaka'wakw, Metis, and European descent. She has a Bachelor of Visual Arts from UBC, and a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Manitoba, where she also recently completed her Masters of Architecture. Her research explores the role that storytelling plays in Indigenous spaces of the city, and her art is the vessel for learning more about her own identity. Past works include co-creating the interactive installations "PEG" and "SPOKE", as well as being a co-curator of the Winnipeg Design Festival in 2018.

Meet our CEDaR Advisory Committee members

Advisory Commitee

Henry Yu

Henry Yu is involved in the collaborative effort to reimagine the history of Vancouver and of British Columbia through the concept of "Pacific Canada," a
perspective that focuses on how migrants from Asia, Europe, and other parts of the Americas engaged with each other and with First Nations peoples historically.
Read "Our Own Not-So-Quiet Revolution" and Prof. Yu's essay "Global Migrants and the New Pacific Canada," written for the 25th Anniversary of the Asia Pacific Foundation. Also visit Henry Yu's blog "Past Present" at http://henryyu.blogspot.com. Prof. Yu has been the Principal since 2011 of St. John's Graduate College, UBC's international graduate college, and served as its Associate Principal from 2005-2009.

Courteney Durand

Courteney is a multidisciplinary artist, and her work focuses on representations of her traditional territory and language in digital media through live visual performances, videography, animation, and computer programming. Through her art, she has found ways to speak about complex issues and historical references employing her knowledge of the nehiyawewin language and North American histories that predate English. You can find some of her work at ag47.bandcamp.com. Courteney's work, artistic and academic, is rooted in the ethics she has learned from her culture and her teachers. She is an undergraduate research assistant with Jeffrey Ansloos and David Gaertner on a project called Indigenous Research Ethics for Social Media Data. She has an interest in Indigenous autonomy and the intersections of technology and surveillance.

Sarah Dupont

Sarah Dupont is the Head Librarian of the Xwi7xwa Library at The University of British Columbia (UBC). In addition to administrative, collections, and strategic work on Indigenous initiatives, she was the Indigitization Program Manager Librarian from 2012-2020. Sarah previously served as the UBC iSchool's First Nations Curriculum Concentration coordinator and co-taught Information Practice and Protocol in Support of Indigenous Initiatives there. She is the Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries' (COPPUL) Chair of the Indigenous Knowledge Standing Committee and the British Columbia Library Association's First Nations Interest Group Convenor. Sarah has Métis-settler heritage and uses she/her pronouns.

Maize Longboat

Maize Longboat is Kanien'keha:ka from Six Nations of the Grand River and was raised on the unceded territory of the Skwxwu7mesh Nation near Vancouver, BC. He is the Skins Workshops Associate Director with Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) and the Initiative for Indigenous Futures (IIF). He holds an MA in Media Studies from Concordia University and a BA in First Nations Studies and History from the University of British Columbia. His MA research examined Indigenous videogame development through the production of his game Terra Nova, an award-winning cooperative platformer with an interactive narrative.

Leona Sparrow

Leona Sparrow is the director of Treaty, Lands and Resources for the Musqueam Indian Band, on whose traditional territories UBC's Vancouver campus is located. This comparatively small but historically influential band has been prominent in shaping Aboriginal relations in Canada, as well as current practices in First Nations communities. Ms Sparrow has held leadership roles within the band for many years, and is an active participant in First Nations affairs in Canada. During this time, as the designated liaison between the Musqueam and UBC, she has provided valuable advice to the university as it seeks to improve and expand its relations with the Musqueam and other First Nations peoples. Without her skilled involvement, many significant developments and initiatives on this front would have been difficult if not impossible to achieve.

Darcy Cullen

Darcy Cullen, Assistant Director, Acquisitions, at the University of British Columbia Press, is a publishing professional with twenty years' experience in Indigenous studies. She is an ardent supporter of inclusive modes of publishing that take into account digital and collaborative scholarship and she is the founder of RavenSpace, a strategic initiative and international partnership for the publication of community-university collaborative, media-rich works. She has written in The Journal of Scholarly Publishing and for the white paper "Public Humanities and the Publishing Life Cycle," and is the volume editor of Editors, Scholars, and the Social Text (University of Toronto Press, 2012).

Bernard Perley

Bernard C. Perley is Maliseet from Tobique First Nation, New Brunswick. He holds Bachelor of Fine Arts (studio arts) and Master of Architecture (architectural design) degrees from the University of Texas, Austin. His PhD is in Social Anthropology from Harvard. His academic training is interdisciplinary and aims to transcend disciplinary boundaries to serve his commitment to Indigenous community-based research and advocacy. Bernard is an activist/advocate Indigenous anthropologist.
His professional contributions to the American Anthropological Association include: Core Member/Member of the Task Group on Language and Social Justice (since 2010), Minority seat representative on the AAA Executive Board (2013-2017), Ombudsperson (since 2018), and President-Elect of the Society for Linguistic Anthropology (2019). His language research and advocacy continue to be expressed through publications and professional conferences as well as community-based projects such as collaborative art installation pieces, keynote presentations, and language revitalization workshops.

Adina Williams

Adina Williams is from the Squamish Nation, and she also descends from the 'Namgis (Kwakwaka'wakw) peoples from Alert Bay, B.C. She grew up in Xwemelch'stn (Capilano Reserve) in what is now more commonly known as West Vancouver. Adina completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at UBC in 2019 in First Nations and Indigenous Studies and Anthropology. Since September 2019, Adina has been working as the Community Liaison at the Indigenous Research Support Initiative (IRSI) at UBC. She has previously worked as a student researcher at the First Nations House of Learning, Indigenous Initiatives at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT), and the Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden at the UBC Farm.

Meighan Giesbrecht

Meighan is an artist, maker, and designer, of Kwakwaka'wakw, Metis, and European descent. She has a Bachelor of Visual Arts from UBC, and a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Manitoba, where she also recently completed her Masters of Architecture. Her research explores the role that storytelling plays in Indigenous spaces of the city, and her art is the vessel for learning more about her own identity. Past works include co-creating the interactive installations "PEG" and "SPOKE", as well as being a co-curator of the Winnipeg Design Festival in 2018.

CEDaR SPACE

This is an image of the collaboration space at CEDaR.
CEDaR Space while sitting at a desk.
This is an image of the workspaces at CEDaR.
CEDaR Perspective from corner armchair. Workstations currently being installed on pictured desks
Image of Sound Booth, inside of our research space at CEDaR - UBC
CEDaR space inside the sound booth.
Image of Projector Screens, inside of our research space at CEDaR - UBC
Picture of a screening of Skawennati’s machinma She Falls for Ages displayed on our projection screens.

Project FUNDERS

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