Learning from and with Indigenous Community Members Book Club

This book club will be a space where non-Indigenous and Indigenous people can come together to learn through conversations amongst Indigenous guest speakers in relation to Indigenous literature and topics that are meaningful to them and their nations/communities. It is an invitation to get to know Indigenous community members at York University and in neighbouring communities. The intention is to cultivate learning about the diverse histories, ways of knowing, ways of being, lived experiences, identities, and visions for the future of Indigenous Peoples.

Our guest speakers are Nicole Muir and Sabrina Cicansky who will be in dialogue with one another about the book Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson, a novelist and short fiction writer from the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations.

Dr. Nicole Muir is Métis with roots in Red River, Manitoba. She is an assistant professor of Psychology at York University. Before graduate school, she worked at an Indigenous child protection agency, an Indigenous health unit (both in Toronto), and as a consultant for children with special needs in the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver. Within urban Indigenous populations, Dr. Muir’s research focuses on colonialism, victimization, foster care, justice system involvement, and violence.  

Sabrina Cicansky is status Indigenous from Tl’azt’en Nation, Fort St. James, BC. Her grandmother and mother are both of Carrier ancestry. She grew up in BC and moved to Toronto in 2018 and is currently an undergraduate student in her 3rd year in the psychology program. She works part-time at an Indigenous Covid vaccine and testing clinic called Auduzhe as an outreach worker.