PUBlic Professor Series | Apooyak'ii, Dr. Tiffany Prete

The Kainai Stolen Children Era

Apooyak'ii, Dr. Tiffany Prete (Apooyak'ii), Department of Sociology

Did you know Indigenous children in Canada endured more than just Indian residential schools during the stolen children era? Indeed they did. In fact, for over a century, the Canadian Government used several school models to try to assimilate Indigenous children. In her talk, Dr. Prete will discuss the overarching policies that guided education for Indigenous children while revealing the multiple education models used. Her talk will focus on her Kainai (Blood) People.   

Apooyak’ii/Dr. Tiffany Prete (nee Hind Bull) is a member of the Kainai (Blood Tribe) of the Siksikasitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy), located in the Treaty 7 area. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Lethbridge. Her program of work is comprised of implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action on the Blood Reserve. Dr. Prete earned her bachelors of elementary education specializing in math and science, and completed her master of education and doctor of philosophy in education at the University of Alberta. She held both a Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellowship, and was an inaugural recipient of the University of Calgary's Provost's postdoctoral award for Indigenous and Black scholars at the University of Calgary. Dr. Prete’s background is in educational policy studies, specializing in Indigenous Peoples education. Her area of expertise includes: Indigenous secondary retention rates within the public school system, Blackfoot historical research, impacts of colonization, intergenerational trauma, and Indigenous research methodologies. In her spare time, she is a Native American bead work enthusiast, and published a research paradigm grounded in an Indigenous worldview that is guided by Native American beadwork.

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