This notice is from the archives of The Notice Board. Information contained in this notice was accurate at the time of publication but may no longer be so.
The University of Lethbridge extends its sincere sympathies to the family, friends and former colleagues of Dr. Betty Bastien, who passed away on May 9 at the age of 74.
Bastien (BASc (BA) ’76) was born on the Piikani First Nation and, after completing a bachelor’s at ULethbridge, went on to obtain undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work at the University of Calgary and a doctorate from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She was a lecturer, researcher and instructor at ULethbridge in what was then known as the Native American Studies program, now Indigenous Studies. Bastien taught off and on, sometimes for an academic year and sometimes for a semester at a time, from the fall of 1991 to the fall of 2011. She also taught at other Alberta post-secondary institutions, including the University of Calgary, Medicine Hat College, Mount Royal University, Red Crow Community College and Maskwacis Cultural College.
She was passionate about Indigenous education, curriculum design, social justice and other issues. Bastien’s research and love of writing led to the publication Blackfoot Ways of Knowing — The Worldview of the Siksikaitsitapi, a book that is fundamental to many university level Indigenous studies courses.
A full obituary is available online at Snodgrass Funeral Home.
In honour of Bastien, ULethbridge will lower its flag on Wednesday, May 24.
Contact:
caroline.zentner | caroline.zentner@uleth.ca