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In June 2024, I travelled to Bodø, Norway, for the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) annual research conference to present on my research titled, “The Land Tells Us We Belong: Urban Indigeneity, Jars of Salmon and Indigenous Rights in the Settler City”. Bodø is a city located inside the Arctic Circle with a population of around 50,000 and is roughly 1,200 km north of Oslo. A seasoned traveller, I was excited to visit a place I’d never been before. I was going to be situated in circumpolar Sápmi territory and experience Sámi culture firsthand. While I tried to avoid forming expectations of what this part of the world might look like, I couldn’t help but feel surprised when we landed at Bodø Airport. The landscape was green and lush, the temperature mild, and the forecast called for rain. In fact, Bodø was even slightly warmer than Edmonton!
While I was eager to connect with Indigenous scholars from around the world, what I hadn’t necessarily anticipated was how much I would strengthen my bonds with colleagues from home. The few months leading up to this conference had been particularly challenging for me personally, and my attendance was uncertain right up until I boarded the plane from Edmonton. Having familiar faces around me was a tremendous support, allowing me to show up at the conference in the best way possible. I shared an Airbnb unit with a fellow MA cohort member, who helped me in preparing my presentation, and we regularly connected with other U of A Faculty of Native Studies students and staff. One of my thesis supervisors was also present at the conference, providing both support during my presentation preparation and valuable debriefing afterward.
I was one of four presenters on a panel titled “Writing Urban Indigeneity”. It was both exciting and somewhat intimidating to be participating with other Indigenous scholars whose work focuses on urban Indigeneity. The three other scholars were all from the United States, and I was the only panelist at the Master of Arts level. We all shared a reflexive approach to our work, with presentations covering a range of topics: human and more-than-human lives in the settler-imperial city, the occupation of Alcatraz Island, and Hawaiian geographies of time.
Being part of this panel was a particularly meaningful experience for me as an emerging Indigenous scholar. Research on urban Indigeneity can feel sparse, especially when sought from those who identify as ‘urban Indigenous’. As an urban Indigenous person-who is not from the territory I now call home-it can be challenging to figure out where I “fit in” within the broader community. This panel provided comfort and reassurance, showing me that I’m not alone in grappling with the complexity of being both ‘urban’ and ‘Indigenous’. It reminded me that there is immense value in our unique perspectives, even as we work to dismantle the politics of such labels. Ultimately, the experience highlighted that I can make a meaningful contribution to the field of urban Indigenous planning as an urban Indigenous researcher. And that I will have plenty of support from many relatives along the way!
Thank you CAIR for supporting me in sharing my research with others!
