Syllabics
Recently, FNUniv’s Senior Data Analyst interviewed two Regina Campus Faculty members, Jason Bird, Indigenous Business & Public Administration, and Susannah Walker, Indigenous Social Work, to delve into other aspects besides their leadership and teaching roles at FNUniv.
Here are their interviews!
Where are you from? Peepeekisis Cree Nation, out by Balcarres.
What is something we don’t know about you? I make music! I’ve been doing it for 20 years: writing, composing, and even singing. I play the guitar, bass [guitar], and a little bit of drums (enough to create a rhythm). It is healing… it’s my creative fun outlet, how I keep a journal.
What is your area of study? I am in business leadership, and I study how Indigenous leadership world concepts and values impact business. Like how work gets done. An example of this is the perception of “Indian time.” It is a relational viewpoint; it is important to foster kinship ties and do the job… to take time to build relationships with people and take care of people. I’ve never been a time-cruncher, and being forced to work that way doesn’t make you want to stay at companies. Micromanagement doesn’t work, and isn’t how it’s done at Indigenous companies.
What do you research? Do you publish or have books (and do you want to talk about your publications?): I don’t currently publish, but I will once I have my PhD. I will research intercultural management, which is the relationship between cultures and the integration of their values.
What are you most proud of? Parenting. My ability to raise children differently than I was raised and my ability to give them attention and love. My kids are 9 and 12. I don’t pressure them, and I love that they have interests that I can invest in… where I get to participate. It is the one place where I know that I am irreplaceable.
Do you have a 5-year plan? What does it include?: Two things. One, I will get my PhD in a business area and be tenure-track, doing research in Indigenous communities. Two, I want to build a consulting group to help Indigenous communities to achieve their goals. We have knowledge and resources here that are marketable, such as social work and education. We have all of those skills and all of that knowledge here. There are consulting firms around Regina that are used in Indigenous communities or for Indigenous knowledge, and we could take on contracts that would supplement University funding.
Where are you from? I grew up in Wisconsin and am an enrolled citizen of the Waganakising Odawa tribe from northern Michigan and my grandmother’s family is the Frazier tiospaye from the Santee Sioux (Dakota) Nation of Nebraska. My mother’s side of the family is originally from County Cork in Ireland.
What is something we don’t know about you? I’m fluent in Spanish as I spent three years in Medellin, Colombia teaching English.
What is your area of study? I am in the Indigenous Social Work faculty and just completed my PhD in Public Policy with a focus on Indigenous youth mental health.
What do you research? Do you publish or have books (and do you want to talk about your publications?) My research interests are positive interventions for Indigenous youth, trauma-informed approaches in social work, supporting Indigenous social work students, and best practices in teaching and learning.
What are you most proud of? Beginning to learn the Odawa language with my family.
Do you have a 5-year plan? What does it include? I hope to be completing meaningful research and continuing to enjoy teaching in the BISW program.
Stay tuned for more interesting facts from other FNUniv faculty members!
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(the good path through life)
(the good path through life)