UM Indigenous scholars explore Indigenous laws, languages and lived experiences.
How’s your 2026 reading list coming along? If you’re looking for a window to Indigenous voices and knowledge systems, turn to Indigenous Scholars at UM.
Dr. Matthew Tétreault, Dr. Leo Baskatawang and Dr. Lorena Sekwan Fontaine present work grounded in their own lived experiences and places of relationship with land, language and the people who carry these teachings forward, all shaped by generations of teaching, learning and a strong sense of responsibility.
Their publications explore law, language revitalization, cultural reclamation, and Truth and Reconciliation.
Each offers readers a meaningful way to engage with Indigenous knowledge systems while deepening understanding of the histories and responsibilities that shape the present day.
What began as a master’s thesis defense became a published novel.
Inspired by storytelling, language and his francophone Métis identity, Dr. Matthew Tétreault, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Arts (Department of Indigenous Studies), brings readers Hold Your Tongue. A novel offering a deeply human exploration of identity, family and community.
Tétreault grew up in Ste. Anne, Manitoba before studying creative writing at the University of Winnipeg followed by a master’s degree in creative writing at the University of Alberta.
Over the years, his thesis evolved through many drafts and reimaginings, eventually becoming his debut novel presenting a layered exploration of Métis history, cultural evolution and the enduring power of language.
The novel follows a young man who returns to Ste. Anne after learning his great-uncle has suffered a stroke. As he travels home, memories surface and family stories unfold. Visions of Métis history intertwine with the present, guiding the young man as he confronts his past and deepens his understanding of his heritage.
Told in an oral storytelling style weaving together French, English and French Michif, Hold Your Tongue reflects the tempos of spoken language and the lived experience of community. The novel explores the complexities of Métis and Francophone identity, the fragility and resilience of language, and the ties that bind families across generations.
Spirited and sincere, Tétreault’s novel asks what it means to belong and shows how stories, memory and culture can guide us home.
“It’s a story of embracing that culture, embracing that heritage, learning about it, and realizing that you could, you can, move away and still maintain your culture. And you can come back as well, you’re not stuck.”
Stemming from his doctoral research on the treaty right to education and shaped by his work with the Grand Council Treaty 3, Dr. Leo Baskatawang’s [PhD/21] Reclaiming Anishinaabe Law emerges from lived experience, years of analysis and community collaboration.
Baskatawang is Anishinaabe from Lac Des Mille Lacs First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory. After earning his PhD in Native Studies at UM in 2021, he now holds the role of Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law at UM.
When an opportunity arose during his doctoral research to support the development of a codified Treaty 3 education law, Baskatawang welcomed the experience, opening doors to education archives and conversations with Elders and youth.
It also allowed him to witness an active Anishinaabe education system grounded in language, land and law. Together, these experiences form the foundation of Reclaiming Anishinaabe Law.
“The book provides a pretty good foundation on the history of colonization, how it’s impacted indigenous peoples, why treaties are important, the promises that were made and what case law has said about treaties and how they should be interpreted.”
The book examines the treaty relationship between the Crown and the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty 3, confronting Canada’s failures in Indigenous education, including the enduring impacts of residential schools.
Blending legal analysis with intergenerational teachings, Baskatawang presents knowledge passed down from one generation in ways that instruct, guide and inspire the next. The work challenges readers to rethink education itself, positioning Indigenous laws not as supplementary, but as central to teaching, learning and justice.
This book points toward Indigenous-led education as a path to self-determination, cultural resurgence and meaningful Reconciliation. At its heart is kinamaadiwin inaakonigewin (Anishinaabe education law), which guides learning, living and relationships to the land.
Lorena Sekwan Fontaine [LLB/00, PhD/18] is Cree and Anishinaabe, and a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. She is a Professor and Department Head of Indigenous Studies at UM.
Growing up, she often heard her language spoken in the background but recalls it was never spoken directly to her. “It was like it was hidden to protect us,” she shared at her book launch at McNally Robinson this past November.
That silence, she believes was rooted in protection.
“If you think about when you’re a child, right from when you’re able to speak that you’re punished for speaking your language, and that continues into your adult life, it becomes so ingrained in you that you feel something bad will happen if you speak that language.”
Many parents and grandparents, carrying the lived experience of residential schools, made difficult choices they believed would shield their children from harm.
“I believe our people were protecting us by not passing on the language because they thought something terrible would happen to us. They were told repeatedly that there was no future in being Aboriginal or speaking our languages,” she says.
Thinking back on the moments that led her to writing, she remembers observing residential school court cases on the rise following the completion of her master’s degree. Around the same time, she attended a conference with her mother, where she heard Survivors being told there was little that could be done regarding claims for loss of language and culture, and that they ultimately did not have language rights. This horrified her.
“I wanted to be able to tell those lawyers and Survivors that they do have language rights in Canada,” she says. “So, I went back to school and began my research.”
Turning to Elders for guidance, Fontaine understood that Indigenous languages are sacred gifts, and with that gift comes responsibility.
Her book, Living Language Rights, examines the history and legal recognition of Indigenous languages in Canada. She shows how languages have endured despite suppression, and why they remain central to culture, identity and nationhood. She argues that education is key to revitalization and explores how Canadian constitutional law protects Indigenous language rights.
Combining her personal experiences and scholarship, Living Language Rights underscores the shared responsibility of governments and communities to preserve and revitalize Indigenous languages. It is a call to recognize language not only as a right, but as a living inheritance that must be carried forward.
These books are windows into ways of knowing and understanding the world that Indigenous Peoples have carried forward over generations, and continue to inform how these scholars teach, research and engage with students and communities at UM today.
The University of Manitoba Libraries offer access to a wide range of works by Indigenous authors, along with services and supports to help you explore them. Discover more Indigenous stories, scholarship and perspectives by visiting the UM Libraries’ webpage.
UM is home to researchers and scholars who respond to emerging issues and lead innovation in our province and around the world. Creating knowledge that matters is one of the strategic themes you’ll find in MomentUM: Leading change together, the University of Manitoba’s 2024–2029 strategic plan.
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