Dr. Adrianne Lickers Xavier, Director of the Indigenous Studies Program – McMaster University

Dr. Adrianne Lickers Xavier: is the acting Director of the Indigenous Studies Program at McMaster University, where she has joined Indigenous Studies and Anthropology. She completed her undergraduate degree in Anthropology at McMaster and earned both her MA and doctorate from the Royal Roads University. Dr. Xavier’s doctoral work focused on Indigenous food systems. She teaches in the areas of Contemporary Indigenous Issues, Indigenous Food Security and Food Systems, Indigenous Food Sovereignty, Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Methodologies. 

Dr. Xavier’s research interests include Indigenous food security(and sovereignty), Indigenous land connections and rematriation, Indigenous food ways, and Indigenous ways of knowing. In 2020, she was awarded the new McMaster Indigenous Research Institute “Indigenous In-Community Scholar Fellowship.” The project works within Dr. Xavier’s community of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory to grow the understanding and capacity around food security and sovereignty. Most recently, she was awarded the Petro Canada McMaster Young Innovator Award for 2021-22. Her work with that award includes undergraduates in Indigenous research focusing on building community.

PRESENTATION:

Indigenous relationships to land, food, and health: A Haudenosaunee perspective

Adrianne will discuss her work to promote indigenous food ways and health here in Ontario and how it relates across Canada. This discussion will open the door to how Indigenous culture and foodways may relate and apply to challenges with food waste and avoiding exploitation of resources.