The co-holders

Mathieu Cook has been a professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) since 2014. He is a graduate of Laval University in Quebec City, where he completed a Bachelor's egree in Anthropology in 2001, earned a Master's degree in Social Work in 2004 and a PhD in Anthropology in 2016. He is particularly interested in discourse analysis, intercultural relations and the decolonization of relations between non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples in Quebec and Latin America.

Co-holder of the UNESCO Chair regarding cultural transmission among First Peoples, he is also part of a team of co-researchers brought together by professor-researcher Christine Couture to carry out her study on practices of cultural safeguard that support the academic perseverance and educational success of Indigenous students.

In fact, Mathieu Cook is particularly concerned about youth education. From 2004 to 2008, he was involved in the Conseil régional de prévention de l'abandon scolaire (CRÉPAS), in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region (Quebec, Canada). He developed an expertise that applies to his research projects and communications. For a detailed list of his scientific contributions, see: http://www.uqac.ca/portfolio/mathieucook/. His experience as advisor or co-advisor of master's theses (many of which involved Indigenous students) is a major asset in achieving one of the Chair's objectives: emergence and development of new talent in Indigenous research.

Mathieu Cook has a strong commitment to the First Peoples of the Americas. In Guatemala, he became involved with the victims of the civil war, most of whom are of Mayan ancestry. In Quebec, he was involved in the field of continuing education in the community of Mashteuiatsh, in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region. He also contributed to academic works and published texts in specialty journals such as Recherches amérindiennes au Québec and Anthropologica. He was a presenter at various scientific conferences, such as the Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS) and the Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA). He is also a member of the Groupe de recherche et d'intervention régionales (GRIR) at UQAC.

Committed to dialogue and intercultural exchanges, Mathieu Cook has developed a know-how in the critical analysis of discourse. Through this approach, he studies the potential for misunderstanding and friction between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. His doctoral thesis studied the social controversy regarding the recognition of Innu territorial rights; a controversy that was declared in the early 2000s in the wake of a proposed treaty between Innu communities and two levels of government. He is currently interested in social practices developed at the community level to promote better mutual understanding and recognition.

In his collaborative projects with organizations and nations of Indigenous peoples, whilst taking into account local identities and dynamics, Mathieu Cook relies on territorial roots, local resources, collective action and innovative initiatives for the implementation of sustainable solutions to situations encountered. His research, fieldwork and teaching are guided by a desire to facilitate living together, to decolonize relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and to make a positive contribution to the reconciliation movement. That said, he does not consider himself an expert on the issue, preferring instead an approach that combines makeshift methodological, collective intuition and civic engagement.

Artist, designer, author and professor, Élisabeth Kaine, of Huron-Wendat origin, is a pioneer in the field of cultural transmission among First Peoples of Quebec. Her innovative participatory and collaborative approach focuses on the driving forces of communities and their ability to take action for their own developmental. Her personal qualities as a leader have been consistently recognized and have earned her the trust and respect of many Indigenous partners.

Professor-researcher in design and cultural transmission within the Department of Arts and Literature at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) since 1989, Élisabeth Kaine was selected for the Cercle d'excellence de l'Université du Québec in 2015 for her exceptional achievements. Supported by a research-action-creation methodology and a participatory approach in Indigenous design, she developed a unique pedagogical expertise that favours the integration of traditional know-how to contemporary reality, while paving the way for the modernization of practices.

As principle researcher, she founded the project Design et culture matérielle (DCM) in 1991; affiliated to UQAC and dedicated to cultural transmission to foster self-determination and self-representation of First Peoples through the creation of art. In 1999, she co-founded La Boîte Rouge VIF (La BRV), an Indigenous non-profit cultural organization affiliated to UQAC. La BRV has the mandate to facilitate the transmission and development of community cultural heritage through a collaborative approach of co-creation.

From 2001 to 2014, Élisabeth Kaine directed two projects for Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) entitled Design et culture matérielle : développement communautaire et cultures autochtones. Since 2008, her work has taken her to Brazil as part of an international cooperation agreement regarding art and cultural mediation in an Indigenous context with institutional partners (the Museum of the Indian in Rio de Janeiro, the Department of Anthropology of the University of São Paulo, the Council of Indigenous Work) and southern Guarani communities of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

In 2009, the Musée de la civilisation, in Quebec City, invited La Boîte Rouge VIF to participate in the development of its future permanent exhibition It's Our Story: First Nations and Inuit in the 21st Century, inaugurated on November 26, 2013. Using methodologies developed while working with Indigenous participants in the DCM project, Elisabeth Kaine led a significant consultation process over a two-year period to which over 800 members of Quebec's Indigenous and Inuit communities contributed. This exhibition was the recipient of the 2014 Governor General's History Award for Excellence in Museums: History Alive!. Acknowledging the maturity, inclusiveness and thoughtfulness of the museal representation, the jury described the collaborative approach as “revolutionary”.

As an author, Élisabeth Kaine published four major works: she produced Métissage, published by Publications du Québec in 2003 and, with Élise Dubuc, Passages migratoires: valoriser et transmettre les cultures autochtones. Design et culture matérielle, published in 2008 by Presses de l'Université Laval. In 2016, with the same publisher, she co-authored with Denis Bellemare, Olivier Bergeron-Martel and Pierre De Coninck Le petit guide de la grande concertation : création et transmission culturelle par et avec les communautés. She also edited the book Voix, Visages, Paysages : les Premiers Peuples et le XXIe siècle, with Jean Tanguay and Jacques Kurtness.

Élisabeth Kaine received grants from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Department of Canadian Heritage for accomplishing several creative projects. She is a member of the scientific committee Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and is a scientific expert for the Fonds de recherche du Québec.