D'Arcy Vermette

Area of Study / Keywords

Anti-Indigenous racism in academic hiring and research funding

About

Citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta. 

Education:

• LL.D., (University of Ottawa) 2012
• LL.M., (Queen's University) 2004
• LL.B., (University of Toronto) 2003
• B.A (Hons.) 2000
  • Major in Native Studies

Prior positions held with very brief highlights:

St. Thomas University, Native Studies Programme

• Director.  Set teaching schedules, hired and assessed lecturers, created an Honours program, successfully applied for departmental status.
• Earned tenure and promotion

University of Alberta, Faculty of Law

• Assistant Professor
  • Teaching: Constitutional law, Select topics in Indigenous law, supervised Masters student researchers.
  • Moot court coach
  • Indigenous student mentor
  • Major SSHRC award recipient (team project)
  • Supervised student researchers

University of Alberta, Faculty of Native Studies

• Assistant and Associate Professor
  • Earned tenure and promotion
  • Teaching: historical and contemporary introductory courses, topics on law, Metis history, cultural survival, liberation.
  • Regular service as adjudicator of student award applications.
  • Supervised student researchers and teaching assistants
• Associate Dean, Research
  • Director of Graduate Studies Program
  • Established academic appeals process for students
  • Assessed applications and funding awards. Issued letters of acceptance and rejection.
  • Managed student/supervisor conflicts

Research

Developing research areas:

• Anti-Indigenous racism in academic hiring. 
• Awarding the symbolic in Indigenous research funding.
• Academics' hubris and the gatekeeping of Indigenous "identity".

My previous publications were primarily focused on law and Métis history.

• “Colonial Ideologies: The Denial of Métis Political Identity in Canadian Law” in Yvonne Boyer and Larry Chartrand eds., Bead by Bead: Constitutional Rights and Métis Community (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2021) 131-155
• “Racism, Canadian Jurisprudence, and the De-Peopling of the Métis in Daniels” in Nathalie Kermoal and Chris Andersen eds., Daniels v. Canada: In and Beyond the Courts (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2021) 116-147
• "Rejecting the Standard Discourse on Métis Lands in Manitoba", (2017) Vol 6, No 2 aboriginal policy studies, 87-119. Online: http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/aps/article/view/28227
• “Dizzying Dialogue: Canadian Courts and the Continuing Justification of the Dispossession of Aboriginal Peoples”, (2011) 29:1 Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, 243-260
• “Colonialism and the Suppression of Aboriginal Voice”, (2009) 40.2 Ottawa Law Review 225-264
• "Colonialism and the Process of Defining Aboriginal People”, (2008) 31 Dalhousie Law Journal, 211-246
• “Inclusion is Killing Us” – Teaching Perspectives Magazine, Issue 17, Fall 2012.
  • Reprinted in Bridges, University of Saskatchewan, Glen Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness, Vol. 11, no. 3, 16-18

Teaching

Upcoming courses:

Fall, 2026 -  NS110 "Historical Perspectives in Native Studies" (restricted section) and NS280 "Principles of Cultural Survival".

Winter, 2027 - NS111 "Contemporary Perspectives in Native Studies" (restricted section) and NS280 "Principles of Cultural Survival".

Note: I am on a gradual return-to-work after a long leave due to a work-injury. As I am still navigating that work-injury, I will have to manage my time and duties carefully.

NS 110 - Historical Perspectives in Indigenous Studies

A thematic introduction to the historical relationships, colonial contexts, and social, economic, political and cultural patterns that have shaped the contemporary situation of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Not open to students with credit in NS 210. Sections offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar.

NS 111 - Contemporary Perspectives in Indigenous Studies

An introductory survey of current issues affecting Indigenous peoples in Canada and their efforts to confront their colonial relationships with and within Canadian society. Not open to students with credit in NS 211. Sections offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar.

NS 280 - Selected Topics in Indigenous Studies

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