We are pleased to announce a new addition to the team at Graduate Studies – Anik Chartrand, the new Indigenous Initiatives Specialist at Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (G+PS). She started at G+PS in February, coming from the SFU Beedie School of Business where she was the Indigenous Graduate Programs Manager. Anik is also a PhD candidate at Brandeis University and is currently finalizing her research and dissertation on Indigenous Literatures.
Last week we sat down with Anik to get her thoughts about her role and the upcoming year.
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Anik Chartrand, and I am a Red River Métis citizen with the MMF from Treaty 1 Territory. My paternal family hails from St. Laurent, MB, and my maternal side is French-Canadian from La Broquerie, MB. My father’s name is Ken Chartrand, and my paternal grandparents are Harvey “Spy” Chartrand and Isabelle Coutu. My family names are Chartrand, Coutu, Gaudry, and Perreault.
What are you most excited to do in your role at G+PS?
I am most excited to continue and grow an indigenous grad and postdoc community. Not just the students, but including their supervisors, their faculty and Indigenous staff on campus as well. So [graduate students] can know they are greatly supported by so many and their community is really large and appreciative of their work, their knowledge and their ideas, and all in support of getting them to the finish line.
What are your goals for the next six months to a year?
I am initially looking at the Postdoctoral Fellows, and their community initiatives to get a sense of the gaps. I am also looking at graduate students' ecosystem. My goal is to create a sense of welcome for incoming Indigenous grad students, making sure they feel welcomed in the community before they even step foot on Musqueam land. Additionally, I am making sure that all units within G+PS are using Indigenous welcome values, processes and supports. I want to Indigenize all G+PS community-faced thinking - Indigenizing all the processes that we have.
What does Indigenizing mean to you?
Decolonizing is something everyone can do, whether you are Indigenous or not. how you see everything, institutions, reframing how you see the world. Indigenizing is something that only Indigenous people can do. I am trying to Indigenize the processes at GPS so that others in G+PS, and therefore within UBC at large are better supported in doing the work at decolonizing.
As an Indigenous staff member who experienced graduate school as the only Indigenous person in those spaces, I know how often students are expected to carry the burden of Indigenizing the institution. While advocating for your ways of being in academia are important, whether that’s bringing Elders into your committee or ensuring Indigenous Knowledges are respected alongside Western-European knowledges, that responsibility should not fall solely on you. My role is to take on that responsibility to help reduce the pressure, burden, and tokenization students face so that students can focus on their learning, research, and community.
What do you want graduate students at UBC to know?
I would want them to know: your home community, all your circles, want to see you succeed. They want to offer you support. The community is here for you. It is not you versus grad school. We are here to help get you through, help you across the line.
Do you have any book recommendations, seeing as you are doing a PhD in literature?
- Indigenous Book Recommendations: D’Arcy McNickle’s (Metis and Salish Kootenai) Wind from an Enemy Sky and My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (Blackfeet)
- Non-Indigenous Book Recommendations: The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff and The Will of the Many by James Islington
If you are an Indigenous graduate student looking for support, contact Anik or email graduate.indigenous@ubc.ca.