New Métis Education Doctorate Program Launched at the University of Regina

The University of Regina and the Gabriel Dumont Institute are proud to announce a new doctorate program for Métis education designed to mold new prospects for Saskatchewan’s Métis community. This is a critical landmark step in the ongoing partnership between the two institutions.

Our grandparents and great-grandparents never had the chance to go to school. We, as a collective, have worked tirelessly with our partners since 1980, providing education and teacher training for 44 years, so that we could also build upon those efforts with the new doctorate program, answering to differing needs and aspirations of our Métis community.” said Métis Knowledge Keeper Mike Relland.

The idea for the doctoral program began with conversations with students asking for further educational opportunities. “The students questioned if we would ever offer a doctorate. I was hesitant at first. It wasn’t even on our radar 40 years ago. But now, here we are,” said Relland as she spoke of the excitement and transformation in Métis education over the decades.

The three-year doctorate program will entail Métis local knowledge, history, spirituality and culture, and roots, ensuring that the work is very community-based in nature. Classes will be conducted in Prince Albert under the University of Regina’s Faculty of Education.

Joanne Tremblay has been a doctoral student in Indigenous education and believes that sharing of both the cultural and lived experience of people will help in the program. “We’ve exchanged many cultural and traditional insights, and through this, we’ve recognized both the negative and positive aspects of our journeys. But we choose to move forward,” Tremblay said in respect to how resilient the Métis community has been.

The partnership between the University of Regina and the Gabriel Dumont Institute is apt to develop opportunities for Métis success at both an academic and personal level, thus shaping a brighter future for all. This not only places education on firmer ground but also shows a greater commitment toward making expression toward culture at Saskatchewan’s academic site more inclusive and of greater integrity.

This program, as it will be applied, will really facilitate Métis students and strengthen provincial and educational fabric.