Scholarly Interests

Pheasant-Neganigwane Western knowledge is from Laurentian University, Sudbury, On. https://laurentian.ca/alumni/our-stories/karen-pheasant-neganigwane. Her graduate studies are from the University of Alberta, MEd (2013) and in finalization of a Doctorate (PhD) degree in Policy Studies in Education. Karen is Anishinaabe of the Three Fires Confederacy (Ojibway, Odawa, and Pottawatomi), of the Great Lakes Tribal region. She is a Wikwemikong First Nations member of Manitoulin Island https://www.wiikwemkoong.ca/history/. Her Learned Life Experiences (LLE) and Western education are rooted from the land of which she thrives on. Aside from the Great Lakes (Toronto), she has lived, and places value on the earned knowledge on being within Treaty Three: Lake of the Woods; Treaty Six: Edmonton and Treaty Seven: Calgary/Banff/Lethbridge – all of which contribute to her expressions, be it academically, culturally, and/or artistically.

Teaching Statement

She honors her Indigenous dance background to providing a foundational influence on all elements her teaching, as an author, artist and an academic. Included with her aesthetic expression, is her award-winning book – Powwow: A Celebration Through Song and Dance (2021). Karen considers herself a Narrative Essayist but also has published academic articles. As well, she is the eldest daughter of three, to Indian Residential School Survivors (IRS). Both her parents evolved from being IRS survivors, to beings of ‘Survivance’ (Vizenor, G. 2008). As well, both her maternal and paternal grandparents are from Wikwemikong Unceded First Nations reserve. As a teacher, she teaches from a liberational and social justice lens. As well, her research, both within her dissertation and scholarly writing, then as a relative, she strives to honour traditional kinship obligations and bonds (Deloria, E.C. Waterlilly, 1988) all of which are intrinsically valuable to her.

Relevant publication and/or presentation

Pheasant-Neganigwane, K. (2024). Soulfully in Movement on the Land, as a Shiibaashka'igan Expressionist: Embodied Knowing and Anishinaabe Dance. In Indigenous Land-Based Knowledge and Sustainability (pp. 41-50). Routledge.

Pheasant-Neganigwane, K. (2024). Dance of a Transformative Shiibaashka’igan Pedagogy within the Academy. Decolonization in Practice: Reflective Learning from Cross-Cultural Perspectives, 11-28.

Pheasant-Neganigwane, K. J. (2021). From Cabbagetown Cones to Shiibaashka'igan Cones. In Bolduc, D., Gordon-Corbiere, M., Tabobondung, R., & Wright-McLeod, B. (Eds.). (2021). Indigenous Toronto: Stories that carry this place. Coach House Books.

Pheasant-Neganigwane, K. (2020). Powwow: A celebration through song and dance (Vol. 7). Orca Book Publishers.

Pheasant-Neganigwane, K. J. (2018). Dance for Change: Seeking Tribal Citizenship and Identity. In Global Citizenship, Common Wealth and Uncommon Citizenships (pp. 140-157). Brill.

Professional Website: https://www.kjpheasant.ca