Strong Indigenous scholarship is what originally drew Krystene Green to McMaster for graduate studies. And now she’s adding to that scholarship herself through award-winning research and international connections.
Green, who is Haudenosaunee, Onondaga Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River, completed a master’s in criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University, and a certificate in forensic identification at Humber College before coming to McMaster. She’s now working on her PhD in sociology, under the supervision of associate professor Vanessa Watts.
Mac has offered plenty of opportunities to grow, Green said: From teaching assistantships, being a research assistant, joining the student caucus social committee, and finding a great support system in McMaster’s Indigenous Grad Students (MIGS).
“Everyone’s been really welcoming, and there’s been strong mentorship, which is something I was looking for,” Green said. “That’s really helped me to grow my research skills, my research interests in general.”
Her research examines social issues through Indigenous frameworks and perspectives, looking at complex social challenges facing Indigenous communities.
Last year, she participated in the annual Indigenous Research Day, led by the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute (MIRI).
In the days leading up to last year’s Research Day, MIRI ran workshops for the presenters, to work out their “fears and jitters” and get a sense of what they could expect from the day. “It was very helpful,” she said.
She presented work from her master’s degree, titled “Protecting not protesting: Indigenous people’s experience, perceptions, and motivations of land defending in Canada.”
For that research, she had conversations with Indigenous people who had knowledge or had been involved in activism that was based on land defence efforts.
She found that those involved framed their own actions as coming from a place of protecting the land, their communities and their responsibilities, but externally, they were often represented negatively and framed as resisting the state.
“Stuff like that can really erase those motivations and can also contribute to the dehumanization that comes from that, especially stories on social media,” Green said. “It was really important for me to work with the individuals that had volunteered their time to share their stories and experiences with me,” she said.
She hopes that her work can help amplify Indigenous voices and change the narrative, to make that distinction between protecting and protesting.
It was her first experience being in a space that was Indigenous-centred. “It was a very powerful experience for me.”
The experience at MIRI’s Indigenous Research Day was so positive, it gave her the confidence to apply to the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) international conference. She was accepted and presented her work in June in Oklahoma City.
“That was really amazing,” Green said. “I met people from New Zealand, from Hawaii, that were doing land-based research as well. Hearing feedback from peers was really amazing, and to hear other people’s different perspectives… it just helps the imposter syndrome. It was really great to go down there.”
Highlighting Indigenous voices in knowledge construction
Green’s PhD research is building off conversations that she had during her master’s, specifically around gender, women’s roles, and women’s experiences in land defence.
That includes what land defence looks like away from the front lines, and the actions people take in their daily lives for it.
In June, Green presented on land claims, land defence, Indigenous rights and social injustice at the Canadian Sociological Association’s (CSA) annual conference. Her work, titled “Justifying Force: How police neutralized accountability in the Ipperwash Crisis,” comes as this year marks the 30th anniversary of the crisis.
Green said she was grateful for the guidance and opportunity to do this research, which was developed in a historical methods course with professor Vic Satzewich. Through that course, she was able to build her interests with archival research, and used materials from the Ontario Archives Website to investigate the 1995 Ipperwash Crisis land dispute between Stony Point First Nation and the government that resulted in the fatal shooting of Dudley George by an OPP officer.
Using evidence presented to Justice Sidney B. Linden in the Ontario Provincial Police Association’s Final Report, she conducted research on “the ways in which the OPPA utilized neutralization techniques about the actions leading up to, during and after the fatal incident,” Green said.
Though all of this data is publicly available, “not everyone knows about these things,” she said.
Green hopes that her work can challenge harmful narratives, and highlight Indigenous voices and experiences as valid in constructing knowledge. (Photo by Georgia Kirkos)
Presenting the work to the CSA was very rewarding and helped her to connect with other like-minded individuals and amazing scholars.
In November, Green received an award from the CSA for her presentation, for Committing Sociology in recognition of Indigenous-led research. She said receiving the award was an incredible honour, and deeply meaningful.
“It honours not only the research but highlights and makes space for conversation about Indigenous land-based issues and sovereignty, and the importance of Indigenous-led work. I hope this kind of research confronts the ongoing Indigenous injustices that the communities have faced historically and continue to face today.”
She hopes that her work can challenge harmful narratives, and highlight Indigenous voices and experiences as valid in constructing knowledge, particularly on the topics of land defence and the criminal justice system.
“Ideally, I would like [my work] to have an impact on both academic understanding, support and advocacy, and also creating space for Indigenous perspectives to be heard.”