Vanier scholar creates virtual space

July 15, 2024

By Anne MacLaurin

As trusted truth tellers, mediators and healers, 2SLGBTQIA+ Métis people were once celebrated and respected by their communities. The years of missionaries, Indian Agents and residential schools imposed a Christian set of beliefs on Métis communities. Those beliefs criminalized  homosexuality and transgender presentation. The result, says Lydia Toorenburgh, a two-spirit Cree-Métis person, has been a loss of culture, isolation and feelings of disconnection from the Metis community.

“My research will challenge the internalized queer and transphobia in the Métis community,” says Toorenburgh, “by highlighting the traditional roles that 2SLGBTQIA+ Métis people once held in society.”

Receiving a Vanier scholarship supports Toorenburgh’s research focus on Métis 2SLGBTQIA+ resurgence and building a virtual museum of teachings and stories with audio-visual methodologies. According to research, “many 2SLGBTQIA+ Métis people struggle with a lack of stories, role models, and an understanding of their place within community and therefore often feel othered and like outsiders.” (Hobbs 2023)

Toorenburgh says two-spirit and Indigiqueer peoples’ wellness is improved through the resurgence and reclamation of Indigenous gender roles and identities as well as community building.

“I want to create a virtual museum that connects people through sound, art, visual elements and stories about 2SLGBTQIA+ Métis culture, language and teachings so we can learn from each other,” says Toorenburgh.

Through community building, Toorenburgh aims to rebuild these traditional gender and sexuality roles, teachings, in an accessible and multi-sensory manner.

“I want to create a sense of community in a digital space,” adds Toorenburgh.

Over the next couple of years, Toorenburgh's research will explore:  What are our unique gifts as 2SLGBTQIA+ Métis people? How are we thriving and resilient?  What messages do we have for other 2SLGBTQIA+ Métis people? What do we need from our broader Métis community in order to create a safer and more accepting Nation?

The Government of Canada announced 166 recipients of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships and 70 recipients of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships on May 29, 2024.

These federal scholarship programs aim to develop world-class research capacity by attracting top-tier postdoctoral research with competitive international funding. Vanier scholarships are valued at $50,000 per year for three years during doctoral studies.

This announcement supports UVic’s aspirations in creating and investing in an environment of excellence for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and early career researchers to further their research goals, and to build the capacity for the next generation of impactful researchers.