Stephanie Erickson is a doctoral student at the University of Victoria, studying in the English Department and the Cultural, Social, and Political Thought concentration program. Her area of research is Indigenous Futurism Literatures and their social and political significance for understanding and acting upon reconciliation in Canada. This work engages components of land and water stewardship, climate action, Indigenous language revitalization, and gender equity. Erickson’s research is further informed by her personal identity as a young Indigenous woman with mixed Red River Métis and German and Scandinavian settler ancestry. In accordance with Métis traditions, she offers her family names here: Swain, Breland, Grant, and Dauphinais. Born on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Erickson’s family quickly moved to BC where she grew up on the Okanagan Syilx territory. She completed an Associate diploma at Okanagan College before transferring to UBC (Okanagan campus), where she earned her BA in Creative Writing (2019). Erickson’s personal passion for social justice then led her to at McMaster University, where her thesis focused on reproductive futurism in the Gender and Social Justice MA program (2022). Alongside her dissertation research at UVic, Erickson actively contributes to decolonizing pedagogy through multiple research and teaching appointments.
Reading for Reconciliation: Envisioning Futures for Canada through Everyday Reading Practices of Indigenous Futurism Literatures
My doctoral project argues that the genre of Indigenous Futurism can lend itself to contemporary readers in search of meaningful and accessible reconciliation activities. Investigating Indigenous Futurism narratives alongside the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Ten Principles of Reconciliation will determine how these stories support the reconciliation of Canada’s diverse perspectives, histories, and peoples in the search of a strong future for our country. While the temporal scope of this project will stretch to account for historical events where appropriate, the primary focus will consider contemporary publications, beginning with the 2012 anthology of Indigenous Futurism, Walking the Clouds, edited by Grace Dillion (Anishinaabe).
There are three stages to this project. The first is a qualitative analysis of key Indigenous Futurism texts from Canada for their representations of themes of Climate Change, Health, Kinship, and Gender in relation to the TRC’s Ten Principles of Reconciliation. The second stage of this project is to engage with Indigenous Futurism authors on their perspectives on reconciliation relative to the above themes in their works. Some authors I will approach include Richard Van Camp (Tłı̨chǫ Dene), Waubgeshig Rice (Anishinaabe), Drew Hayden Taylor (Ojibway), Chelsea Vowel (Métis), and Joshua Whitehead (Oji-Cree). The final stage is to situate my findings from my qualitative analyses and interviews within contemporary Indigenous theory to write about the role of Indigenous Futurism narratives in progressing reconciliation in Canada. My final dissertation will include numerous appendixes of curriculum materials to support teaching Indigenous Futurism literatures in education settings with the purpose of advancing reconciliation through everyday reading practices.
Relationally responsibly reading: an approach to Indigenous literary criticism amid Métis identity politics in Canada
2025
This research investigates Indigenous literary criticism practices relative to contemporary identity politics in a Canadian context, focusing on Métis (one of three constitutionally recognized Indigenous Peoples in Canada) politics considering recent accusations of identity theft leveled against the Métis Nation of Ontario at the first ever Summit of Indigenous Identity Fraud. This article provides an overview of the situation, followed by a suggested approach to Indigenous literary criticism that accounts for such identity politics, using Cherie Dimaline’s young adult novel, The Marrow Thieves (2017) as an example site for exploration. Considering the context and contention around Métis Nation of Ontario and its membership, this article develops a method of literary criticism that accounts for Indigenous identity politics and calls for responsibility and relationality in all readerships. This approach to literary criticism is called relationally responsible reading.
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Relational Visioning: Re-considering Approaches and Alternatives to ‘Reconciliation’ in Canada
2025
This paper explores various rhetorical approaches to the contemporary dialogue around reconciliation in Canada. Through a critical review of different forms of reconciliation, the author critiques these forms for their various advantages and disadvantages in efforts towards reconciliation. On the other side of these critiques, this paper gathers the reasoning and intention behind reconciliation to argue for new terminology that better expresses these sentiments. Drawing on her Indigenous language, Michif, and its culture to support this work, the author describes the concept of relational visioning as an approach to reconciliation in contemporary Canadian context.
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Reading Our Relations in the Past and the Future: A Métis Approach to Reading Wahkohtowin in katherena vermette’s A Girl Called Echo (2017-2021)
2025
This paper explores Métis author, katherena vermette’s graphic novel collection, A Girl Called Echo (2017-2021) for the ways in which it presents Wahkohtowin-centered storytelling. Engaging with genre conventions of post-apocalyptic narratives, and Métis theory of Wahkohtowin and Indigenous resurgence, this reading of vermette’s text draws connections between historical fiction and futurity. This close reading examines Echo’s journey to connect with her ancestors, grow in her relations with her present-day relations, and consider her roles as a descendant and an ancestor to the future. Through an exploration of these relationships, this paper argues for a Wahkohtowin-centered reading of Métis literatures.
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Research Responsibility Agreement: a tool to support ethical research
2023
When engaging in community-based research, it is important to consider ethical research practices throughout the project. While current research practices require many investigators to obtain approval from an ethics review board before starting a project, more is required to ensure that ethical principles are applied once the investigations begin and after the investigations are complete. In response to this concern, as expressed by workers at a feminist non-profit during a community placement, we developed a tool to foster both greater ethical and feminist research practice in community-based research. Using feminist theories, methodologies, and concepts such as epistemic justice, epistemic trust, and coauthorship, a tool was developed to support researchers and other collaborators in building relationships of reciprocity. This tool, called the Research Responsibility Agreement (RRA) invites all members of a research project to explicitly reflect on their role in the research, their relationships with other collaborators, their responsibility to contributing meaningfully in the project, and their plans to remain accountable to one another. In doing so, the RRA adds to existing tools that support ethical research by sharing explicit reflections from all collaborators on how to prevent harm and by asking them to reflect on ethical practices beyond the initial stages of the project. The RRA also encourages greater engagement from researchers and collaborators toward building meaningful relationships with each other, and with participants, to work together in advancing social change. As a practical tool that promotes reflection, that builds relationships, and that holds all parties accountable to ethical and feminist research practices, the RRA has the potential to generate impactful change in community-based research projects and beyond. While the RRA is tailored to community-based research, it can be applied widely to any research project and has the potential to revolutionize how research relationships are built across disciplines.
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HUMS Həuistəŋ Award
2025
The Həuistəŋ Award recognizes members of the Faculty of Humanities who have made outstanding contributions towards the UVic Indigenous Plan.
Canada Graduate Research Scholarship—Doctoral program
2024
The Canada Graduate Research Scholarship—Doctoral program recognizes and supports the next generation of outstanding innovators, knowledge workers, creative thinkers and researchers. By providing support for a high-quality research training experience to awardees, the program strives to foster impacts within and beyond the research environment.
BC NEIHR Doctoral Scholarship
2024
The objective of the BC NEIHR Doctoral Scholarship program is to help develop research
skills and assist in the training of Indigenous (First Nations, Métis or Inuit) Doctoral
students in British Columbia (BC) institutions, who demonstrate achievement in early
graduate studies and partnership potential with Indigenous communities, collectives and
organizations.
University of Victoria Dean’s Award for Indigenous Graduate Students
2024
Recognizing scholarly excellence among Indigenous graduate students at UVic.
Pawaatamihk: Journal of Métis Thinkers, Circle of Editors
2025 - ongoing
As a member of Pawaatamihk's editorial team, Erickson contributes to the journal's policies, practices, and publications.
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