We are pleased to announce that Robin R. R. Gray successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her dissertation, titled 鈥淭s鈥檓syen Revolution: The Poetics and Politics of Reclaiming,鈥� investigates the motivations, possibilities and obstacles associated with Ts鈥檓syen reclamation.
Robin explored the legal and ethical dimensions associated with reclaiming Ts鈥檓syen songs from archives, as well as embodied heritage reclamation by a dance group.
Robin is Ts鈥檓syen from Lax Kw鈥檃laams and she belongs to Waap Liyaa鈥檓laxha, a Gisbutwada House in the Gitaxangiik Tribe. She wears the Ts鈥檓syen name T鈥檜u鈥檛k, which, in its long form, roughly translates to 鈥淎lways Prominent Voice of Raven.鈥� On her father鈥檚 side, Robin is Mikisew Cree from Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. Through the lens of song and dance, her work provides critical Ts鈥檓syen standpoints on the topics of Indigenous in/visibility, Indigenous conceptions of property and ownership, Indigenous research methodologies, settler colonialism and decolonization.
Robin鈥檚 Ph.D. co-chairs were IPinCH team members Jane Anderson and Sonya Atalay. The committee was so impressed with Robin鈥檚 work that she passed the exam with the special honors of 鈥渨ith distinction.鈥�
Robin became an IPinCH Fellow in January 2013. She has served as the Student Representative on the IPinCH Steering Committee from January 2013 to the present. Robin has contributed to our and our blog ( and ).
In 2014, Robin co-organized (with Joe Watkins) an . Later that year, she spearheaded and organized a at the IPinCH Fall Gathering.
Robin was recently awarded a 2015-2016 University of California President's
Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California Santa Cruz. Her Fellowship project will focus on Researching, Representing and Repatriating Ts鈥檓syen Cultural Heritage.
Congratulations Robin!