In 2022, Leason, associate professor in the Faculty of Arts, was hosting a gathering for Indigenous maternity storytelling at the Kananaskis Centre Barrier Lake Field Station. As Leason and her team were preparing for the day — ceremony, digital story recordings, a sharing circle — Kananaskis Centre field research manager Adrienne Cunnings opened a door.
Cunnings took Leason on a tour of the station’s Forestry Building, originally built in the 1960s and now rarely used and in need of repair. The two agreed that the building had untapped potential, and that Leason was the person to lead the project of bringing life back to its walls.
“As soon as I saw the space, I said, ‘this is perfect,’” recounts Leason. As she hosted more gatherings at the field station, a vision for a new Indigenous research facility took shape.
The space will be purpose-built to integrate Indigenous language, cultural ceremony, land, place, and connect to research and research methodologies.
Leason’s vision for the facility is that it will transform the research culture at the University of Calgary, and how Indigenous research is applied in the real world and train a new generation of researchers…