Books to Build On: Indigenous Literatures for Learning

Dr. Aubrey Jean Hanson

Dr. Aubrey Jean Hanson (she/her/hers) is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, descended from and an Associate Professor in Education at the University of Calgary. Her research spans Indigenous literary studies, curriculum studies, and Indigenous education. She has been an avid reader of Indigenous literatures since her teen years and believes in the power of story to foster relationships between readers and Indigenous cultural resurgence. She is the author of Literatures, Communities, and Learning: Conversations with Indigenous Writers, published with Wilfrid Laurier University Press in spring 2020. With Dr. Erin Spring, she is the co-lead on the Books to Build On project.

Dr. Erin Spring

Dr. Erin Spring (she/her/hers) is a scholar and educator of British descent now living and working with/in Treaty 7. She is an Associate Professor of Language and Literacy at the Werklund School and currently serves as the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs of Education. She is also a mother to three busy children: Hawksley, Wren, and Marigold. Erin grew up on Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe Territories and lived in many different places before moving to Moh’kins’tsis (the Blackfoot name for Calgary). She has been honoured to collaborate with and learn from Blackfoot and Cree communities in Alberta and Manitoba over the past ten years. Erin and Aubrey were co-leads on the Innovative Initiatives in First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education within Undergraduate Teacher Education project. Together they led the team through reviewing the B.Ed curriculum, gathering Indigenous texts, and generating the Books to Build On web resource. 

Anja Dressler Araujo

Anja Dressler Araujo is a Settler born in Manitoba, who grew up on Vancouver Island and has resided in Mohkinstsis, Calgary, on Treaty 7 land ever since. Her ancestors immigrated from Europe. She holds degrees in both Arts and Education from the University of Calgary. Anja has fulfilled many roles as part of the Books to Build On Team since her joining in 2018 and currently is Project Manager.  She is part of the Content Development Team, Workshop Team, Scholarly Community Engagement Team, and Project Administration and Management Team. She enjoys setting plans in motion for the project, finding new inspiring Indigenous children’s books to add to the site and share with her children, and writing and guiding other teachers in their creation of Seeds for Learning using Indigenous literatures. Anja is a practicing elementary school teacher in the Calgary area and she actively brings Indigenous literatures into her own classroom and enjoys supporting teachers around her to do the same. 

Jadyn Fischer-McNab

Jadyn Fischer-McNab is a Cree artist who was born and raised in Mohkinstsis (Calgary), Alberta, on Treaty 7 territory. Jadyn studied at the University of Calgary, where she received bachelor degrees in kinesiology and education in 2015 and 2018 respectively. Jadyn has worked as a full-time junior high school teacher since 2018. Jadyn began her work at Books to Build on by originally creating lesson plans for the project in 2020 and then moving into a casual role in 2021 as a member of the Content Development and Educational Community Engagement Teams. Alongside her passion of connecting with story, Jadyn has illustrated the published children's title "Brave Like the Buffalo". She also owns and operates a small stationery business, artbyJFM, with products available online as well in a variety of stores across Alberta. Jadyn belongs to George Gordon First Nation (Treaty Four) and is an intergenerational Residential School survivor. She is passionate about breaking down barriers and educating others by incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing and being into her art, her teaching, and her life. 

Rachel Stubbs

Rachel Stubbs is an English PhD candidate at the University of Calgary and is of Indigenous and settler descent. Rachel received her undergraduate degree in English and History at MacEwan University in Edmonton and her Master’s degree in English at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Rachel is a Research Assistant with Books to Build On Project, researches, presents, and leads workshops. This project coincides well with her own research, which focuses on depictions of Indigenous girlhood in literatures of Western Canada written by settler and Indigenous women from 1890-1939. Rachel enjoys spending her down time hiking, fishing, camping, and hunting with her two dogs, Widgeon and Cricket.

Kari Dressler

Kari Dressler (she/her/hers) is a Settler who grew up on Vancouver Island, resided in Calgary for her school years, and now lives in Victoria, BC. She holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law, earning a UNITAR-CIFAL Certificate in Sustainable Development Law and becoming a qualified member of the Climate Law Capacity Registry. She also holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction from the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, majoring in International Business Strategy and earning a Global Collaboration Certificate from the X-Culture Program. As the Finance Manager, Kari develops and implements financial tracking and reporting procedures. Kari previously acted as Information Manager, creating a process for tracking project objectives, resources, and applicable metadata.  

Tracy Dinh

Tracy Dinh (she/her/hers) is a dedicated undergraduate student at the Werklund School of Education, pursuing a Bachelor of Education with a specialization in Elementary English Language Arts. She serves as the President of the Education Students’ Association (2025-2026) at the University of Calgary and is the Co-President of the Child Advocacy Club, where she leads the Department of Outreach and Research. Tracy is a research collaborator alongside Dr. Astrid Kendrick, focusing on digital networks and preventative tools to support teacher well-being. Her passion for inclusive and meaningful education led her to Books to Build On, where she seeks to expand her own knowledge and resources in Indigenous Education while empowering other pre-service and in-service teachers to do the same. As a member of the Workshop and Educational Community Engagement Team, Tracy is committed to raising awareness about this invaluable resource. She strives to contribute to the growth of authentic, relevant, and impactful texts and lesson plans—ensuring educators have access to the tools they need to meet the diverse needs of their classrooms.

Jasmine Rice

Jasmine Rice (she/her) is a PhD student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) studying Languages and Literacies. Her research focuses on the relationship between cultural identity and Indigenous language learning, inspired by her own experiences learning her ancestral language, Kanien’kéha (Mohawk). In addition to her new role on the team at Books to Build On, Jasmine extends her passion for Indigenizing education with OISE’s Indigenous Literatures Lab, the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres, and Finding Our Power Together, an organization dedicated to improving youth Indigenous mental health. Jasmine’s favourite Indigenous-authored text is Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley.

Finley Rogers

Finley Rogers (she/her, they/them) is a beginning MA student and Full-Time, Junior High Late French Immersion Math and Science teacher in Moh’kinst’sis (Calgary). Finley is reconnecting to her Mi'kmaq and Passamaquoddy roots while working, living and playing as a guest in Treaty 7 territory. Finley is passionate about decolonizing the Science and Math classroom, and incorporating Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Learning when possible. Finley is excited to join the Books to Build On team as a Research Assistant and eager to learn the ropes. When Finley has spare time, she likes to read, get out in nature and go for sunset drives. 

Leila Kazeminejad

Leila Kazeminejad (she/her/hers) is an English graduate student in the Literatures of Modernity program at Toronto Metropolitan University. She holds an Honours BA in English and a minor in Philosophy from Toronto Metropolitan University. As a student intern, Leila collects Indigenous literature and resources that provide additional information for the education system. Motivating her work, Leila believes in academic accessibility and approachability through literature; her research is focused on the study of food memoir and stories from food as a site of cultural education and preservation. It is Leila’s personal outlook that everything, such as food, has a story, and those stories provide a tangible tie to accessing the narratives of othered-groups in society. Ultimately, Leila strives to highlight more Indigenous texts within the Books to Build database for stronger diversity in Canada’s education system.

Maureen Plante

Maureen Plante (she/her/hers) is an Iroquois Cree/Métis woman who was born and raised in north of Edmonton. She is currently a second year MSc. student in counselling psychology at the University of Calgary. Her research interests are focused on Indigenous mental health, decolonization, Indigenous pedagogy, and anti-racism in the classroom. Maureen completed her B.A. (honours) in psychology at MacEwan University in Edmonton. She is a Research Assistant on the Books to Build On project where she helps expand the project to add knowledge, and resources as well as editing existing information in the website. She enjoys going to the gym, hiking, and walking her with her dog, Daisy. 

Mithushana Manokaran

Mithushana Manokaran (she/her/hers) is an English graduate student enrolled in the MA Literatures of Modernity program at Toronto Metropolitan University. She holds an Honours BA with Distinction in English and a minor in Sociology from Toronto Metropolitan University. Mithushana will be a student intern working on this project by finding gaps in existing curriculums. She will also collect materials that help fill gaps in the education system by adding Indigenous texts, and resources to the database which will assist both students and educators. Mithushana is deeply interested in higher education and curriculum development. She hopes to integrate her expertise and research interests to add to this database. Mithushana has a strong belief in literature as a site of knowledge production and its ability to represent valuable narratives of identity groups who are silenced in society. This is what inspires Mithushana in her personal research and work toward improving education systems in Canada through reading, writing and literature.

Dustin Walter & Shelly Eli

Okii,  My English name is Dustin Walter. My Blackfoot name is Mistukii Ksistukii (Mountain Beaver). I am Ampskapii Pikunii (South Peigan), located in Montana USA and is one of the four tribes from the Blackfoot Confederacy. I have a B.Sc. in Nursing and Master’s in Educational Research from the University of Calgary. I am currently a Doctoral student in Community Health Sciences, specializing in Population/Public Health at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. I was a cultural competency consultant on the Innovative Initiatives in First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education within Undergraduate Teacher Education project.

Shelly Eli is a Blackfoot from the Piikani Nation (north Peigan) in Southern Alberta. I am a second year Doctoral Student in Educational Research – Language and Literacy at Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary. I worked as an Indigenous cultural knowledge holder for the Innovative Initiatives in First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education within Undergraduate Teacher Education project.

Kayshja Eli

Kayshja Eli is a Blackfoot from the Piikani Nation in Alberta. I am in my third year of my undergraduate degree at the University of Lethbridge in Bachelor of Arts – General Social Science with a focus on Women and Gender Studies, Indigenous Studies and Anthropology. I worked on the filming community Elder interviews for the Innovative Initiatives in First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education within Undergraduate Teacher Education project.

Dr. Dorothea Vanessa Nelson

Dr. Dorothea Nelson was a PhD student when she participated in this project. She feels a connective empathy and commonality with Indigenous peoples. This has led to Dr. Nelson writing the articles Indigenizing Curriculum Development and Online Course Design: A Caribbean Study and Toward theorizing spatial-cultural ‘othering’ in networked learning and teaching practices. She was accepted to present Working in Third Space to Decolonize Curriculum Design at the 6^th World Curriculum Studies Conference in Melbourne, Australia. She deems it a privilege to have participated in this project which was a great learning experience for her.