Indigenous scholar says he was rejected by University of Sask. over lack of documentation

An award-winning Cree-Métis professor who grew up in northern Saskatchewan will not be moving to his home province's university because administrators demanded certain paperwork to prove he's Indigenous.

"I wanted to come to the University of Saskatchewan. This is all pretty disappointing," Real Carriere said.

Critics say Carriere's ordeal is an example of misguided over-reaction by U of S administrators to an earlier case of an Indigenous identity controversy involving former U of S professor Carrie Bourassa.

Indigenous studies faculty say they're angry about the Carriere situation, but also fear existing staff might soon face these new "colonial" requirements.

"There's a strong stink to all of this. This is a step backwards. I think it's a mistake," said acting Indigenous studies department head Jim Waldram.

Fellow faculty member Winona Wheeler agreed.

"It's really, really sad we weren't able to hire one of our own sons. This is his home territory. He would bring so much to the university [with] his academic background, traditional knowledge and community connections," Wheeler said.

No one from the university's administration was available Wednesday, but last month, the U of S announced it would have an Indigenous verification policy in place by fall.

Carriere's family has lived for generations in and around the Cumberland House Cree Nation and adjacent Métis village more than 400 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

His father, Solomon, is a world champion marathon canoeist and trapper while his mother, Renee, is a land-based educator and his sister Michela is a horticulturalist who hosts eco-tours in the Cumberland Delta.

"That's about as Indigenous as you can get," Wheeler said.

Waldram, one of the original faculty members of the the Indigenous studies department nearly 40 years ago, said Carriere was "ideally positioned and would have been a tremendous asset."

Carriere, who speaks Cree, has taught at the University of Manitoba for several years after winning multiple awards for his doctoral thesis entitled Rediscovering the Path: Decolonizing Indigenous Governance.

Late last year, a faculty position was posted by the U of S Indigenous studies department. Carriere said he was happy at the U of M, but jumped at the chance to return "home" to the U of S.