Cody Groat
Assistant Professor
PhD Candidate
Email: cgroat@uwo.ca
Office: TBD
Office Hours: TBD
Website: indigenousheritage.ca
Biography
Cody Groat is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and the Indigenous Studies Program. He previously served as a Limited-Term Instructor in Canadian and Indigenous History at Simon Fraser University (2020-2021), and is presently a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is Kanyen'kehaka (Mohawk) and a band member of Six Nations of the Grand River. His father, William, is a survivor of the Sixties Scoop, and his grandparents, Stanley and Sarah Groat, were survivors of the Mohawk Institute Residential School. He completed a BA in Youth & Children's Studies and History at Wilfrid Laurier University (Brantford campus) in 2016 and an MA in World Heritage Studies from the University of Birmingham (UK) in 2017 through the Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage. His research focuses on the federal and international commemoration of Indigenous historic sites, primarily through the work of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. He has published academic articles on Indigenous Peoples and public history in the British Journal of Canadian Studies and the Canadian Historical Review (forthcoming). Outside of Western, Cody serves on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO Memory of the World Program, responsible for recognizing Canada's most significant documentary heritage collections, and is the President of the Indigenous Heritage Circle, a national not-for-profit dedicated to the advancement of Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Metis) cultural heritage.
Research Interests
My research interests can broadly be defined as 'public history.' More specifically, I am interested in the commemoration, preservation and stewardship of Indigenous cultural heritage and 'historic sites' by provincial, federal, and international bodies. I am interested in diverse aspects of Indigenous cultural heritage including archaeological sites, documentary heritage, intangible cultural heritage, and cultural landscapes. My research is influenced by my work as a heritage practitioner, primarily as the President of the Indigenous Heritage Circle, but also through partnerships such as the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and other Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations.
Books, Articles, & Works Published
- “Holding Place: Resistance, Reframing and Relationally in the Representation of Indigenous History,” with Kim Anderson, Historic Perspectives Dossier on Commemoration for The Canadian Historical Review (accepted and forthcoming).
- “Commemoration and Reconciliation: The Mohawk Institute as a World Heritage Site,” British Journal of Canadian Studies, 2018, Vol. 31 (2), pp. 195-208.
- Canadian Stories: A Teenaged Adventure with Presidents, Drag Queens and Drug Lords (Rapido Books, 2016)
- “Indigenous Peoples and the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme,” Canadian Commission for UNESCO IdeaLabs Policy Paper, forthcoming 2021.
Awards
- SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2019-2021) - $60,000
- Shortlisted - Viv Nelles Essay Prize (2019), L.R Wilson Institute for Canadian History, “Commemoration and Reconciliation: The Mohawk Institute as a World Heritage Site” British Journal of Canadian Studies
