Dawn Smith

Dawn or siyaʔiłsapt is a Nuu-chah-nulth educator and scholar who focuses on Nuu-chah-nulth self-determination, nature and knowledge transmission.

She is fulling a three-year appointment with Indigenous Education, Curriculum & Instruction, and Accelerating Community Energy Transition (ACET). Within the educational context Dawn works closely with Indigenous communities who are engaged in renewable energy projects.

Dawn is also invested in community development working closely with the Nuu-chah-nulth and non-profits to advance Nuu-chah-nulth family cultural teachings, art and language.

• Indigenous education
• Curriculum development
• Indigenous governance and worldviews
• Nature and relationality
• Renewable energy
• Climate change
• Indigenous self-determination
• Indigenous community development

Smith, D. (2024). National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.  Buttercup and Beech Street Books.   

Deckert, A., George, L., Norris, N. N., & Tauri, J. (editors) (2020). Smith, D. Colonial Policies and Indigenous Women in Canada. Palgrave Macmillan Cham. Pages 53 – 73.

Hallgrimsdottir, H. & Thorson, H. (editors) (2019). Narratives of Memory, Migration, and Xenophobia in the European Union and Canada. Smith, D. - Chapter 2: I-witness Holocaust Field School Experiences, Indigenous Peoples, and Reconciliation in Canada. ePublishing Services, University of Victoria Libraries.

Smith, D. & Thorson, H. (2019). Building Transdisciplinary Relationship through Multidirectional Memory Work and Education. Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies, Vol. 55. No. 4. University of Toronto Press.

Smith, D. (2019). Indigenous Communities in Canada: Nuu-chah-nulth. Beech Street Books.

Harrison, S., Simcoe, J., Smith, D. & Stein, J. (2018). Indigenization Guide: Leaders and Administrators. BCcampus Creative Commons. Open Source.