IGOV welcomes new faculty

January 27, 2026

The School of Indigenous Governance would like to welcome their newest faculty members to the upcoming Fall 2026 term. Welcome to Dr. Michaela McGuire and Dr Tory čınus Johnston, two Indigenous Scholars that bring some incredible knowledge and experience to the IGOV team.

Dr. Michaela McGuire holds a PhD in Criminology from Simon Fraser University, and her work focuses on decolonization, racism, genocide, state crime, resurgence, Indigenous and Nation-based justice, and governance. 

Dr. Michaela McGuires’ research involves an examination of injustice affecting Indigenous Peoples while also considering how to work towards healthier and more just futures. She is a citizen of the Haida Nation and much of her academic work has involved community and Nation-based research. Notable projects include research on the development of a self-determined Haida Tll Yahda (making things right or justice system) and consideration of identity displacement and belonging affecting the Haida Nation, within the framework of state crime. She is also a fellow with the Yellowhead Institute and frequently contributes to their publications.

Dr. Tory čınus (Johnston) is a kwinaył/Coast Salish scholar of sound and music, guitarist, part-time lecturer and co-host of Sounds of Survivance, the global Indigenous music show at Seattle-based listener-powered radio station, KEXP. He received his PhD in Native American Studies at UC Davis in 2025. Dr. čınus's work explores sound and music through principles of Indigenous nationhood, the sensorial, and the technological through the (re)constitution of sound media and modalities of Indigenous Governance and self-determination.

Dr. čınus centers kwinaył/Coast Salish logics and case studies including the tribal canoe journey, intertribal music-making and audio production, and relational materialities as instrumentalities to demonstrate how the sounded and the governed aspects of Indigenous life are mutually constitutive along our past, present and future.

 Please welcome them as they start their new roles with IGOV on July 1, 2026.