Bonita Lawrence taught in the Indigenous Studies program in the Department of Humanities before retiring from teaching. She is Mi'kmaw, with Acadian and English background as well. Her research and publications have focused primarily on urban, non-status and Metis identities, federally unrecognized Aboriginal communities, and Indigenous justice.
More...
Bonita Lawrence taught in the Indigenous Studies Program in the Department of Humanities before retiring from teaching. She is Mi'kmaw, with Acadian and English background as well. Her research and publications have focused primarily on urban and non-status identities, and federally unrecognized Aboriginal communities. She is the author of "Fractured Homeland: Federal Recognition and Algonquin Identity in Ontario" (UBC Press, 2012) and "Real" Indians and Others: Mixed-Blood Urban Native People and Indigenous Nationhood (University of Nebraska Press and UBC Press, 2004). She is also the author of N'In D'la Owey Innklan: Mi'kmaq Sojourns in England, a historical novel spanning 500 years of Mi''kmaq history both in Atlantic Canada and in London.
Degrees
PhD - Sociology and Equity Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto
M.E.S. - Environmental Studies, York University
B.Sc.- Geology, University of Toronto
Professional Leadership
Feb. 2018: Created Indigenous Studies Program, Department of Equity Studies
July 2018- June 2020: Chair of Department of Equity Studies
Community Contributions
2007- 2010: Member of Community Council (Diversion Program for Aboriginal Offenders), Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto 1998-2005: Member of Board of Directors, Anduhyaun Inc 2000-2001: Member of Board of Directors, Katorokwi Native Friendship Centre, Kingston, Ontario 1998-2004: Traditional singer, at political rallies, social events, and prisons in the Toronto and Kingston area
Research Interests
Indigenous Peoples, Race and Racism, Aboriginal People and the Criminal Justice System, Federally Unrecognized Native Communities, Urban, non-status and Metis identitities,
Indigenous Studies
This is a historical novel, beginning in 1497 and taking us, in a series of vignettes, through five centuries of interconnections between the Mi’kmaq people of Atlantic Canada and London. Each character begins their story in different regions of the Mi’kmaq world of the North American Atlantic Coast; they end up in various regions of London, ranging from the 16th-century Austin Friars monastery to 20th-century Limehouse. The novel encompasses descriptive scenes of London in different eras, alternately addressing the eroticism of lovers, the wide-ranging lives of whalers and sailors, the horrors of nursing during World War I and the overwrought world of heroin users in late 1970s’ East London, interspersed with occasional short pages of intellectual commentary. Ultimately, it is a labour of love for homelands lost.
2020
Lawrence, Bonita. "Fractured Homeland: Federal Recognition and Algonquin Identity in Ontario." UBC Press, 2012
2012
Lawrence, Bonita. “Real” Indians and Others: Mixed-Blood Urban Native Peoples and Indigenous Nationhood. UBC Press, 2004
2004
Kim Anderson and Bonita Lawrence (Editors). Strong Women Stories: Native Vision and Community Survival. Sumach Press, 2003
2003
Book Chapters
Publication
Year
Lawrence, Bonita. “Federally Recognized Communities in Eastern Canada” in Who is an Indian? Race, Place, and the Politics of Indigeneity in the Americas. Maximilian P. Forte (Editor). Toronto: University of Toronto Press
2013
"Identity, Non-Status Indians and Federally-Unrecognized Communities" in Aboriginal History: A Reader. Kristin Burnett and Geoff Read, (Editors). Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2012, 196-205
2012
Dua, Enakshi and Bonita Lawrence. “The Limitations of Postcolonial Theory for Understanding Indigenous Struggles”. Proceedings of the Chotro Conference 2008, New Delhi, India. Orient Longman.
2011
Usher, John and Bonita Lawrence. “Indigenous And Restorative Justice: Reclaiming Humanity And Community” in International Perspectives on Restorative Justice in Education. Charlton, J., P. J. Verrecchia, and D. Polizzi (Eds.) Richmond, ON: Center for the Study of Crime, Restorative Justice and Community Safety
2011
Amadahy, Zainab and Bonita Lawrence. “Indigenous Peoples And Black People In Canada: Settlers Or Allies?” in Breaching the Colonial Contract: Anti-Colonialism in the US and Canada. Arlo Kempf (Ed.). New York: Springer Publishing
2010
Lawrence, Bonita. “Legislating Identity: Colonialism, Land, And Indigenous Legacies” in SAGE Handbook of Identities, edited by Margaret Wetherell and Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Sage Publications
2010
Lawrence, Bonita. “Reclaiming Ktaqumkuk: Land and Mi’kmaq Identity in Newfoundland” in Speaking for ourselves: Environmental justice in Canada. Agyeman, J., Cole, P., Haluza-DeLay, R. & O’Riley, P. (Eds. Vancouver: UBC Press
2009
Lawrence, Bonita. “Rewriting Histories Of The Land: Colonization And Indigenous Resistance In Eastern Canada” in Race, Space and the Law: Unmapping a White Settler Society. Sherene Razack (Ed), Sumach Press, 2002 21-46.
2002
Lawrence, Bonita. “Mixed-Race Urban Native People Surviving a Legacy of Policies of Genocide” in Expressions in Canadian Native Studies. University of Saskatchewan Extension Press, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 2000, 69-94.
2000
Journal Articles
Publication
Year
Lawrence, Bonita and Enakshi Dua. “Decolonizing Anti-Racism”. Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict and World Order, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2005
2005
Lawrence, Bonita. “Gender, Race, And The Regulation Of Native Identity In Canada And The United States: An Overview”. Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, Vol. 18, No. 2, Spring 2003, 3-31.
2003
Lawrence, Bonita. Colonialism, Identity and Development: A Case Study From Northeastern Ontario. Occasional Paper Series, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 1996
1996
Lawrence, Bonita. The Exclusion Of Survivors Voices in Feminist Discourse on Violence Against Women. Ottawa: Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), 1996
1996
Conference Papers
Publication
Year
Lawrence, Bonita. “Indigenous Identity, Resistance to Resource Theft, and the Land Claims Industry in Ontario”. Presented at the 8th Annual Critical Race and Anti-Colonial Studies Conference, Ryerson University, November 14-16. 2008
2008
Public Lectures
Publication
Year
September 18, 2014. Keynote Address: “Indigenous Histories, National Commemoration and Power,” Canadian History at the Crossroads Symposium, co-organized by the University of Ottawa and Canadian Museum of History, Hull, Quebec.
2014
March 28, 2014. Keynote Address: “Decolonizing Anti-Racism: 10 Years Later” for Asian-Canadian Studies Conference, OISE/University of Toronto
2014
March 13, 2013. “Land Claims and Algonquin Resurgence”. York Indigenous Peoples and Environments Seminar, Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, York University
2013
February 13, 2013. “Regulating Native Identity: The Indian Act and Algonquin Identity”. Presentation at Department of Geography Speaker’s Series, University of Western Ontario
2013
January 31, 2013. “Algonquin Identity and Resurgence”. Presentation at the Aboriginal Speakers Series, University of Ottawa
2013
“Algonquin Identity and Federal Recognition”. Guest Lecturer for the Centre of Aboriginal Initiatives, First Nations House, University of Toronto
2012
September 29, 2012. Keynote Speaker. “Treaties, the Indian Act, and Algonquin Decolonization” at “Undisciplined” Conference, Cultural Studies Department, Queen’s University
2012
June 6, 2011. Keynote Speaker, “To Be Indivisibly Indigenous: the Choices of Mixed-Blood Native People”. The 6th Critical Multicultural Counselling & Psychotherapy Conference, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto
2011
Keynote Address: “White Supremacy and the Regulation of Identity”. New College Conference on Racism and National Consciousness. New College, University of Toronto, October 25, 2008.
2008
Bonita Lawrence taught in the Indigenous Studies program in the Department of Humanities before retiring from teaching. She is Mi'kmaw, with Acadian and English background as well. Her research and publications have focused primarily on urban, non-status and Metis identities, federally unrecognized Aboriginal communities, and Indigenous justice.
Bonita Lawrence taught in the Indigenous Studies Program in the Department of Humanities before retiring from teaching. She is Mi'kmaw, with Acadian and English background as well. Her research and publications have focused primarily on urban and non-status identities, and federally unrecognized Aboriginal communities. She is the author of "Fractured Homeland: Federal Recognition and Algonquin Identity in Ontario" (UBC Press, 2012) and "Real" Indians and Others: Mixed-Blood Urban Native People and Indigenous Nationhood (University of Nebraska Press and UBC Press, 2004). She is also the author of N'In D'la Owey Innklan: Mi'kmaq Sojourns in England, a historical novel spanning 500 years of Mi''kmaq history both in Atlantic Canada and in London.
Degrees
PhD - Sociology and Equity Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto
M.E.S. - Environmental Studies, York University
B.Sc.- Geology, University of Toronto
Professional Leadership
Feb. 2018: Created Indigenous Studies Program, Department of Equity Studies
July 2018- June 2020: Chair of Department of Equity Studies
Community Contributions
2007- 2010: Member of Community Council (Diversion Program for Aboriginal Offenders), Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto 1998-2005: Member of Board of Directors, Anduhyaun Inc 2000-2001: Member of Board of Directors, Katorokwi Native Friendship Centre, Kingston, Ontario 1998-2004: Traditional singer, at political rallies, social events, and prisons in the Toronto and Kingston area
Research Interests
Indigenous Peoples, Race and Racism, Aboriginal People and the Criminal Justice System, Federally Unrecognized Native Communities, Urban, non-status and Metis identitities,
Indigenous Studies
All Publications
Book Chapters
Publication
Year
Lawrence, Bonita. “Federally Recognized Communities in Eastern Canada” in Who is an Indian? Race, Place, and the Politics of Indigeneity in the Americas. Maximilian P. Forte (Editor). Toronto: University of Toronto Press
2013
"Identity, Non-Status Indians and Federally-Unrecognized Communities" in Aboriginal History: A Reader. Kristin Burnett and Geoff Read, (Editors). Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2012, 196-205
2012
Dua, Enakshi and Bonita Lawrence. “The Limitations of Postcolonial Theory for Understanding Indigenous Struggles”. Proceedings of the Chotro Conference 2008, New Delhi, India. Orient Longman.
2011
Usher, John and Bonita Lawrence. “Indigenous And Restorative Justice: Reclaiming Humanity And Community” in International Perspectives on Restorative Justice in Education. Charlton, J., P. J. Verrecchia, and D. Polizzi (Eds.) Richmond, ON: Center for the Study of Crime, Restorative Justice and Community Safety
2011
Amadahy, Zainab and Bonita Lawrence. “Indigenous Peoples And Black People In Canada: Settlers Or Allies?” in Breaching the Colonial Contract: Anti-Colonialism in the US and Canada. Arlo Kempf (Ed.). New York: Springer Publishing
2010
Lawrence, Bonita. “Legislating Identity: Colonialism, Land, And Indigenous Legacies” in SAGE Handbook of Identities, edited by Margaret Wetherell and Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Sage Publications
2010
Lawrence, Bonita. “Reclaiming Ktaqumkuk: Land and Mi’kmaq Identity in Newfoundland” in Speaking for ourselves: Environmental justice in Canada. Agyeman, J., Cole, P., Haluza-DeLay, R. & O’Riley, P. (Eds. Vancouver: UBC Press
2009
Lawrence, Bonita. “Rewriting Histories Of The Land: Colonization And Indigenous Resistance In Eastern Canada” in Race, Space and the Law: Unmapping a White Settler Society. Sherene Razack (Ed), Sumach Press, 2002 21-46.
2002
Lawrence, Bonita. “Mixed-Race Urban Native People Surviving a Legacy of Policies of Genocide” in Expressions in Canadian Native Studies. University of Saskatchewan Extension Press, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 2000, 69-94.
This is a historical novel, beginning in 1497 and taking us, in a series of vignettes, through five centuries of interconnections between the Mi’kmaq people of Atlantic Canada and London. Each character begins their story in different regions of the Mi’kmaq world of the North American Atlantic Coast; they end up in various regions of London, ranging from the 16th-century Austin Friars monastery to 20th-century Limehouse. The novel encompasses descriptive scenes of London in different eras, alternately addressing the eroticism of lovers, the wide-ranging lives of whalers and sailors, the horrors of nursing during World War I and the overwrought world of heroin users in late 1970s’ East London, interspersed with occasional short pages of intellectual commentary. Ultimately, it is a labour of love for homelands lost.
2020
Lawrence, Bonita. "Fractured Homeland: Federal Recognition and Algonquin Identity in Ontario." UBC Press, 2012
2012
Lawrence, Bonita. “Real” Indians and Others: Mixed-Blood Urban Native Peoples and Indigenous Nationhood. UBC Press, 2004
2004
Kim Anderson and Bonita Lawrence (Editors). Strong Women Stories: Native Vision and Community Survival. Sumach Press, 2003
2003
Journal Articles
Publication
Year
Lawrence, Bonita and Enakshi Dua. “Decolonizing Anti-Racism”. Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict and World Order, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2005
2005
Lawrence, Bonita. “Gender, Race, And The Regulation Of Native Identity In Canada And The United States: An Overview”. Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, Vol. 18, No. 2, Spring 2003, 3-31.
2003
Lawrence, Bonita. Colonialism, Identity and Development: A Case Study From Northeastern Ontario. Occasional Paper Series, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 1996
1996
Lawrence, Bonita. The Exclusion Of Survivors Voices in Feminist Discourse on Violence Against Women. Ottawa: Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), 1996
1996
Conference Papers
Publication
Year
Lawrence, Bonita. “Indigenous Identity, Resistance to Resource Theft, and the Land Claims Industry in Ontario”. Presented at the 8th Annual Critical Race and Anti-Colonial Studies Conference, Ryerson University, November 14-16. 2008
2008
Public Lectures
Publication
Year
September 18, 2014. Keynote Address: “Indigenous Histories, National Commemoration and Power,” Canadian History at the Crossroads Symposium, co-organized by the University of Ottawa and Canadian Museum of History, Hull, Quebec.
2014
March 28, 2014. Keynote Address: “Decolonizing Anti-Racism: 10 Years Later” for Asian-Canadian Studies Conference, OISE/University of Toronto
2014
March 13, 2013. “Land Claims and Algonquin Resurgence”. York Indigenous Peoples and Environments Seminar, Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, York University
2013
February 13, 2013. “Regulating Native Identity: The Indian Act and Algonquin Identity”. Presentation at Department of Geography Speaker’s Series, University of Western Ontario
2013
January 31, 2013. “Algonquin Identity and Resurgence”. Presentation at the Aboriginal Speakers Series, University of Ottawa
2013
“Algonquin Identity and Federal Recognition”. Guest Lecturer for the Centre of Aboriginal Initiatives, First Nations House, University of Toronto
2012
September 29, 2012. Keynote Speaker. “Treaties, the Indian Act, and Algonquin Decolonization” at “Undisciplined” Conference, Cultural Studies Department, Queen’s University
2012
June 6, 2011. Keynote Speaker, “To Be Indivisibly Indigenous: the Choices of Mixed-Blood Native People”. The 6th Critical Multicultural Counselling & Psychotherapy Conference, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto
2011
Keynote Address: “White Supremacy and the Regulation of Identity”. New College Conference on Racism and National Consciousness. New College, University of Toronto, October 25, 2008.
