geniusz


Wendy Makoons Geniusz

Photo of Wendy Makoons Geniusz

Department of Sociology

Professor

Email: geniusz@yorku.ca


Dr. Wendy Makoons Geniusz is an Indigenous woman of Cree and Métis decent. She was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but her Cree family comes from the Pas, a Reserve in Manitoba. To honour her Ojibwe namesake, Keewaydinoquay, Geniusz was raised with Ojibwe language and culture. Before coming to York, Geniusz was Professor of Ojibwe Language at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where she taught for 14 years.

Since childhood, Geniusz has worked on Ojibwe language and culture revitalization projects in Indigenous communities throughout the Great Lakes Region. All her publications and research focus on creating decolonisation tools for Indigenous language and culture revitalization. Geniusz is the authoress of: Our Knowledge is Not Primitive: Decolonizing Botanical Anishinaabe Teachings, the editor of: Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do is Ask (by Mary Siisip Geniusz), and the authoress of the Ojibwe plant name glossary found in that text. She is the co-editor (with Brendan Fairbanks) of Chi-mewinzha: Ojibwe Stories from Leech Lake (by Dorothy Dora Whipple).

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Degrees

PhD American Studies, University of Minnesota
Books

Publication
Year

Our Knowledge is Not Primitive: Decolonizing Botanical Anishinaabe Teachings. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2009.

2009

Professional Journal Articles

Publication
Year

“Namewashkoons: The Sturgeon’s Little Plant.” Journal of the American Herbalist Guild. Dec. 2023

2023

“Ozhibii’amaang Remedios: Writing the Story of Remedios.” co-authored with Dr. Gordon Jourdain, and Annmarie Geniusz. Papers of the 52nd Algonquian Conference. March 2023.

2023


Current Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Fall/Winter 2024 AP/SOCI4420 6.0 A Indigeneity & Decolonization SEMR



Dr. Wendy Makoons Geniusz is an Indigenous woman of Cree and Métis decent. She was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but her Cree family comes from the Pas, a Reserve in Manitoba. To honour her Ojibwe namesake, Keewaydinoquay, Geniusz was raised with Ojibwe language and culture. Before coming to York, Geniusz was Professor of Ojibwe Language at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where she taught for 14 years.

Since childhood, Geniusz has worked on Ojibwe language and culture revitalization projects in Indigenous communities throughout the Great Lakes Region. All her publications and research focus on creating decolonisation tools for Indigenous language and culture revitalization. Geniusz is the authoress of: Our Knowledge is Not Primitive: Decolonizing Botanical Anishinaabe Teachings, the editor of: Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do is Ask (by Mary Siisip Geniusz), and the authoress of the Ojibwe plant name glossary found in that text. She is the co-editor (with Brendan Fairbanks) of Chi-mewinzha: Ojibwe Stories from Leech Lake (by Dorothy Dora Whipple).

Degrees

PhD American Studies, University of Minnesota

All Publications


Books

Publication
Year

Our Knowledge is Not Primitive: Decolonizing Botanical Anishinaabe Teachings. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2009.

2009

Professional Journal Articles

Publication
Year

“Namewashkoons: The Sturgeon’s Little Plant.” Journal of the American Herbalist Guild. Dec. 2023

2023

“Ozhibii’amaang Remedios: Writing the Story of Remedios.” co-authored with Dr. Gordon Jourdain, and Annmarie Geniusz. Papers of the 52nd Algonquian Conference. March 2023.

2023


Current Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Fall/Winter 2024 AP/SOCI4420 6.0 A Indigeneity & Decolonization SEMR