Joe Desjarlais is from a large Métis family in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. He is proud of his mixed Ukrainian and Métis ancestry, with kinship in the Red River of Manitoba and across Western Canada. He currently lives in North Vancouver with his wife Danielle and family.

He graduated from Trinity Western University with a B.Ed degree and has completed an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Humanities with a history focus.

Joe’s journey of his own recovery of identity would not exist in its current form without the opportunities the BC Métis Federation have provided to ground his ideas and experiences in community life and relationship-building with people and communities across the province, creating life-long friendships in the process.

He was the project lead and co-author of the BC Métis Federation Terrestrial Study Final Report and is the coordinator for the current BC Métis Federation Terrestrial Cumulative Effects Initiative. These research projects are at the cutting edge of repatriation efforts in Canada.

Bruce Shelvey is a settler from Treaty 2 territory in southwestern Manitoba and now works, lives, and thrives in Kwantlen and Katzie unceded traditional territory in Langley, BC.

After earning his MA in History from the University of Victoria (1992) and his Ph.D. in History from Arizona State University (1999), Shelvey taught at the University of British Columbia and then at Trinity Western University, where he is now an Associate Professor of History and Environment.

Shelvey is the Director of the Masters in Interdisciplinary Humanities program, is a founding member of the Institute of Indigenous Issues and Perspectives, and serves on numerous academic committees aimed at reconciling settler society with Indigenous peoples.

He has taught, researched, and written about Indigenous-Canadian relations for the past 30+ years and has developed specializations in Indigenous Research Methodology and community-based research practices.

Shelvey’s advocacy work with the BC Métis Federation began in 2013, an academic advisory role that has grown alongside the expanding function of the Federation’s Research Division.