Returning to Relationality in the Study of Indigenous Political Orders

The rise of an Indigenous politics subfield within Political Science has been accompanied by increased engagement with Indigenous peoples’ own intellectual traditions and worldviews, with particular interest in their relational character. This talk offers critical provocations around the return to relationality in analyses of Indigenous governance, with a focus on the importance of Indigenous feminist and queer interventions today.

About the presenter

Dr. Gina Starblanket is an Associate Professor in the School of Indigenous Governance at the University of Victoria. She is Cree/Saulteaux and a member of the Star Blanket Cree Nation in Treaty 4. Dr. Starblanket’s writings address Indigenous-settler relations, Indigenous movements towards political transformation, and Indigenous feminisms. She is co-editor of NAIS, the journal of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association and her publications include Making Space for Indigenous Feminisms, 3rd ed. (2024, Fernwood Press), Storying Violence: Unravelling Colonial Narratives in the Stanley Trial (ARP Press, 2020), and Visions of the Heart: Issues Involving Indigenous Peoples in Canada, 5th and 6th eds. (OUP, 2019 & 2025)..