Bonnie Freeman is Algonquin/Mohawk from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Her work and research is rooted in connections with Six Nations, the Hamilton Aboriginal Community and other Indigenous communities throughout Canada and the United States. Her research interests are extensive. Her PhD dissertation research examined the journey of Six Nations Haudenosaunee youth, as they traveled on foot through their ancestral lands promoting the message of peace and unity and understanding the transformation of identity and well-being from the connection to land and culture, and self-determination.
Her research is rooted with Indigenous communities that focus on cultural interventions in social work practice, community healing approaches, anti-oppressive practices and decolonization, and indigenous-non-indigenous relations and alliances.
Bonnie is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at McMaster.
Research Interests: Youth, Community Healing
CURRENT RESEARCH:
- Propelling mental health promotion in children and youth through connections, curation and continuous learning – University of Waterloo Propel Centre of Public Health Impact, Mental Health, Child & Youth Knowledge Development & Exchange HUB – Dr. Barbara Riley (P.I.) Public Health Agency of Canada – Collaborator | $1,250,000 (2018 – 2020)
- Truth Telling: Gardens, Farming and Food Experiences at the Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School – Insight Development Grant – Co-Applicant with Dr. Sandra Juutilainen (P.I.), University of Waterloo, Rhona Hanning – University of Waterloo (Co-Applicant) and Heather Manson (Co-Applicant), Public Health Ontario | $67,000 (2018 – 2020)
- The colonial contours of Indigenous women’s inclusion in the Americas-the Peruvian experience – Insight Grant, Co-Applicant with Dr. Mirna Carrenza (Principle Investigator) and Giovanni Carranza-Hernandez | $93,641
- Mno Nimkodadding Geegi (We Are All Connected): The Ontario Node of the Indigenous Mentorship Network Program – CIHR Training Grant: Indigenous Mentorship Network Program, Ontario – Western University | $200,000 (2017 – 2018)
- Testing the Waters: Building Relationships through Reconciliation and a Two Row Research Paradigm – Insight Development Grant |$64,010.00 (2017)
PREVIOUS RESEARCH
- Native youth, non-Native youth and the police | Funding: 2017 Doris & Ross Dixon Foundation Alliance Project – $4360.00 | Summary: P.I.s Dr Trish Van Katwyk, Dr Bonnie Freeman, and collaborator, Donna Dubie, ED, Healing of the 7 Generations Develop a dialogue and art project with Aboriginal youth, non-Aboriginal youth and police in the Waterloo region. The dialogue and art creation will expand an understanding of the ways in which positive relationships between youth and police can be built.
- Authentic Indigenous Research Partnership with Six Nations and McMaster Water Network – 2016 McMaster Forward With Integrity – Interdisciplinary Grant – $20,000 | Project Leads: John Preston, Engineering; Chelsea Gabel, Health Aging & Society; Dustin Garrick, Political Science; Bernice Downey, Post Doc; Joanna Wilson, Biology; Sara Dickson, Civil Engineering; Nancy Doubleday, Peace Studies; Susan Watt, Social Work. | Collaborator: Bonnie Freeman, Indigenous Education Council
- Building Indigenous-Settler Alliances in Social Work Education | Funding: 2014-2015 Forward with Integrity, President’s Office, McMaster – $9,640 | Project Leads: Sinding, C., Freeman, B., Jackson, R., | Collaborators: Preston, S., Gullage, A Enhancing Social Work Faculty & Sessionals’ knowledge of Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing.
RESEARCH PROJECTS (unfunded)
- Pilot Research Project Testing the Waters: Building Relationship through a Two Row Research Paradigm: P.I: Dr. Bonnie Freeman, Co-I: Dr. Trish Van Katwyk (Waterloo) & Dr. Suzanne Mills (McMaster) & IUSRP student, Randall Fiddler (May- Aug. 2016)
- Pilot Project Learning Beyond Fences: Equine Assisted Learning for First Year Nursing Students (2015)
- Community Engagement Research Transformation of Well-being for Aboriginal Youth with Equine Assisted Growth & Learning with Hamilton Métis Women’s Circle and Halton Police (2013)
AWARDS
Community
- Ehyadohsraedei Yehyatohserayenteiri (formerly known as SNP Associate Professor), Six Nations Polytechnic Appointment (2017 – 2018)
Academic
- Award for Outstanding Graduate Work, Wilfrid Laurier University (2015)
- Student Award, Native Research Network Conference, South Dakota, USA (2010)
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2008)
- National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, CIBC Achiever Scholarship (2007)
- Aboriginal Social Work Prize, Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University (2007)
- Indigenous Health Research Development Program Graduate Scholarship, University of Toronto/McMaster University (2005)
- Indigenous Health Research Development Program Graduate Scholarship, University of Toronto/McMaster University (2003)
Professional
- Health for the Premier’s Award Nomination, Mohawk College (2018)
- “Counsellor of the Year” Award, Ontario Native Education Counselling Association (2005)
PUBLISHED WORKS
- Freeman, B. M. (Sept. 2018) Timeline || Policies and Practices Influencing Indigenous Health Chart. In Neil Arya & Thomas Piggott (eds.) Under-Served: Health Determinants of Indigenous, Inter-City, and Migrant Populations in Canada. p. 43-44. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.
- Freeman, B. M. (Sept. 2018). Chapter 3: Intergenerational Trauma Yesterday, Concerns for Aboriginal Health Today. In Neil Arya & Thomas Piggott (eds.) Under-Served: Health Determinants of Indigenous, Inter-City, and Migrant Populations in Canada. p.45-56. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press,.
- Freeman, B. M. (Sept. 2018) Chapter 8: Fostering Resilience. In Neil Arya & Thomas Piggott (eds.) Under-Served: Health Determinants of Indigenous, Inter-City, and Migrant Populations in Canada. p. 105-116. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.
- Freeman, B. (2017). Soup days & Decolonization, in D. Baines (ed), Doing Anti-Oppressive Practice: Building Transformative Politicized Social Work, 3rd edition. Blackpoint, NS: Fernwood Publishing.
- Baines, D. & Freeman, B. (2011). Work, Care, Resistance, and Mothering: An Indigenous Perspective, (p. 67-80). In Catherine Krull & Justyna Sempruch (eds.), A Life in Balance? Reopening the Family-Work Debate. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
- Freeman, B. (2010). Indigenous Pathways to Anti-oppressive Practice, (p. 115-131), in D. Baines (ed.), Doing Anti-Oppressive Practice: Building Transformative Politicized Social Work, 2nd edition. Blackpoint, NS: Fernwood Publishing.
- Freeman, B. (2007). Indigenous Pathways to Anti-oppressive Practice (p. 95-110), in D. Baines (ed.), Doing Anti-Oppressive Practice: Building Transformative Politicized Social Work, 1st edition. Blackpoint, NS: Fernwood Publishing.
Journal Articles
- Freeman, B. (2017). The Spirit of Indigenous Youth: The Resilience and Self-determination in Connecting to the Spirit and Ways of Knowing. In Journal of Indigenous Well-being: Te Mauri – Pimatisiwin. Volume 2, Issue 1, p. 60-75.
- Liegghio, M., Van Katwyk, T. & Freeman, B. (2016). Police encounters among a community sample of children and youth accessing mental health service. In Social Work in Mental Health. First published on-line March 15, 2016. Doi: 10.1080/15332985.2016.1156043
- Haring, R. C., Hudson, M., Taualii, M., & Freeman, B. (2015). First Nations, Maori, American Indians, and Native Hawaiians as Sovereigns: EAP with Indigenous Nations within Nations (GLOBAL). Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, April 2015, 1 (1): p. 14-31.
- Haring, R. C., Freeman, B., Guiffrida, A. L. & Dennis, M. L. (2012). Relationship Building for a Healthy Future: Indigenous Youth Pathways for Resiliency and Recovery. Journal of Indigenous Social Development, 1 (1): p. 1-17.
- Freeman, B. & Lee, B. (2007). An Aboriginal Community Model. Native Social Work Journal. 6: 97-120.
WORKS CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW
- Freeman, B. & Van Katwyk, T. (January 2019). Testing the Waters: Engaging the Tekéni Teyohà:ke Kahswénhtake – Two Row Wampum into a Research Paradigm. Canadian Journal of Native Education, UBC.
