Dr. Dawn Martin-Hill holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology and is one of the original founders of the Indigenous Studies Program at McMaster University. She is the inaugural Paul R. McPherson Indigenous Studies Chair.
Dr. Martin-Hill’s research is grounded in the principle that solution-based research in the area of Indigenous health must occur alongside building capacity for community collaborations. She has embodied this principle through her numerous community commitments: including serving as Chair of the Indigenous Elders and Youth Council to promote the protection and preservation of Indigenous Knowledge systems; serving as an expert witness on traditional medicines; and supporting reconciliation efforts to improve health services delivery to First Nations through the “Harmonization of Traditional Medicine” in partnership with Six Nations Health Services. While working with communities, Dr. Martin Hill has led numerous grants funded by both the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to conduct Indigenous knowledge research focused on Indigenous youth, women, language, ceremonies, traditional medicine and well-being.
Dr. Martin Hill has served on review committees for CIHR and the SSHRC. She is currently a member of the Editorial Board of Sociology and Anthropology and a reviewer for The International Indigenous Policy Journal. In addition, Dr. Martin-Hill has led important groundwork for Indigenous peer review capacity in her role as the inaugural chair of the Aboriginal Health Research Networks (AHRNetS) Secretariat. Much of this work included identifying and removing epistemological barriers to Indigenous Knowledge health research. She also worked to develop a cohort of potential Indigenous Knowledge peer reviewers for CIHR-IAPH.
She resides on the Grand River, Six Nations. She is a single mother of four with two teenagers at home and a grandmother of eight, her healthy family is considered her greatest achievement to date.
Research Interests: Aboriginal Health, Cultural Preservation, Cultural Reclamation, Aboriginal Spirituality, Decolonization, Gender, Gender & Identity, Indigenous Knowledge, Language Preservation, Social-Cultural Anthropology, Traditional Medicine Practices
