LU professor wins 2025 Canada Prize for book documenting Indigenous women's experiences
Candace Brunette-Debassige is an assistant professor at Laurentian University
Candace Brunette-Debassige was surprised to learn she had won an award for her debut book — Tricky Grounds: Indigenous Women's Experiences in Canadian University Administration.
Brunette-Debassige's book was selected as the best scholarly book of the year, winning one of the 2025 Canada Prizes by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
"I did not expect that at all," Brunette-Debassige said Wednesday on Morning North.
Brunette-Debassige — an assistant professor in the School of Indigenous Relations at Laurentian University — said the book was "seven years in the making, and it's born out of my doctoral research, which I did at Western University and the Faculty of Education"
"What I did was I drew on my own experiences working in leadership, post Truth and Reconciliation, trying to institutionalize this reconciliation movement that's upon us and grappling with trying to lead change in an institution that's not really built for Indigenous peoples and Indigenous knowledge," she said.
LISTEN | Candace Brunette-Debassige talks with Markus Schwabe about her book:
The award was presented to Brunette-Debassige on Tuesday during the 94th edition of Congress, Canada's largest academic gathering, being held from May 30 to June 6 at George Brown College in Toronto.
Brunette-Debassige said Tricky Grounds: Indigenous Women's Experiences in Canadian University Administration has struck a chord with a lot of people.
"I think one of the most rewarding things for me is when I get an e-mail or Facebook message or something like that from somebody I've never met who's an Indigenous woman who just says 'thank you for writing this book, I felt so validated, I couldn't put it down,'" she said.
"It's those moments that really make me feel like, OK, this was worth the pain and many, many hours that I put into writing."
A handbook about how not to change
Brunette-Debassige said her research focused on "amplifying" the experiences of Indigenous women.
"It's not really, I would say, a handbook on how to change, but I think how not to," she said.
"There's so much more work to do, there's no doubt about it. But I think what this book was really about was documenting Indigenous women's experiences."
Brunette-Debassige was one of five Canadian authors to receive the prestigious 2025 Canada Prizes award and $4,000 each in recognition of their "inspiring, impactful and transformative work," the federation said.
The awards, given by the national non-profit voice for researchers in the humanities and social sciences in Canada, recognize outstanding authors and works that provoke and inform national conversations on important topics and draw attention to the contribution of scholarship to Canadian society.
"At a time of deep social and political change, the Canada Prizes remind us why the humanities and social sciences matter," said Karine Morin, president and CEO of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, in congratulating the 2025 Canada Prizes winners.
"These winning books deepen our understanding of the world we live in, shedding light on overlooked histories, challenging assumptions, and showcasing the revealing power of research in addressing the critical issues of our time."
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