Curriculum Vitae

2018-Present
2022-2023 Special Advisor on Rematriation to the Vice-President & Principal, University of Toronto Mississauga
2021-2024 (Cross-appointment) Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto
2018-Present Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto Mississauga, and Graduate Faculty of Sociology, University of Toronto
2018-Present
2015 Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Socio-cultural Anthropology (With Distinction) Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts Amherst Dissertation Title: “Ts’msyen Revolution: The Poetics and Politics of Reclaiming”
2015 Graduate Certificate (Grad.Cert.) in Native American and Indigenous Studies Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2010 Master of Arts (M.A.) in Socio-cultural Anthropology Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts Amherst Thesis Title: “Visualizing Pedagogy and Power with Urban Native Youth: Exposing the Legacy of the Indian Residential School System”
2008 Bachelor of Arts and Science (B.A.S.) in Interdisciplinary Studies (With Honors, Summa Cum Laude), Interdisciplinary Studies Program, Bennett College Degree Title: “Investigating Diversity in Cultural Anthropology”
2018-Present
2020-2025 Collaborator. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant (PI: Dylan Robinson, UBC) “Xoxelhmetset te Syewa:l | Caring for Our Ancestors: Reconnecting Indigenous Songs with Community and Kin.”
2019-2022 Principal Investigator. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant. “The Repatriation of Song: Ownership, Access and Control of Indigenous Cultural Heritage.”
2018 Co-Investigator. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Indigenous Research Capacity and Reconciliation Connection Grant. “Symposium on the Importance of the Indigenous Curriculum in Ontario Classrooms.”
2015-2017 University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship History Department, University of California Santa Cruz
2013-2015 Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage Graduate Fellowship Simon Fraser University
2013 Graduate School Fellowship, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2013 Dissertation Research Grant, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2004-2008 O. LaVelle Bond Diversity Scholarship Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity & Inclusion Institute, Bennett College
2018-Present
2022 Recipient. First Book Manuscript Workshop Competition. Office of the Vice-Principal, Research, University of Toronto Mississauga
2013 Nathalie Woodbury Award for Academic Excellence & Community Service. Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2010 Nathalie Woodbury Award for Academic Excellence & Community Service. Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2009 Outstanding Tsimshian Award. Tsimshian Day. Vancouver, BC, Canada
2008 Senior Essay Contest Winner, Bennett College.
2007 Outstanding Academic Achievement Award. First Annual Recognition Day. Mikisew Cree First Nation, Fort Chipewyan, AB, Canada
2018-Present
2022 Robin R. R. Gray. “Rematriation: Ts’msyen Law, Rights of Relationality, and Protocols of Return.” Native American and Indigenous Studies Journal 9(1):1-27.
2012 K.C. Nat Turner, Kate Way and Robin R. R. Gray. “The Transformative Power of Youth Action Coalition’s Multimodal Arts-for-Change Programming.” Journal of Language & Literacy Education 9(1):40-53.
2011 Robin R. R. Gray. “Visualizing Pedagogy and Power with Urban Native Youth: Exposing the Legacy of the Indian Residential School System.” Canadian Journal of Native Education 34(1):9-27. [*Reprinted in 2017 for the theme issue “Reflection, Reconciliation, and Renewal, 39(1):88-107]
2018-Present
(forthcoming) Robin R. R. Gray. “Ts’msyen Reclamation: Embodied Sovereignty in and Out of Place.” In Sovereign Aesthetics. Jessica Bissett-Perea and Trevor Reed, eds.
2018 Robin R. R. Gray. “Repatriation and Decolonization: Thoughts on Ownership, Access and Control” in Oxford Handbook of Musical Repatriation. Frank Gunderson, Rob Lancefield, and Bret Woods, eds. Oxford University Press.
2018-Present
2021 Robin R. R. Gray. “An Australian Indigenous Diaspora: Warlpiri Matriarchs and the Refashioning of Tradition, by Paul Burke.” Anthropologica 63(1).
2015 Robin R. R. Gray. “World Art and the Legacies of Colonial Violence” (Rycroft 2013). Museum Anthropology 38(1):52-54.
2014 Robin R. R. Gray. “Yakama Rising: Indigenous Cultural Revitalization, Activism, and Healing” (Jacob 2013). AlterNative 10(1):93-95.
2018-Present
2014 “Repatriating Indigenous Cultural Heritage: What’s Reconciliation Got to do with it?” Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage Blog. March 25.
2013 “First Nation Totem Poles.” Appropriation (?) of the Month. Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage Blog. April 18.
2018-Present
2013 Vancouver Off-Reserve Aboriginal Action Plan. Report to Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada on behalf of the Metro Vancouver Aboriginal Executive Council.
2018-Present
Jan 2022 “Repatriating Indigenous Cultural Heritage: A Case of Ts’msyen Songs.” Talk for Colloquium Series, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto.
Jan 2022 Panel Presentation for “Musical Repatriation,” A Virtual Brown Bag Lunch, Center for World Performance Studies, University of Michigan.
Nov 2021 “Repatriating Indigenous Cultural Heritage: A Case of Ts’msyen Songs.” Talk for Musicology, Ethnomusicology, and Theory Graduate Colloquium Series, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.
Mar 2021 Talk for “Community-Engaged Music Archiving” graduate seminar, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.
Feb 2021 “Ts’msyen Rematriation: Protocols of Relationality and Return.” Talk for Indigenous Studies Research Network, Wesleyan University.
Feb 2021 “Repatriating Indigenous Cultural Heritage: A Case of Ts’msyen Songs.” Talk for Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University.
Feb 2021 Talk for “Language Revival in the Eastern Tribes” graduate seminar, Department of Anthropology, University of Virginia.
Jan 2021 “Repatriating Indigenous Cultural Heritage: A Case of Ts’msyen Songs.” Talk for Sociology Speakers Series, Department of Sociology, McGill University.
Dec 2020 “Decolonizing the Archive.” Workshop for Ryerson University Library.
Nov 2020 “Archives and the Reach of Indigenous Dispossession.” Talk for Ryerson University Library.
Nov 2020 “The Poetics and Politics of Ts’msyen Rematriation.” Talk for Intersections Series, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto.
Nov 2019 “Archives and the Reach of Indigenous Dispossession.” Talk for the Copyright Symposium, Ontario Library Association, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
May 2019 “The Colonizing Properties of Property and the Transformation of Indigenous Cultural Heritage.” Workshop Presenter. Museums, Religion, and the Work of Reconciliation & Remembrance. A Religion & Public Memory Workshop, Jewish Museum Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
May 2019 Indigenous Collections: Valuing Our Cultural Heritage and Intellectual Property. Presenter. ē-micimināyakik: Museums, Cultural Centres, Archives, Interpretive Centres & Libraries Gathering. Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Mar 2019 Colonialism and Empire Working Group. Session Discussant. Co-sponsored by the Sociology Department and the Center for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto.
Mar 2019 Listenings Symposium. Symposium Participant. Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Mar 2019 First Contact. Panel Participant. Indig-U-Know Conference, University of Toronto Scarborough.
Dec 2018 From Discourse to Practice: Relational Accountability in the Academy. Session Facilitator with Jennifer Adese. Symposium on the Importance of Indigenous Education in Ontario Classrooms,University of Toronto Mississauga, Hosted by the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
Nov 2018 Keywords for an Indigenous Sound Studies Project. Seminar Participant. School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM, USA
Oct 2018 “Access and Control of Indigenous Cultural Heritage: When the ‘Object’ of Repatriation is Song.” Talk for Indigenous Education Week, First Nations House, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Oct 2018 “Embodied Heritage: Enactments of Indigenous Sovereignty” Talk for World Issues Forum, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
Dec 2017 “Access and Control of Indigenous Cultural Heritage: When the ‘Object’ of Repatriation is Song.” Talk for the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Speaker Series, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California San Diego, USA
Nov 2017 “When the ‘Object’ of Repatriation is Song: Confronting Archives, Navigating Copyright and Asserting Indigenous Laws.” Keynote Speaker and Workshop Presenter for the First Nations Language Keepers Conference, Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Nov 2017 “The Reach of Indigenous Dispossession: Archives and the Settler Colonial Project.” Talk for Native American Studies Department, University of California Davis, USA
Jun 2017 Innovative Young Indigenous Leaders Symposium. Invited Participant.
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
May 2017 “Access and Control of Indigenous Cultural Heritage: When the ‘Object’ of Repatriation is Song.” Talk for Socio-cultural Anthropology Colloquium, Co-hosted by Native American Studies and Hemispheric Institute on the Americas, University of California Davis, USA
Apr 2017 “The Socio-political Dimensions of Ts’msyen Repatriation.” Talk for Critical Conversations in Cultural Heritage Conference, University of California Santa Cruz, USA
Mar 2017 “Language and the Repatriation of Intangible Cultural Heritage.” Panel Speaker. Indigenous Perspectives on Repatriation: Moving Forward Together Symposium, Kelowna, BC, Canada
Sept 2016 “Repatriation and Decolonization: Thoughts on Ownership, Access and Control.” Talk for the Center for Ethnomusicology, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA
Sept 2016 “The Social Life of Ts’msyen Songs.” Talk for Music in Native America undergraduate course, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA
June 2016 Revitalizing CoPAR for the Digital Age. Workshop Participant. Council for the Preservation of Anthropological Records, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
April 2016 “Repatriating Ts’msyen Cultural Heritage.” Talk for Cultural Heritage in Colonial Contexts undergraduate course, Anthropology Department, University of California Santa Cruz, USA
March 2016 “Making Rights Some Historical Wrongs: A Ts’msyen Standpoint on Access and Control of Indigenous Cultural Heritage.” Featured Speaker, Anthropology in Our Backyards Series. University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada
Feb 2016 Unsettling Research Ethics: An Invitational Conference. Participant. The UC Center for Collaborative Research and an Equitable California, University of California Santa Cruz, USA
Jan 2016 Appropriation or Appreciation? Further the Conversation. Panel Speaker. American Indian Resource Center, University of California Santa Cruz, USA
Nov 2015 “Repatriation as Restorative Practice,” Speaker. International Restorative Justice Week, Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver Association of Restorative Justice, Vancouver BC, Canada
Nov 2015 “Access and Control of Indigenous Cultural Heritage: Possibilities and Pitfalls.” Speaker. Heritage and Burials Policy Forum, Chiefs of Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada
Nov 2015 “Decolonization and Community-Based Research,” Talk for The Archaeology of the Pacific Northwest undergraduate course, Anthropology Department, University of California Santa Cruz, USA
Oct 2015 “The Poetics and Politics of Reclaiming Ts’msyen Songs,” Talk for the Amah Mutsun Speaker Series, American Indian Resource Center, University of California Santa Cruz, USA
Dec 2014 “Repatriating Ts’msyen Songs,” Talk for The Centre for Ethnomusicology, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA
Oct 2013 “Pedagogy, Power and the Politics of Knowing,” Talk for Aboriginal Education course for teacher candidates, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Aug 2013 “Photovoice as a Tool for Youth Advocacy,” Workshop facilitator, Native Youth Leadership Series, Urban Native Youth Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Apr 2013 “Decolonization: Understanding Indigenous and Anti-Colonial Struggle,” Workshop Facilitator, My Circle 2.0, Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Feb 2013 “Photovoice,” Workshop Facilitator, Native Youth Leadership Series, Urban Native Youth Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Jul 2011 “Decolonization and Native Youth,” Workshop Facilitator, Native Youth Program, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Oct 2010 “Intergenerational Survivor,” Panel Speaker and Community Witness, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Public Education Initiative, Co-hosted by Indian Residential School Survivors Society & Squamish First Nation, Squamish First Nation, BC, Canada
Oct 2010 “Native Youth,” Panel Speaker. Supporting Aboriginal Graduate Enhancement (SAGE) University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Feb 2010 “Native Sisters,” Featured Speaker, Academic Cultural Enrichment Series (ACES).
Bennett College for Women, Greensboro, NC, USA
2018-Present
Oct 2022 Access and Rematriation/Repatriation. Panel Presentation. Birchbark: An International Meeting. University of Toronto Mississauga.
June 2021 Currents and Confluences in Native North Pacific Studies. Roundtable Participant. Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting.
Oct 2020 Lost and Found: Bringing the Intangible Home, Energizing Indigenous Communities. Paper Presentation. 6th Annual Repatriation Conference: Growing Community and Moving Forward After 30 Years of NAGPRA. Co-hosted by the Association on American Indian Affairs and University of Denver Museum of Anthropology (virtual).
Oct 2020 Disrupting White Supremacy in Music and Sound Studies. Roundtable Participant. Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting (virtual).
June 2019 Indigenizing Sound Studies, Sounding Indigenous Studies. Roundtable Participant. Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Nov 2018 Aural Resuscitation: Reconstituting Meaning and Value Through Repatriation. Paper Presentation, Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
June 2018 Decolonizing Sound Archives. Roundtable Participant. Critical Ethnic Studies Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Nov 2017 Repatriation or “Rematriation?”: A Case of Ts’msyen Songs. Paper Presentation. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, USA.
Jun 2017 When the ‘Object’ of Repatriation is a Song: Confronting Archives, Navigating Copyright and Asserting Indigenous Laws. Paper Presentation. Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Dec 2015 Amuks’m (listening): Repatriating Ts’msyen Songs and Oral Histories. Paper Presentation. Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting, Austin, TX, USA.
Dec 2014 The Subject Strikes Back: Reframing Tsimshianness at the Cultural Interface. Paper Presentation. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., USA.
Nov 2014 Ts’msyen Ayaawx as Precedent for Access and Control of Ts’msyen Cultural Heritage. Poster Presentation. Weaving Us Together IPinCH Fall Gathering, Musqueam First Nation, BC, Canada.
Mar 2014 Tsimshian Culture, Society and People: The Poetics and Politics of Reclaiming. Paper Presentation. Indigenous Graduate Student Symposium, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Mar 2014 The Poetics and Politics of Reclaiming Intangible Cultural Heritage: An Indigenous Standpoint. Paper Presentation. Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Nov 2012 The Poetics and Politics of Reclaiming: Indigenous Peoples and Anthropology. Paper Presentation. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Jun 2012 Intergenerational Survivor Narratives. Paper Presentation. Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting, Mohegan Sun, CT, USA.
Nov 2011 Visualizing Pedagogy and Power with Urban Native Youth: Exposing the Legacy of the Indian Residential School System. Poster Presentation. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Apr 2011 Tsimshian Revolution: The Poetics and Politics of Reclaiming. Paper Presentation. Native American Indian Studies Symposium, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Amherst, MA, USA.
Apr 2010 Visualizing Pedagogy and Power: Pictures are Worth More than a Thousand Words. Paper Presentation. Native American and Indigenous Studies Symposium, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Amherst, MA, USA.