Dr. Patricia Makokis

DR PATRICIA MAKOKIS BIOGRAPHY

Dr Patricia Makokis is one of Canada’s grassroots Indigenous servant leaders, consultants and experts. She is an internationally renowned speaker and well-known for her authority and expertise on all topics that require an Indigenous Perspective. Her dynamic experiences, strong relationships with Indigenous knowledge keepers and elders, heavy involvement in the community and her 25+ career in academia give her a very unique approach when sharing insights and offering solutions. Dr. Patricia Makokis is a Nehiyô (Plains Cree) from Saddle Lake Alberta who is on a mission to inform, educate and gain allies to create a bridge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples through her work. She is passionate to help facilitate the development of Indigenous wellness (economic, health, social, and education); fostering positive business/industry relations between Indigenous Peoples and industry/business (relational leadership) and rebuilding Nations (one person at a time).

Dr Patricia Makokis is a regular advisor, educator, and consultant that has dedicated her life to understanding the different challenges each community, band, and individual has and still faces due to the impact of colonialism and the disbandment of her people. Her passion is to educate, inform and ignite the revitalization of their communities, to reinstall hope through traditional practices and change the outcomes for her people within her lifetime. She has been called upon by First Nation communities and all levels of government to assist in managing crises’ within different Nations as well as assist in providing advice in writing social policy.

Dr Patricia Makokis holds a Doctorate in Education from the University of San Diego, specializing in leadership, which she used to come back to Alberta and serve as President of Blue Quills College/University. Blue Quills College/University is a First Nation-owned and operated university in Canada, the first of its kind in the country. The institution was founded as an Indian residential school in the 1930s before being occupied by a peaceful protest movement in 1970 and then transferred to Indigenous control in 1971. Dr Patricia Makokis was challenged in the position, as the dark history of the institution played a strong role in the mistreatment and abuse of Indigenous children and were key strategies that were meant to divide the community, family, cultural identity and traditional practices.

Dr Patricia Makokis was one of three other instructors that obtained a doctorate degree and returned to Blue Quills University to restructure and redevelop their programming. Dr Makokis worked with both community and instructors to thread and privilege Indigenous knowledge and teachings to blend with western knowledge for a unique approach to education for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Dr Patricia Makokis realized the success of Blue Quill, as Indigenous students could finally access their history and traditional teachings, while non-Indigenous students could understand new perspectives not available to them through western educational institutions. This was one of the first major bridges that Dr Patricia Makokis made in aligning western and Indigenous Peoples for allyship through educational awareness. Today, Blue Quills University offers university degrees taught in First Nations languages and training for jobs; it teaches the story of residential schools and engages in intergenerational healing for Indigenous communities, with a focus on language, culture and restoring Indigenous identity; and it educates other Canadians about residential schools.

Well-known in Canada for her contributions to education, Dr Patricia Makokis continues to build new bridges to enhance learning and create access for Indigenous students. She and her colleague Dr Dianna Steinhauer, president of Yellowhead Tribal College, collaborated and partnered with the University of Alberta to deliver the Indigenous community-industry relations certificate and Indigenous community-engagement citation in Alberta. She has also written and developed leadership courses as part of a Bachelor’s Degree in leadership for Blue Quills First Nations College that transferred to many Western Canadian Universities. What many people do not know is that Indigenous educational institutions have not been recognized over the last 150 years of Canadian history because of colonialism which impacts traditional teachings, cultural expressions and the ability to pass on Indigenous teachings and history to future generations.

Additionally, she has worked on national health initiatives including Promoting Mental Health for Canada’s Indigenous Peoples for the Royal College of Physicians and the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada. She developed and established the curriculum that is standard across Canada for the Community Wellness Certificate offered by the Nechi Training Institute. Dr Patricia Makokis also created and produced numerous academic courses in Management, Organizational Change and Wholistic Leadership and was a main contributor to rewriting the University of Alberta Indigenous Studies curriculum and creating campaigns for Truth and Reconciliation on campus. She is a current instructor at U of A teaching a Masters’s level course on First Nation policy for teachers and administrators. She also instructs at Athabasca University on assisting Indigenous women’s councillors on the history of Indigenous women and their outcomes to guide them on culturally-centred best practices in care.

Dr Patricia Makokis is well accomplished in her career in winning many awards and being appointed to a wide variety of Indigenous and non-Indigenous boards/councils. Some notable mentions are appointed to the Judicial Council of Alberta; Saddle Lake Chief and Council to the Saddle Lake Cree Nation Child Welfare Board. She has received the 2014 Aboriginal Role Model of Alberta Award for her work in community development, the 2009 Alumni leadership award at the University of San Diego, the 2002 Seekers & Storytellers Award as Aboriginal Role Model of the Year and the 2002 Queens Golden Jubilee Medal Award.

Dr Patricia Makokis is the mother of two of Canada’s leading Indigenous experts, who are a reflection of her life’s work. Her daughter, Janice Makokis has recently consulted for the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission and co-chaired the North American Indigenous Peoples Caucus at the United Nations. Her son, Dr James Makokis is a medical doctor with one of Canada’s leading practices for transgender and LGBTQ2 Canadians. The family has dedicated their lives and careers to their people, and to educating non-Indigenous populations with the goal of obtaining more allies. The Makokis family and especially Dr Patricia Makokis feel that it will only be through educating Canadians for the allyship cause, that First Nation communities can have access to resources, support and knowledge to sustain the desperately needed change within Canada.

The family is strongly connected to their roots, culture and community. They are also well-connected with First Nation communities, Indigenous Leaders, Elders and members of all Nations around the world. With the support of her community, Dr Patricia Makokis and the Makokis family organize the annual “Treaty Walk”, which is a 3-day walk over 300 km to bring awareness in different locations each year in rural and urban Alberta. The purpose of the walk is to bring awareness to build bridges between Indigenous and Western nations with the intention to educate each other on the breaches of the Treaty in place which play a large role in limiting First Nation communities to rebuild the foundation they desperately need for sustainable and measurable change.

Dr Patricia Makokis is a dynamic leader who shares her unique perspectives which come from a long journey in education as a student and instructor, and speaker who shares her experiences, educational background and education have led her to create bridges between Western and Indigenous Peoples while making all organizations and communities stronger and most importantly, together.  A new future depends on a deep understanding of the past, the accountability of the present challenges and sharing our responsibility for what we can all do to align for change.