Laurentian University launches Indigenous Research Institute in Sudbury

Laurentian University is working to connect researchers who are studying Indigenous issues.

The school's senate recently approved the creation of the Maamwizing Indigenous Research Institute.

The director of the School of Indigenous Relations at Laurentian and a few other faculty members worked to put the proposal for the institute together.

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Dr. Taima Moeke-Pickering says the research institute will reach across all disciplines and will be open to faculty and students alike.

"It's a focal point for students wanting to learn more about research or those who are completing a thesis at the masters or the PhD levels," she told CBC News.

"So it's a place, very much what the name says, 'Maamwizing', to come together.

Moeke-Pickering says now that the senate has approved the institute they can move forward on hiring a director.

There are 1,000 students and 24 faculty members at Laurentian who are aboriginal.

Moeke-Pickering says they hope to move the project forward over the next three months.

Currently the institute exists as a body, but the physical space will eventually be in Laurentian's Faculty of Arts building on the Sudbury campus.