Ann Deer of Akwesasne Mohawk Territory is the Indigenous Recruitment and Support Coordinator at Queen’s Law and Smith School of Business. (Photo by Andrew Van Overbeke)
Ann Deer of Akwesasne Mohawk Territory is the Indigenous Recruitment and Support Coordinator at Queen’s Law and Smith School of Business. (Photo by Andrew Van Overbeke)

“It has to be a team effort in order to be successful,” Ann Deer says, as she reflects on the key lesson she has learned in the two years since she was hired at Queen’s. 

Her role has evolved in that time – what started as a recruitment-focused position for three separate faculties has now become centred on recruitment and Indigenous student support for Queen’s Law and the Smith School of Business. 

That teamwork approach extends not only across faculty lines – it also extends to students. A group of Indigenous students from Queen's Law and the Smith School of Business, including Lauren Winkler, Chipewyan McCrimmon, Sofia Gabbani, Colette Koopman, Jordyn Hrenyk and Emily Windrim, are planning a new conference focused on economic reconciliation to help create greater community resilience and economic prosperity for Indigenous peoples. Deer is helping coordinate administrative assistance for the event from the Faculty of Law and School of Business.

“I am really excited about the support I have received for new ideas to engage the students, and the ways that our students are taking the reins and collaborating on exciting new events,” she says, referring to an annual start-of-term gathering she organizes for Indigenous students, and also the new student-led conference.

Another way she has engaged both students and community is through a series of coffee chats that she launched in the Faculty of Law. This initiative has resulted in a relationship with Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, where students make an annual trip to learn about its unique Indigenous court system.

She notes Queen’s is ahead of the curve in its Indigenous recruitment and outreach – when she encounters other school recruiters, many have one person for the entire institution. Like his Queen’s Law counterparts, McCrimmon, a Dene with origins in the Northwest Territories, noted the fact that a Queen’s Faculty had its own Indigenous support person was a key reason he decided to enroll.

Ann Deer is Mohawk of the Wolf Clan, and hails from Akwesasne Mohawk Territory.

By Phil Gaudreau