Dr. Melanie Griffith Brice is Michif and a citizen of the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan. She is an Associate Professor in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary and was the inaugural Gabriel Dumont Research Chair in Michif/Métis Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina.
Born in Meadow Lake and raised in Metinota, on the shores of Jackfish Lake, Saskatchewan, Lac des Prairie kayahte ochi wiya ekwa L’brossar Sâkahikan, Dr. Griffith Brice’s Métis relations include Morin, Ridsdale, Delaronde, Sansregret, Desjarlais, Beauregard, and Ross, îtisiyihkasoyiwak î-wahkômâkanak, from northern Saskatchewan, Batoche, and Red River Métis settlements.
Dr. Griffith Brice is a proud graduate of the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP) in Saskatoon, where she learned how to become a Métis educator. She began her career with the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Division as a classroom teacher and later worked as a teacher-librarian. She had the privilege of returning to SUNTEP as faculty before serving as Director of Curriculum in the First Nations, Métis & Inuit Education Division with Alberta’s Ministry of Education. She completed her master’s degree in education at the University of Saskatchewan, focusing on Métis teacher identity, and her PhD in Education at the University of Alberta, focusing on Indigenous children’s literacy.
Her work has focused on the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives, cultures, experiences, historical and contemporary contributions, and pedagogical practices throughout K–12 education. She has taught courses in literacy and English Language Arts instruction, curriculum development and instruction, anti-oppressive education, and Indigenous education, as well as teaching for the Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Institute (CILLDI). Her research interests include Michif/Métis ways of knowing and learning, Indigenous language revitalization, and language and literacy learning and teaching.
Dr. Griffith Brice is the proud mother of three adult daughters and grandmother to three granddaughters. She enjoys spending time at the lake with her husband, Trevor, and their children and grandchildren.