Robert Innes

Indigenous Knowledge and Waste Water Management

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Dr. Robert Innes research interests examine Indigenous masculinities in the contemporary situation of Indigenous men. He explores what it means to assert masculine identity and what it means to be a “good man” by challenging the notion of a monolith of masculinity that has disadvantaged Indigenous men and women in Canada.  With his research team, Dr. Innes looks at different ways positive masculine identities are asserted and why certain identities are undervalued.

His new research project examines ways in which Indigenous knowledge can be incorporated in waste water management in Indigenous communities. A Plains Cree member of Cowessess First Nation, he acknowledges that Indigenous knowledge can be used and incorporated in ways that are beneficial to the larger community. In this project, Dr. Innes examines how best to govern water that is congruent with Indigenous knowledge. By engaging community members, he probes how people think about water, its meaning, significance and their relationship to water.