Woman of the Ocean: Christine Webster, from Ahousaht to Academia
Learn more about the Master of Arts in Leadership program.
Christine Webster, Royal Roads University assistant professor in Interdisciplinary Studies, completed her PhD in Leadership Studies at the University of Victoria.
“My name is tupałʔaqsa—woman of the ocean…my name is Christine Webster,” she introduces herself in Nuu-chah-nulth. “histaqšiƛs—I am a person from nuučaan̓uł –Nuu-chah-nulth.” ʕaaḥuusaqsupsiš– I am a woman from Ahousaht. qaacc̓auks t̓aatn̓a —I have three children. ʔukłaaʔišʔał —their names are Marcus, Triton ʔuḥʔiiš—and Xander.”
Webster did her Master of Arts in Leadership at Royal Roads and is a member of the Emerging Indigenous Scholars Circle at RRU.
“I thought [the Emerging Indigenous Scholars Circle] was a great way to connect back with RRU and applied for one of the positions,” she says. “Since then, I have completed my PhD, taught courses for different programs at RRU, engaged in various research activities, and contributed to various service aspects in the academic community.
“My dissertation is titled Leadership Models Embedded in Ceremony,” she explains. “Although it does not specifically address Nuu-chah-nulth ceremony, the reclamation of Nuu-chah-nulth ceremonial knowledge set the stage to get the contributors’ …and my heart and mind in Nuu-chah-nulth thought processes before discussing Nuu-chah-nulth leadership.
“My grandparents were a motivation for this direction of my research. Pursuing higher education was always encouraged by them, and many other Elder community members.”
Webster says that the personal connection to the research was incredibly powerful.” It wasn’t necessarily unexpected but really affirmed the wealth of knowledge Nuu-chah-nulth people carry. I carry so much pride and hope to honour them in a good way through my work.
“Academically, I believe my work will be able to offer a lot in terms of Indigenous research—both with the content and approach,” she adds. “While many Nuu-chah-nulth resources illuminate Nuu-chah-nulth leadership implicitly, I hope that my work adds to the growing body of leadership discourse, both Indigenous leadership and the broader field generally.”
Webster plans to move forward through the sharing of her work, as well as reconnecting back to her community to build on the knowledge she gathered from her dissertation.
“I am grateful to the contributors who shared their time and stories with me. This work is a reflection of them, and our community.”
This summer, Webster is leaving RRU to start a new position as an assistant professor at UVic, where she will focus on curriculum related to Indigenous knowledge systems.
Learn more about the Master of Arts in Leadership program.