Dr. JoLee Sasakamoose

Contact Info

Academic Bio

JoLee Sasakamoose Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) is a member of the M'Chigeeng First Nation in Ontario and an active citizen of the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Dr. JoLee’s education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from Michigan State University (MSU), a Master's of Science in Human Development, Counseling and Family Studies from the University of Rhode Island (URI), and a Doctorate in Philosophy from MSU in the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education (HALE) program. She is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Educational Psychology and Counselling subject area in the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina. She teaches Group Counselling, Counselling Girls and Women, Counselling Children and Youth, Indigenous Family Therapies, and Decolonizing Research Methodologies.

In collaboration with the First Nations communities of Saskatchewan, she co-authored the Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness Theory (ICRT), now known as the CRF, a theoretical framework to direct research that improves the health of Indigenous peoples in Saskatchewan. Dr. JoLee is the Wellness and Research Director of the Muskiki Muskwa Medicine Bear Healing Lodge and Peer Advocacy Services, part of the Indigenous Wellness Research Community Network (IWRCN). The IWRCN assists people in Treaties 4 and 6 to recover from the residues of historical and intergenerational traumas related to colonization, residential schools, and the ongoing genocidal practices in Canada today. IWRCN offers a training ground for practicum students from various professions, including counselling, social work, medicine, nursing, policing, education, and many others. Peer Health Advocacy services and training support with the Canadian Mental Health Association ensure the capacity building is locally driven and resourced.

As the former Research Director of the Wellness Wheel Medical Clinic, she collaborates with clinical teams and researchers to provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary care through urban health centres and First Nation partner communities' health teams. Dr. JoLee's team leads recognizing historical trauma as a crucial determinant of Indigenous health (TRC, 2015). Through Indigenous community engagement, knowledge exchange, clinical intervention, education, and outreach, she ensures high-quality research that directly affects the provincial, national, and international public health of First Nations, Metis, and Indigenous peoples.

Besides serving as the interim co-scientific director of the natawihowin (the art of self-healing) First Nations Health and Wellness Network, which is the only First Nations-specific health research network in Saskatchewan, Dr. JoLee is a Principal Investigator for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHR) program. Under the auspices of the FMHRN and the Health and Social Development Commission (HSDC) of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN). Dr. JoLee also oversees the research mapping of the Metis communities in Western Region III in Saskatchewan.