Dr. Allan Downey is Dakelh (Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation), a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous History, and a Member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Scientists, and Artists. An Associate Professor in the Department of History and Indigenous Studies Department at McMaster University, Allan is a former Fulbright Fellow at Columbia University and the author of The Creator’s Game: Lacrosse, Identity, and Indigenous Nationhood (UBC Press, 2018). His book received several national awards, including the 2019 Canada Prize from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Allan is also an award-winning filmmaker and the co-director of the animations Deskaheh (2024) and Rotinonshón:ni Ironworkers (2020). In 2023, Allan established the Indigenous youth mentorship program Resurgent Histories: The Indigenous History Lab at McMaster University. The lab functions as a collaborative hub connecting Indigenous youth, artists, scholars, and community-based organizations to manifest Indigenous histories by creating digital animations for public dissemination. Beyond his research and teaching activities, one of Allan’s greatest passions is working with Indigenous youth, and he splits his time volunteering for Indigenous communities throughout the year.
