Former Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council treaty manager Cliff Atleo Jr. is the winner of Yale University’s 5th annual Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Writing Fellowship in American Indian and Indigenous Studies.
Atleo is in his fourth and final year of his academic studies. He is finishing up a degree in political sciences and is working on his dissertation, a requirement for a PhD.
According to Yale University, the prestigious fellowship is intended to develop American Indian Studies at the school by facilitating the completion of the doctorate by scholars working on pressing issues related to the American Indian experience.
While at Yale, Atleo will focus his research on economic activity in Nuu-chah-nulth territories. He said he is very excited for the opportunity to work with Yale University Professor Ned Blackhawk.
Through his dissertation, Atleo said he would be examining the prospects of and the challenges to living Nuu-chah-nulth-aht in contemporary times.
“I will look at controversial stuff like the fish farm and mining industries,” said Atleo. He will also include his research on Nuu-chah-nulth families living ‘off the land’ –type lifestyles.
“I want to try to understand economic activity both on a small scale and a broader scale,” he added, saying he has looked at the Clayoquot Sound Science Panel Recommendations with blended Nuu-chah-nulth knowledge and values with western scientific input as a means to land-use and resource management.
Atleo spoke of recent efforts of first nations to return to culture through language camps, canoe journeys and more.
“There is an academic belief that you can’t go back,” Atleo said. But some Nuu-chah-nulth people are working hard to reclaim a way of life.
Atleo Jr. returned to his studies in Indigenous Governance through the University of Alberta after he left NTC in 2005. He lived in Edmonton for two years to work on his PhD, then returned to Victoria where he continued his studies.
“I worked for NTC from 2001 to 2005 as treaty manager,” Atleo said. He went on to work for Lyackson First Nation and the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group before returning to school full time in 2006.
“I completed my BA in political science at UVic in 2008 and my MA in Indigenous Governance, also from UVic in 2010,” Atleo said. He is hoping to earn his PhD in 2015.
The Yale fellowship that Atleo earned has a term of one year. As a Roe Cloud Fellowship recipient, he will have full access to the substantial Yale library resources to complete his degree. He will receive a living allowance and individual medical coverage for the year that he is there.
Atleo was delighted to hear the news that he won the fellowship.
“I honestly didn’t expect it,” he said.
Yale University is located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is an Ivy League university noted for its excellence, with high academic standards and social prestige. It is one of the top universities in the world ranking with Harvard, Princeton and Columbia.
While Atleo Jr. is thrilled about this rare opportunity, he has some practical matters to take into consideration. He and his partner are the proud parents of a toddler and are expecting their second child in October.
Besides getting family health insurance in place, the family must make a decision about which country their new baby will be born in.
Fortunately, Atleo’s wife has family in Ontario, which is not too far from New Haven, Connecticut.
The family plans to make the big move to Connecticut in August.
He expects to finish his dissertation, approximately 250 pages, by the end of summer 2015.
Atleo will defend his dissertation in Alberta later next year.
When asked why he thought he was selected to win the Henry Roe Cloud Fellowship Atleo replied, “They must think it’s important work.”
