Profile: Dr. Ronald F. Laliberte

Assistant Professor & 
Undergraduate Chair

  • Ph.D. Calgary (2007)
  • M.A. Saskatchewan (1994)
  • 
B.A. Saskatchewan (1987)

Professor Ron Laliberte is Métis originally from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. During the early 1970s, he moved to Saskatoon where he attended the University of Saskatchewan. His received his undergraduate and Master's degrees in Sociology in 1987 and 1994 respectively from Saskatchewan. After a term position and tenure-track position, in 1998 he became a tenured faculty in the Department of Native Studies. He completed his doctorate degree in the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary. His dissertation research focused on the transition of the migrant labour force from Aboriginal to Mexican workers in southern Alberta’s sugar beet industry. He was an editor of Expressions in Canadian Native Studies (2000). Professor Laliberte's research focus includes Aboriginal labour and Métis history.

Selected Courses Taught:
Seminar Reading in Métis History
Theoretical Perspectives in Native Studies
Research Seminar on Urban Aboriginal Identities in Saskatoon
Aboriginal People and Class, Race and Ethnicity
Graduate Seminar in Métis History

Selected Publications:
R. F. Laliberte, (2006) “The ‘Grab-a-Hoe’ Indians: The Canadian State and the Procurement of Aboriginal Labour for the Southern Alberta Sugar Beet Industry” in Prairie Forum 31, no. 2 (Fall) pp. 305-324.

R. F. Laliberte, (2005) “Howard Adams in the Voices of His Contemporaries” in Howard Adams: The Life of a Métis Leader in His Own Words and in the Words of His Contemporaries. Hartmut Lutz , Murray Hamilton and Donna Heimbecker, Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute.

Selected Conference Presentations:
“Aboriginal Migrant Labour in Southern Alberta’s Sugar Beet Industry” Symposium on the Labour Movement in Saskatchewan, University of Regina, November 22-24, 2002. Published proceedings forthcoming in Canadian Plains Research Center, Regina, 2004.

“The ‘Grab-a-Hoe’ Indians: The Displacement of Aboriginal Migrant Labour in Southern Alberta’s Sugar Beet Industry” Canadian Indigenous Native Studies Association (CINSA) and the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences Conference, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba, June 3, 2004.

“The Contributions of Dr. H. Adams to Aboriginal People” Canadian Indigenous Native Studies Association (CINSA) Presentation, Toronto: University of Toronto, May, 2002

Contact Information:
Mr. Ron Laliberte
Native Studies
University of Saskatchewan
129 Kirk Hall, 117 Science Place
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5C8

Phone: (306) 966-6211
Email: ron.laliberte [at] usask.ca