Databases & Archives

U of T Libraries Indigenous Studies Resources

A.R. Bobiwash Papers

In May 2013, the University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services (UTARMS) completed accessioning the papers of Alan Rodney Bobiwash. The personal records of Bobiwash document his career as a university instructor, Aboriginal and anti-racist activist, consultant, and representative for global Indigenous rights.

The UTARMS are open to the public and you do not need an appointment. For more information visit the UTARMS website.

Alan Rodney Bobiwash (1959-2002) was a Canadian First Nations and anti-racist activist, scholar, and crusader for racial equality and social justice. Alan Rodney Bobiwash was born in Blind River, Ontario in 1959 as part of the Anishinaabek Nation, from the Mississagi First Nation on the north shore of Lake Huron. Bobiwash was born into the Bear Clan and his Anishinaabek name, Wacoquaakmik, meant “the breath of the land”.

From 1988-1990 he taught at Trent University in the Native Studies Department where he was a lecturer in a wide variety of First Nations courses at all levels. After a break from teaching, Bobiwash began lecturing at the University of Toronto in the Aboriginal Studies Program in 1996. At the time, Bobiwash was also the Director of First Nations House at the University of Toronto, as well as the coordinator for the Office of Aboriginal Student Services and Programs.

Throughout his professional career, Bobiwash, as a representative of many different First Nations and anti-racist organizations, attended, organized and participated in numerous conferences, seminars and workshops around the world. Bobiwash was also a highly sought-after academic and professional public speaker, who was known for his passion for the subjects he addressed, and for his humour in addressing them. Rodney Bobiwash died of cardiovascular disease associated with complications from diabetes on January 13, 2002, at the age of 42.