Our guest blogger this week introduces herself: سلمى , a PhD student in the interdisciplinary humanities at Concordia University. “Born and raised in Rabat, Morocco, I grew up speaking Arabic and Amazigh (the Indigenous language of North Africa), as well as French, English and a bit of Spanish. Issues of language, heritage and identity have always been part of my life. At the wake of my twenties, I decided to embark on the PhD journey, after having completed my Master’s degree in Swansea University, Britain, in human rights and international law with a focus on Latin American studies. Currently, my doctoral research is interested in the multiple manifestations of Indigeneity in the case of Montreal, including issues of identity and decolonial praxis. Moving to Montreal, the invisibility of Indigenous peoples in the city reminded me of my own experience as an urban Amazigh living in Morocco’s capital city: there but not really there at the same time. My interest in Indigenous issues in the Canadian context came from a desire to reconnect with my Amazigh and Arab heritage, and understand what Indigeneity means locally as well as globally. I enjoy traveling, the outdoors, listening to all kinds of music and dancing. I am also an etymology geek, especially regarding the intersections between Arabic and Portuguese/Spanish as a way to understand intercultural relations between my ancestors and Southern Europe in history.“
One snowy afternoon in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal), I interrupted my writing activities to call my mother, and check in with the family. Since moving to this city five years ago to pursue my PhD, Facebook has become my main window into that part of the world ‘where the sun sets’ (literally)—a.k.a. المغرب or Morocco–the place I call home.
