Positionality Statement

Dr. Sean Ashley, Capilano University

All human lives are both constrained and enabled by social context. My own family history is situated within the Maritimes of Canada. I was born in Moncton, New Brunswick, on the territory of Mi’kma’ki. My parents, Ron and Nancy Ashley, lived their entire lives in New Brunswick, close to where their ancestors had settled generations before. My maternal grandfather’s ancestors migrated from Ireland to New Brunswick in 1830. My maternal grandmother’s family were Acadians who arrived at Fort St. John, Acadia, in 1657. My paternal grandparents’ ancestors were English Loyalists who settled in what is today southwestern New Brunswick on the territory of the Passamaquoddy and Wolastoqiyik people, after the American Revolution.

As a young man I benefited from the privilege that came from being an English speaking, White settler. I attended Mount Allison University, a school that many members of my family had previously attended. I don’t recall ever making a choice to go to university; it was simply always expected given our family’s social position. Despite this privilege, Atlantic Canada is a poor region, and after graduation I found it difficult to find work, so like many young people I headed west in search of economic opportunities. I enrolled in Simon Fraser University for my graduate studies, where I completed my Master of Arts and PhD. I have remained in British Columbia ever since, settling on the unceded territories of the Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueum, Stó:lō, Stz’uminus, and Qayqayt nations.