Merissa Daborn

Dr. Merissa Daborn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba, where she researches intersections of food systems, technoscience, surveillance, and whiteness. Her work critically examines how food spaces become carceral through racialized technological interventions and policing, with a focus on Indigenous sovereignty and relationality.

• PhD (Indigenous Studies), University of Alberta (2021)
• MA (Indigenous Studies), University of Alberta (2017)
• BA (Anthropology & Indigenous Studies), University of Alberta (2015)

Her recent publications address:

• Surveillance technologies in food systems (2025)
• White possessive policing of Winnipeg food spaces (2022)
• Healthism in Winnipeg Indigenous food governance (2021)

Awarded the 2023 Outstanding Teacher Award for excellence in pedagogy, she teaches courses including:

• INDG 1240 - Introduction to Indigenous Peoples in Canada, Part Two
• INDG 2530 - Introduction to Indigenous Theory
• INDG 3350 - Indigenous Organizations
• INDG 7230 - Methodology and Research Issues in Indigenous Studies

Actively involved in abolitionist work, she co-founded the prison solidarity group Bar None and collaborates with grassroots organizations on issues including:

• Indigenous fathers and child welfare systems
• Surveillance normalization in public spaces
• Prisoner support initiatives