Christine Webster’s research honours Nuu-chah-nulth leadership systems that have guided her people for generations—and offers new insight into what leadership can mean today.
Christine Webster didn’t set out to earn a doctorate—but her path, shaped by family, community and a deep commitment to Indigenous education, eventually led her to a PhD in Leadership Studies. A proud Nuu-chah-nulth woman, Webster grew up between Ahousaht on the west coast of Vancouver Island and Victoria, where her grandparents raised her. This arrangement gave Christine better access to education and a wider range of future career paths. Her journey through post-secondary education followed a winding but purposeful path, shaped by the responsibilities of parenting, meaningful work, and a growing clarity about what success meant for her and her family.
Christine’s work as an administrator in UVic’s Department of Indigenous Education gave her a front-row seat to the power of post-secondary support for Indigenous students—an experience that inspired her to pursue leadership studies at Royal Roads University. There, she partnered with the School of Leadership Studies to explore how programs could be more welcoming to Indigenous learners. As her master’s was ending, she transitioned her graduate learning journey to UVic, pairing courses with Indigenous Language Revitalization offerings and Leadership Studies in a custom path toward her PhD.
In my mind, I thought if I could help the university to better support Indigenous students in higher education, then I was doing my part.”
— Christine Webster
Rooted in a place of love
Christine’s doctoral research grew from a place of deep love for her grandparents, who raised her and instilled in her the values of education and identity. Her dissertation in Leadership Studies began as an effort to reconnect with and honour Nuu-chah-nulth knowledge systems. Christine’s study centered around the question: How do the protocols of the Drying of Tears ceremony enhance the understanding of Nuu-chah-nulth leadership practices?
She explored how leadership, embedded in ceremony, could offer guidance for daily life and inform both Indigenous and non-Indigenous leadership models. The conceptual framing of her dissertation was built around the Nuu-chah-nulth ceremonial curtain, łiicapiłum, which served as a cultural boundary to indicate what knowledge would be shared—and what would remain protected.
It was really important for me to let people know that this study was not a ‘how-to-do’ Nuu-chah-nulth ceremony,” Christine explained. “Nuu-chah-nulth knowledge was more of a framework to get our hearts and our minds in Nuu-chah-nulth thought before discussing leadership.”
— Christine Webster
To guide her methodology, Christine drew on the work of Nuu-chah-nulth scholar Umeek—Dr. Richard Atleo and his theory of tsawalk, which positions Nuu-chah-nulth worldview as central to inquiry. Grounded in the worldview of hišukiš ćawaak—everything is one—her relational approach involved group knowledge (focus groups), conversations (interviews) and reflexive journaling (field notes) as knowledge-gathering tools. She intentionally used Indigenous research terminology alongside Western academic language to make space for future students to see themselves and their ways of knowing in scholarly work.
“I think this is really important,” she said, “so that students who are coming into graduate studies have an example of what it means to use Indigenous research in their own context.”
Honouring collective knowledge
Christine worked with fifteen contributors for her dissertation, with half participating in group knowledge sharing and the other half in one-on-one conversations.
Indigenous scholars approach attribution differently—many advocate for directly quoting Indigenous voices. But in the context of this work, the contributors were introduced as knowledge sources, and their contributions were anonymized, centering the collective wisdom over individual expression.
“One of the contributors said, ‘These are not my words. These are the words that have come from our people for thousands and thousands of years,’” Christine recalled. “That belief was shared by many, and so anonymizing the knowledge was really a way to honour the idea of ancestral knowledge.”
Mapping the threads of leadership
Christine used three interrelated methods to present knowledge in her dissertation: categorization, mind mapping and weaving. These tools helped her translate complex teachings into academic formats while still reflecting Nuu-chah-nulth ways of knowing.
The first method—categorization—relied on a tactile, visual process. The second method—mind mapping—helped Christine make sense of the fragmented categories by connecting them in a visual flow. The third method of weaving—one collective narrative from many contributors—connected the contributor voices back to the key leadership concepts. She crafted five woven narratives, each based on a core leadership concept she presented as Spirituality as Leadership, Community as Leadership, Governance as Leadership, Education as Leadership and Characteristics of Leadership.
One example, drawn from ‘spirituality as leadership,’ integrated contributions from eleven individuals into a single, flowing story. Christine shares an excerpt:
It’s teachings from the older people—different levels of aunties and grandmas and uncles and grandparents. People apply cultural teachings. It’s easy to see if you know what you’re looking for… We really want to do it in a way that honours our ancestors, because they carry these teachings.”
— Christine Webster
These woven stories allowed her to reflect collective understanding, rather than isolated commentary, and mirrored how teachings are passed through generations—layered, shared, lived.
Looking back and ahead
As Christine reflects on her doctoral journey, she describes it as a deeply collective effort, guided by Elders and Knowledge Carriers and supported by family. She sees her research insights as a contribution to Nuu-chah-nulth community knowledge systems and broader Indigenous leadership studies discourse. She’s also mindful that her dissertation represents just a portion of the knowledge shared with her. “That was just what’s in front of the curtain,” she says. “The deeper knowledge lives with our knowledge keepers.”
Christine’s dissertation was exemplary. Her focus on Nuu-chah-nulth values was clearly presented with eloquence and precision. Her writing is spare, yet rich with detail. She exemplifies Nuu-chah-nulth ways of being and doing, not only through her academic work but also through her leadership. Christine is thoughtful, kind, and generous. She consistently shows up ready to contribute meaningfully at all levels of university governance and is a mindful, engaged educator. It has been a great pleasure to witness her growth over the past few years as an emerging Indigenous scholar.”
— Dr. Shauneen Pete, Professor and Chair of the Emerging Indigenous Scholars Circle at Royal Roads University
Looking ahead, Christine is working on ways to collaborate with other scholars and bring her research findings back to community. Her goal is to create a space—through webinars and knowledge-sharing events—where community members can see the outcomes of the education they’ve supported. She hopes her work contributes to students seeing themselves and their teachings reflected in academic spaces.
Congratulations, Christine!
