Joe Borsato, born and raised in the Williams Lake area, has successfully defended his PhD dissertation which explores Indigenous assertions of sovereignty during the 16 and 17 centuries.  

Having done so, Borsato鈥檚 PhD with Queen鈥檚 University in Ontario is essentially complete.  

鈥淚t鈥檚 the final nail in the coffin,鈥� he said of the PhD which he began in 2020. 

To defend his dissertation, which is a customary part of a doctoral student鈥檚 final evaluation, was an intimidating but satisfying experience.  

鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit of a surreal experience...Three years of your life sort of culminate in that moment,鈥� he said.  

Meeting with international scholars, Borsato discussed his dissertation 鈥� a 350-page document 鈥� at length, talking about the meaning and significance of the research as well as answering questions; some questions deep and conceptual, others more grilling.  

鈥淚t鈥檚 something you really only ever do once,鈥� he said.  

Borsato said his PhD fills a gap in research and creates an agenda for further production of knowledge. 

鈥淲e often talk in Canadian education about treaties...but I don鈥檛 know if we understand that Indigenous sovereignty was something that Indigenous people always asserted,鈥� he said.  

As he explained it, Indigenous sovereignty is about peoples鈥� relation to each other and to their land, and this varies from one nation to another.  

Today, Indigenous people continue to assert their long-standing sovereignty over land, childcare, education and environmental stewardship, among other things. 

His research, Borsato said, demonstrates that Indigenous people across the globe are and always have been self-determining societies regardless of what colonizers think. His dissertation identifies instances between 1570 and 1630 when Indigenous people asserted their sovereignty and challenged colonization through actions such as warfare and diplomacy, producing research in a previously understudied area. 

鈥淢y experience growing up and working in Williams Lake did a lot in shaping it,鈥� said Borsato of his research and dissertation, titled Falsis nominibus imperium: An Oceanic History of Indigenous Power, Virtue, and Territorial Possession in the Crisis of English Colonization, 1570 鈥� 1630. 

Borsato grew up in the Chilcotin at a time when the T艥ilhqot鈥檌n Nation was fighting for its land rights, a 25-year court battle which culminated in the 2014 Supreme Court ruling known as the T艥ilhqot鈥檌n Decision. The first of its kind in Canadian history, the decision affirmed T艥ilhqot鈥檌n ownership and control of 1,900 square kilometres of their ancestral lands. 

He graduated from Williams Lake's Lake City Secondary School in 2011 and, after an undergrad at the University of Calgary and a master's at the University of Alberta, returned to Williams Lake where he then worked for the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin. The knowledge and connections Borsato developed in his role as coordinator of the museum were also an essential part of what developed his interest in the history of Indigenous sovereignty.  

As a final note, Borsato encouraged current students and graduates in Williams Lake to pursue their interests, while also keeping in mind it may not lead them to where they anticipate.  

鈥淏e realistic, but set your own agenda,鈥� he said.  

Borsato is expecting to publish his dissertation with an academic journal in the near future. You can read Borsato's previous works in the  and in the  journal.