The Heritage of Hidden History

When she was young, Shelisa told her mom she wanted a job where she could read books all day. Now as a recent graduate with her doctoral degree from the University of Manitoba, she is a proud historian. She’s also one of the newest postdoctoral fellows on Augustana Campus, working with the Chester Ronning Centre over the next year. As a researcher of settler colonialism in her home Manitoba, her work delves deep into the often hidden layers of immigration, religion and violence that has shaped Canada’s past and continues to impact the present.  

How would you describe your role as a postdoctoral fellow for those who don’t know?

As a postdoctoral fellow, I work with the Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life while also having institutional support for my research. My research is in settler colonialism and religion, so I get to work on projects and engage campus in those questions while also revising my doctoral dissertation into a book. 

How would you describe your work in one or two sentences? 

I am a historian who studies immigration and settler colonialism in Canada. 

What do people find most surprising about your work?

Before this point, I was working largely in Manitoba, and my research draws on Manitoba newspapers in the 1870s. Most people have a general understanding of what that time period was like, but when I present my research findings, people often find it surprising how violent and racist intentions are clearly stated out in the open. There's no question that those doing violent actions knew what they were doing. There is no having to guess or read between the lines — they're very clear in their goals. I think that is often surprising for people because they assume it would have been more secretive. 

What is one big problem you want to address or goal you want to achieve with your work?

As a historian, I want to tell the truth about settler history and through telling the truth, expose how Canada's reputation as a peacefully created nation is often incorrect, especially when it comes to immigration and settling across the prairies. That's not a peaceful process. Settler colonialism is always violent to implement and violent to maintain. Canada isn’t the exception to that rule. Obviously, it can be a little bit depressing, but it's also what really happened, and I think we need to talk about that.

So far, what is one of your favorite things about Augustana?

I love working at the Ronning Centre. It's nice to be part of a small community within a small community. Right away, I felt very welcomed and supported. 

If you had unlimited time and resources, what’s your dream project in your field?

I would love to digitize every prairie newspaper ever published into one database with impeccable word searching. That's so inaccessible to think about because of the amount of time and technology it would take, but man, it would make my life so much easier. 

What is the best advice you’ve ever received? 

When I was going through grad school, my supervisor once told me that when you're writing something, it never feels perfect or done. It never feels like you have a final draft ready to send off. But you simply have to decide that it's good enough, and then it becomes your final draft. Recognizing that completing a project was about mindset and not perfection was very helpful for me. Instead of waiting to achieve some sort of perfection that maybe just delays your work indefinitely, you can just decide when it's done and then it's done. 

What did you want to be when you were in Grade 3? 

At that age, I didn't know what jobs existed, but I told my mom I wanted a job where I could get paid to read books all day. Which is funny because that’s sort of what I'm doing right now! 

What’s the last show you binge-watched and loved?

When I'm having a hard day, I will always turn to binge watching something with Anne of Green Gables. That's my comfort media.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

There are two books I’m always telling people to read: Clearing the Plains by James Daschuk and The North-West is our Mother by Jean Teillet. Both are very accessible and good introductions to the history of Western Canada. 

Where did you grow up and what do you love about your hometown?

I grew up in Morden, a small town in the Mennonite/Evangelical bible belt in southern Manitoba. It was hard and challenging in a lot of ways, but it was also an incredibly close community. I'm still close friends with the people that I went to school with and I see them as often as I can. Growing up in a really close-knit religious community has its challenges, but the benefit is that the community is really unparalleled. 

You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be and why?

If I could have anyone for dinner, I would invite my friends. We're all scattered across Canada right now. We still see each other as often as we can, but it's never often enough. So I would love for all of us to be in the same place, even just for dinner would be really, really lovely.

What’s one thing you’re grateful for?

My beautiful cat, Edith.

Learn more about Shelisa

Shelisa Klassen received her doctoral degree from the University of Manitoba in 2023. Her work has been published in the Journal of Mennonite Studies and the Prairie History Journal. She has also spoken at a number of community events in Winnipeg and southern Manitoba, engaging various settler communities with the early history of her province. Shelisa looks forward to engaging in dialogue about settler colonialism and religion during her time at the Ronning Centre.