Savage Bear (formerly Tracy Bear) is a Nehiyawiskwew (Cree woman) and member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation in northern Saskatchewan. She holds joint academic appointments in the Faculties of Social Sciences and Health Sciences. Before coming to McMaster, Bear worked with the University of Alberta, where she was the director of the Indigenous Women & Youth Resilience Project and the academic lead on ‘Indigenous Canada,’ and assistant professor of Native Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies.

An accomplished academic, Bear has made significant contributions to Indigenous scholarship and the national Indigenous education landscape since earning her PhD from the University of Alberta in 2016. Her current research includes social justice, prison abolition, body sovereignty, sexuality and gender, contemporary Indigenous art, and Indigenous literature.