Cody Groat is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and the Indigenous Studies Program. He is Kanyen'kehaka (Mohawk) and a band member of Six Nations of the Grand River. His father, William, was a survivor of the Sixties Scoop, and his grandparents, Stanley and Jean, were survivors of the Indian Residential School System, including the Mohawk Institute. He completed an MA in World Heritage Studies from the University of Birmingham (UK) in 2017 through the International Centre for Heritage and a PhD in History from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2023. His research is focused on Indigenous cultural heritage, including the commemoration of Indigenous peoples through municipal, provincial, federal, and international designations, as well as Indigenous governance and political sovereignty. Outside of Western, Cody has served as the Chair of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO Memory of the World Advisory Committee and currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Canadian Studies and Ontario History. He is an award winning public historian and has been recognized with the National Trust for Canada Governors' Award, the Russell K. Cooper Prize in Public Programming from the Ontario Historical Society, the Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Exellence in Conservation, and a King Charles III Coronation Medal for services to heritage.