Warren Cariou, a professor in the department of english, theatre, film & media, has spent his career thinking about stories. Cariou focuses on where the stories come from, who carries them and how they connect people to the land.
“My research involves Indigenous storytelling, writing and land relations,” he said. “I am interested in the ways that all three of these are interconnected in Indigenous traditions.” Many storytellers describe stories as emerging from the land itself, he explained, and retelling them becomes a way of maintaining relationships with territories. His work also examines how environmental damage from developments like oil extraction or hydroelectric dams has shaped communities and cultural memory.
Cariou’s research is tied closely to his own upbringing. “My dad was an amazing storyteller in the Métis tradition, so I have always been inspired by his example,” he said. Growing up near the Athabasca tar sands also exposed him to the cultural and environmental disruption caused by resource extraction. “I have felt a responsibility to tell the stories of Indigenous people who have been affected,” he said.
That responsibility led to Petrography, one of his recent creative projects. Using bitumen from the Athabasca region, Cariou created photographs depicting both the damage caused by oil extraction and the landscapes that persist beyond industrial development. The project emerged during a previous film collaboration with U of M colleague Neil McArthur.
“I realized during the filmmaking process that the bitumen is naturally occurring and that it had traditional uses for Indigenous people before the oil companies came,” Cariou said. “In my Petrography project, I am trying to find a new way of relating to oil, one that is more in keeping with Indigenous teachings about respect for the land and for one another.”
Across his work, storytelling became a form of knowledge that transcends genres. “A story is not just an entertainment — it is also a condensed and memorable form of science, law, psychology and ethics,” he explained. Many stories record teachings about survival, ethical relations or the careful observation of plants, animals, weather and stars. The land itself functions as a character and a teacher, shaping both the story and the listener.
Cariou’s approach has contributed to fields such as Indigenous environmental thought and energy humanities, where he proposes what he calls “Indigenous energy intimacy.” In contrast to Western ideas of energy as a commodity, he sees energy as a relationship between humans and land. He hoped this framework would encourage people to think more critically about the resources that sustain daily life. “If we understand that we are related to our energy sources […] we will be much more aware of the environmental and cultural costs of using them,” he noted.
His creative practice — spanning memoir, fiction, poetry, film and photography — reflects the fluidity of oral storytelling. “Oral storytellers are often retelling their stories, but each time the story is a little different,” he said. Moving between mediums allows him to explore a subject from multiple directions. “Each of those forms provides a new way of understanding the topic.”
Cariou’s upcoming projects continue this multiform approach. He is currently working on an audiobook featuring Indigenous oral storytellers, created in collaboration with the publishing company McClelland & Stewart. “I hope that listeners will feel like they are sitting at a kitchen table or at a campfire [while] hearing stories that will captivate them,” he said.
For students interested in Indigenous literature or environmental humanities, he emphasized humility and attentive listening. “Being humble means abandoning the idea of ‘mastering’ a subject and instead opening yourself to the possibility of being moved, and being changed, by what you are learning,” he said. “Spending time with storytellers has taught me to be a better listener, but it has also taught me that I have so much more to learn.”
Cariou said one of his greatest inspirations is Omushkego Cree storyteller Louis Bird. Despite facing difficulties throughout his life, Bird remains driven by curiosity and joy. “At 91 years old, he is an inspiration for learners everywhere,” Cariou said.
