Dennis McPherson is an Ojibwa and a band member of the Couchiching First Nation at Fort Frances, Ontario. To better understand the issues concerning First Nations communities Mr. McPherson has earned degrees in the arts (B.A.), in social work (H.B.S.W.), in philosophy (H.B.A. -Phil), and in law (LL.B. and LL.M.). Mr. McPherson was the co-ordinator and co-director of the Native Philosophy Project at Lakehead University and co-authored, with Dr. Douglas Rabb (retired), Indian From the Inside: A Study in Ethno-Metaphysics for use as a textbook in the delivery of Philosophy 2805, Native Canadian Worldviews, the first course in Native philosophy to be offered in a Canadian university.
At the annual conference of the Ontario Philosophical Association, held in Ottawa, Ontario, October 18-19, 1991, Mr. McPherson presented a paper on "Heteronomy and Autonomy in Canadian Native Policy" written by Dr. Douglas Rabb and Dennis McPherson. This was a notable event. Mr. McPherson's presentation in Ottawa marked the first time that a Native Canadian has presented a paper on Native philosophy at the Ontario Philosophical Association Conference and possibly at any philosophical conference in Canada.
As the first full-time Chair of the Department, Mr. McPherson was instrumental in the development of the Department of Indigenous Learning within Lakehead University and the Masters Program in Native Philosophy. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Indigenous Learning.
