Christine Diindiisi McCleave, PhD (enrolled Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe, U.S. Tribal citizen), is an Indigenous scholar, public educator, and policy advocate whose work centers Indigenous rights, healing, and diplomacy. She has a PhD in Indigenous Studies from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her dissertation examines the historical, cultural, legal, and political dynamics surrounding the ceremonial use of peyote in Indigenous contexts, and the impacts of the contemporary psychedelic landscape on Indigenous communities.

Dr. Diindiisi previously served as Chief Executive Officer of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, where she led national research and federal policy efforts advancing truth, justice, and healing for boarding school survivors and descendants. Her work has included engagement at the United Nations, collaboration with the U.S. Department of the Interior on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, and support for federal legislation advancing a national truth commission in the United States.

Her scholarship and public work examine the contemporary politics of psychedelic medicine through Indigenous frameworks of sovereignty, relational accountability, and ethical stewardship. Most recently, she facilitated Colorado’s Federally Recognized American Tribes and Indigenous Communities Working Group under the Natural Medicine Health Act and supported development of the working group’s final report. She currently works with the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund, supporting efforts to protect Indigenous sacred medicines and biocultural knowledge from extractive exploitation.