Archive | Reports and Summaries

Indigenous Perspectives on the Natural World

2014 greenSPEAK Seminar Series Tuesday, April 1, 2014 Shirley Hardman, Senior Advisor Indigenous Affairs  and Chantelle Marlor offered a joint Seminar Indigenous Perspectives and understanding biological or ecological knowledge. More and more work is being done to tie together Resource Management, Environmental Studies, and Aboriginal Ecological Knowledge, so that balanced relationships with their environments facilitate comprehensive understanding of […]

Outcomes Report for the Indigenizing the Academy Conference August 26-28 2012

Outcomes Report for the Indigenizing the Academy Conference August 26-28 2012 Summary Report on Outcomes ITA   Dr. Ken Brealey, Associate Dean of Faculty, College of Arts University of the Fraser Valley, October 8 2013 Introduction   The Indigenizing the Academy Conference (ITA) was held at the Gathering Center at the new Canada Education Park […]

Senior Administrators on Governance: necessary to consult with Aboriginal advisors

Senior Administrators felt that it was necessary to consult with Aboriginal advisors to get started.  It was considered important to have Learning Place for First Nations, which most institutions have, and First Nations programming included in the strategic plan. Programs needed to be created that acknowledge multiple nations.  Administrators noted that many departments within the […]

Indigenizing the Academy Elders

Indigenizers on Governance: Aboriginal hiring strategy to properly support students, create atmosphere of safety and trust

Indigenizers stressed, among other things, that First Nations should be hired throughout institutions, not just the First Nations studies department, and that institutions should report to aboriginal councils and that there be aboriginals and elders on the Board of Governors. It was felt that Indigenizing needed to be done by First Nations people to be […]

Elders on Governance: use love to combat prejudice, to promote body, mind, emotion and spirit; to “walk the talk”

Elders stressed that best practices in indigenizing would include making language and particularly language immersion an important part of indigenization. Indigenous teaching methods – employing patience, and teaching with love, with “no slapping or yelling” — were recommended as well, rather than token efforts (“not enough to take a non-indigenous program and slap a name […]

Where can I feel at home, and be who I am? Students’ Personal and Institutional Reflections on Indigenizing the Academy

Students principally   spoke to the questions of addressing misconceptions of what indigenization meant: they felt that a separate gathering space was needed where they could feel at home and culturally safe, feeling they could be themselves and not be judged. Also addressed were issues of structural discrimination typical of a Eurocentric post-secondary institution: mentioned as […]