This is set of the extracts concerned with Indigenous Identity, Lifelong Learning and Democracy from PIMA Bulletin 18, the whole of which can be found at this link.

Introduction: Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Universities (Kris Magnusson Simon Fraser University (SFU))

Canada bears a legacy of shame in its educational treatment of Indigenous people. Federal legislation and policy, designed to eradicate “the Indian problem”, supported the creation of residential schools throughout Canada; first established in 1870, the last residential school was not closed until 1996. During that time, more than 150,000 First Nation, Metis and Inuit children were removed from their homes and forced to abandon their families, their languages and their cultures. Since the closure of the residential school system, there have been slow improvements in educational attainment rates; however, high school completion rates for Aboriginal learners on and off reserve are still considerably lower than their respective provincial averages. There is a similar gap in the rate of transition to post-secondary education for Aboriginal students.

In recent years, there has been increased momentum towards addressing the challenges for Aboriginal post-secondary education.  Canada’s faculties and schools of education have taken a leadership role in recognizing the need for concrete actions to redress educational inequities. In 2009, the Association of Canadian Deans of Education (ACDE) released the Accord on Indigenous Education, with the vision that, “Indigenous identities, cultures, languages, values, ways of knowing, and knowledge systems will flourish in all Canadian learningsettings.” (http://csse-scee.ca/acde/publications-2/#indigenous). In 2015, after an intensive and far-reaching process, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission  (TRC) released its report on the impacts of the residential school system, and provided 94 Calls to Action, many of which were specifically directed at educational institutions, including institutions of higher learning (http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=890).  

Get Serious about Indigenous Elders on Campus (Roger Boshier, University of British Columbia (UBC))

All over the world university (and post-secondary) authorities are being urged to find ways to bring indigenous elders to campus.  Powerful international, national and local forces are impelling this trend. For instance, lifelong learning advocates highlight the notion of learning from cradle to grave and the importance of embracing wise citizens and learning in a variety of  (not just formal) settings.  The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (2007) buttressed the idea of moving indigenous elders from the periphery to the centre of university life, from ceremonies, land acknowledgements and welcomes, to deep and authentic engagement with research, policy formation, governance and other academic work. 

The 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada made 94 ‘calls to action’ - many pointing at the need to ensure indigenous elders have deep and meaningful (not just decorative) roles in university life.  As a result, many Canadian universities have accelerated the “indigenization” of curriculum and pedagogy. 

In many places elders are brought to campus to say a prayer or to welcome visitors to ‘ancestral’ or ‘traditional’ lands. After the welcome or prayer, the elder goes home. University websites have elaborate (and laborious) procedures – protocol – to be followed when bringing elders to campus.  For example, the UBC webpage has 5 pages of “guidelines” pertaining to acknowledgements and welcomes by elders – parking, gift-giving, who says what?   

At UBC, the President’s Indigenous Advisory Committee wondered how much members of the university knew about the vicious history of white settlement and land theft in Canada. They also noted the fact that people making acknowledgements rarely locate themselves as guests on indigenous land or reveal anything other than complacency concerning colonialism. Progress occurs in small steps and today, the standard UBC acknowledgement of Musqueam contains the word ‘unceded’ [land].   But who knows what that means? Canadian settlers and First Nations are mostly ‘perfect strangers’; neither knows much about the other (Dion, 2007).  However, universities are in the education business and, in our view, duty bound to help ‘strangers’ learn about (and from) one another.   

Here is the point. First Nations rituals and ceremonies are important and the university should acknowledge it sits on indigenous land. But indigenous elders have much more to offer than welcomes, acknowledgements and pastoral care. As indicated in Figure. 1, along with being guardians of customary knowledge and protocol, and acting as pastoral caregivers,elders should be involved with critical analysis(knowledge-creation) and political action.

In British Columbia, First Nations are leading protests against pipelines bringing dirty oil (bitumen) into Vancouver harbour. The university is deeply conflicted (on this and other issues) but needs indigenous elders to bring their knowledge to a broad range of university disciplines, interests and functions.  In May 2018 there was an uproar at Mt. Saint Vincent University (Canada) when people heard a white-settler Professor was to teach a course on residential schools; First Nations demanded that elders bring their ‘lived experience’ into critical analysis concerning this painful and shameful subject. 

Indigenous people tend to invoke spiral or circular notions of reality – in contrast to the more linear world views of most university disciplines and researchers.  Hence, having elders involved in critical analysis or political action will (and should) evoke collisions between First Nations and settler epistemology and world views. Even so, science, engineering, business, health-care and other faculties need to engage with indigenous elders. All would benefit from reading Chief Richard Atleo’s (2011) analysis of how Nuu-cha-nulth customary (traditional) knowledge pertains to the destabilizing traumas of climate change and other global issues. 

Given the state of First Nations in Canada, it will not suffice to have hugely-talented elders buried in a university office or restricted to the First Nations Centre or House of Learning. Knowledge-creation issues - about pipelines, suicide, identity-confusion, colonialism, climate change - demand sustained and immediate attention and political action. However, when settler academics listen to First Nations scholars it is often from within a climate of “benevolent … distancing … liberal multiculturalism and cultural relativism” (Kuokkanen, 2017, p. 137). Yet settlers – young and old – Canadian-born or immigrants - could learn a lot from working with First Nations elders. 

Despite difficulties, there is an indigenous dimension to just about every research project or university initiative.  Hence, elders should be involved in all forms of critical analysis. As shown in Figure 1 (attached), pastoral care is embedded in and is a prerequisite to and corollary of critical analysisand, in the long term, political action designed to build a better university and foster respect for and reconciliation with indigenous people. 

References

Atleo, R. (2011).  Principles of Tsawalk: An indigenous approach to global crisis. Vancouver: UBC Press. 

Dion, S.D. (2007).  Disrupting molded images: identities, responsibilities and relationships – teachers and indigenous subject material.   Teaching Education, 18(4), 329-342.  

Kuokkanen, R. (2017).   Reshaping the university: responsibility, indigenous epistemes, and the logic of the gift.  Vancouver: UBC Press. 

Beyond Pastoral Care: First Nations Elders at Vancouver Island University - Colleen Price (Vancouver Island University)( VIU) 

British Columbia is home to 198 distinct First Nations with more than 30 different languages and close to 60 dialects. The 50 First Nations of Vancouver Island are located in three tribal regions – Coast Salish, Nuu chah nulth, and Kwakiutl.  

Within this rich culture, Vancouver Island University (VIU) sits on unceded lands of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, Tla’amin First Nation, Snaw-naw-as First Nation and Cowichan Tribes across three campuses.  The main campus is in Nanaimo – an old coal mining town along the Salish Sea famous for ferries, eccentric politics, bathtub races and chocolate treats with an unsurprising name – “Nanaimo bars”.

VIU, formerly Malaspina College, was created in 1968 and has a First Nations Advisory Council, Hwulmuxw Mustimuxw Siiem (HMS). It is important that personal integrity and healthy cultural values lead the way to positive community development (Elliott-Nielsen, G & Louie, J, 2015).  In 1975, the founding meeting of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples was held in Port Alberni, near Nanaimo. This event - involving First Nations, Maori, Sami and other indigenous peoples - identified local leaders and stimulated VIU’s commitment to indigenous peoples.

Elders are engaged by personal invitation or via the VIU Office of Aboriginal Education and Engagement. They are paid, mostly part-time, faculty members. Amongst other things, the University is committed to support the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the U.N. Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).  Achieving these goals requires the effort and energy of First Nations Elders committed to pastoral care, critical analysis and political action (see Boshier’s Figure on previous page). 

Elder Roles

In 2018 there were nine Elders working at VIU and they have plenty to do. 

Pastoral Care 

Elders provide pastoral care, primarily by supporting the use of Indigenous knowledge and languages, offering spiritual guidance, assisting students to complete programs, and educating the VIU community about First Nations world-views.  Elders are responsible for leading cultural and ceremonial events and have to balance VIU duties with leadership roles in their communities. 

Critical Analysts

Elders are (and should be) critical analysts in community and classroom settings. First Nations Studies, lunch-and-learn in Shq’apthut, Gathering Place, collaboration on academic papers and conference presentations and community liaison provide numerous opportunities for theorizing, networking and researching.  Many faculty (e.g. Nursing) are required to study and integrate “cultural competency” curriculum. In addition, Elder-directed learning activities such as Kairos blanket exercise (‘an interactive learning experience that teaches the Indigenous rights history we’re rarely taught’) help erode racism, change perspectives and create cross-cultural understanding.  Moreover, working on research or policy projects with a knowledgeable Elder provides students and faculty members with unique learning experiences. Doing research with an Elder is a benefit not generally available at large and important urban universities.

VIU Elders unmask the traumatic histories of local First Nations and ways colonization keeps communities oppressed, impoverished, marginalized and stigmatized (see Mandel, 2015). Like other universities, VIU is a colonial institution and thus conflicted. Hence, having Elders engage in critical analysis creates anxiety and poses problems. Tight schedules and lecture theatres preclude lengthy dialogue and erode the chances of deploying other First Nations principles of learning (FNESC, 2018).  For example, when First Nations people do analysis it is more focused on process than product and circular rather than linear. 

There are few places on campus suitable for learning circles; nor is time allotted for prolonged and intense critical analysis of global (and local) issues.  However, Edgar Faure and his UNESCO Learning To Becolleagues would be happy to know Elder-inspired curricula often takes students outside classrooms and away from formal settings. Compressed field schools, certificate courses, practicums and tribal journeys on Vancouver Island foster critical dialogue and lay the foundations for needed political action.

Political Action

Because Elders occupy leadership positions in their communities they are well positioned to inform VIU faculty and students about significant political questions. Universities derive benefit from and need to support Elders wanting to launch even controversial political projects. 

VIU Elders are nominated by their tribal communities such as Cowichan and Snuneymuxw. In many Canadian universities, Elders only participate in ceremonies and provide pastoral care. Because of its history and location on Vancouver Island, VIU hopes that, along with pastoral care, highly-respected Elders will increasingly be at the centre of attempts to think, write and speak critically and translate indigenous and ‘western’ knowledge into political action.   

References

Elliott-Nielsen, G Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Society & Louie, J,   Stz’uminus First Nation, Office of  Aboriginal Education and Engagement , Annual Report, 2014 – 2015, p.9.

https://www.kairosblanketexercise.org/about/

Manuel, A. (2015).  Unsettling Canada: A national wake-up call. Toronto: Between the Lines Press.

Principles of First Nation Learning.  Retrieved from http://www.fnesc.ca/learningfirstpeoples/

Walk This Path With Us: One University’s Response to Reconciliation in Canada  - Kris Magnusson SFU*                                                                                                           

Around the same time as the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Final report, Simon Fraser University (SFU) created the Aboriginal Strategic Initiative (ASI) and dedicated $9 million in one-time funding to support Aboriginal education at SFU. The Aboriginal Reconciliation Council (ARC) was created to provide recommendations on the best use of the ASI funding. Specifically, the ARC was given two broad mandates:

• Todevelopa proposal and implementation plan for the use of one-time funds to build SFU’s capacity to recruit, educate and support Aboriginal students who will be successful in their programs, careers and lives; and
• To develop an SFU response to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Two co-chairs were appointed to provide leadership for the ARC process: Chris Lewis, a member of the Squamish First Nation and SFU’s Board of Governors and Kris Magnusson, Dean of the Faculty of Education. Invitations to participate as ARC members were sent to a broad representation of the university, including faculty, administration, management, graduate students and undergraduate students. All meetings of the ARC were considered open, meaning that anyone who wanted to participate could attend.

One of the first tasks of the ARC was to determine what to call itself. The term “Aboriginal” was meant to include people who identify as Indigenous, First Nations, Metis, Inuit or other aboriginal self-identification. The goal was to be inclusive of all Aboriginal peoples, regardless of legal “definitions” or labels. The term ‘Reconciliation’ was chosen to align the SFU process with the Calls to Action of the TRC, and to recognize that the ultimate goal of Reconciliation is the establishment of respectful relationships. Finally, the term ‘Council’ was intended to reflect an aboriginal way of showing respect, that involved seeking of advice from the various aboriginal communities in and around SFU and an acknowledgement that the path to reconciliation included the provision of ample opportunity for respectful dialogue and input.

At its earliest meetings, the ARC clarified its mandate and established a set of guiding principles for how it would go about its work. In addition to the broad mandate of providing recommendations for how best to use the ASI funding, the ARC was determined to create and sustain real change, so that Indigenous ways would become fully infused into every aspect of SFU operations. We were also determined to create an enduring legacy: a change in our university culture, in the way we think, act and interact with each other and with Aboriginal individuals and communities. We wanted to sustain where appropriate and create where needed the conditions by which we might collaboratively work towards a preferred future.

The SFU AboriginalReconciliationCouncilshareda simpleyetcompellingvision:thatSFU be a place where Indigenous Peoples flourish; where Indigenous identities are recognized and celebrated; where Indigenous culture is an essential part of the fabric of the University; where  students can learn about and in Indigenous languages; where Indigenous values are respected; where Indigenous ways of knowing and knowledge systems find their place in the research agendas and academic programming of the University; and where we co-create pathways to success for Indigenous students, through close connections to our communities and through effective programs andsupports.

Over the next 14 months, the Aboriginal Reconciliation Council held monthly meetings of its membership, and engaged in an extensive process of consultation, sharing of perceptions, and providing draft sets of recommendations. More than 24 formal consultations took place, including public forums, focus meetings, stakeholder meetings, and presentations to local Band Councils as well as online input opportunities.  

Through the process of open forums, soliciting and receiving feedback, and synthesizing common issues and concerns, a set of 5 principles was established to guide Aboriginal Strategic Initiative funding:

1. Nothing about us without us. Aboriginal representation and consultation must be present at all levels of university decision-making involving aboriginal people and issues.
2. Priority for funding should be placed on projects or actions that would have a direct benefit for current and future aboriginal students, staff and faculty, and for the indigenization of the whole university.
3. ASI funds should not be used to pay for projects or activities that were at the time being funded from discretionary, carry-forward or “soft” funds.
4. Where possible, ASI funds should be leveraged to maximize funding impact. This may include practices such as matching funding, setting of advancement targets, or reallocation of current resources.
5. ASI funds should have as a primary intention the support of projects or initiatives that would have a ‘legacy’ effect.

The application of the guiding principles to the massive amount of feedback and input resulted in the development of 33 specific calls to action, which now form the basis for SFU’s ASI action plan. There are 8 broad clusters of these calls to action:

1. Indigenizing spaces (e.g., the creation of safe and welcoming student spaces and increasing indigenous cultural visibility);
2. Indigenizing/decolonizing curricula and curricular processes (e.g., indigenizing curriculum, engaging in language revitalization activities, the creation of an Indigenous Curriculum Review Committee and the development of an Indigenous Curriculum Resource Centre);
3. Building community supports (e.g., hosting campus-wide events such as Reconciliation Dialogues, and addressing intended and unintended racism through cultural safety and anti-racism training for all employees);
4. Indigenizing/decolonizing policies and practices (e.g., creating an Indigenous Cultural Resource Centre, to advise on culturally appropriate protocols, practices and policies and attending to issues of student safety);
5. Student paths and programming (e.g., the development of community partnerships to plan pathways to and through the university, and the revitalization of the Aboriginal University Transition Program);
6. Administration (e.g., increase levels of aboriginal participation at all levels of the university);
7. Big Hairy Audacious Goals (e.g., create the SFU Institute for Indigenous Dialogue, Governance and Empowerment and/or the Indigenous Centre for Dialogue); and
8. Providing operational support to ensure follow-through on the Calls to Action (e.g., create an ASI Project Manager position). 

The commitment to employ Indigenous ways in the Aboriginal Reconciliation Council (ARC) process also found direct expression in the means by which the final report was submitted. Rather than simply presenting the Final Report (which came to 86 pages) to the senior administration of SFU, the report was presented to President Petter in a Coast Salish Witnessing Ceremony. Convocation mall, a large open-air space at the centre of the Burnaby campus, is where SFU holds its convocation ceremonies. It was transformed into a ceremonial long house, and the ‘families’ of each of the bands/communities that participated in the ARC process were invited to attend. The ceremony was open to all members of the SFU community. The 250+ seats were full, and the surrounding decks and walkways were packed. Traditional prayers, greetings, dancing and drumming were offered, and then the Final Report was passed from one member of the ARC to another, until the co-chairs formally presented it to President Petter.  Honoured guests were invited to witness the hand-over, and to speak to what it meant to them. In this way, it became more than simply a report of a committee; it became a commitment witnessed by representatives of all the communities that SFU serves.

The Final Report was handed over in October of 2017, and today work is under way on a number of the ARC Calls to Action. The funding was a significant contribution for the University to make, and it will result in structural and programmatic changes at the University. Perhaps the greatest impact however will come from the process itself. By genuinely engaging SFU’s communities in a process of reconciliation, we have already taken the next steps on the path towards reconciliation. We have a long and challenging journey ahead of us, but the start is promising.  

The full report may be accessed at this link. 

*Kris Magnusson is Dean of the Faculty of Education and Co-Chair of the SFU Aboriginal Reconciliation Council