Indigenization

Our CTLR team comes to this work from diverse backgrounds and disciplinary perspectives. We begin by acknowledging our own positionality and place as non-Indigenous folks of diverse backgrounds and disciplinary perspectives. We are not experts, but we have a responsibility to join in this work and educate ourselves. We seek to facilitate, support, and share resources with others. We look to and listen to Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Keepers, scholars and community leaders. We recognize the limitations of our knowledge, and understand that humility, risk-taking and accepting discomfort are part of this process. 

For 2023-24, the CTLR team is committed to:

• The instructional associates, online developers and manager of e-learning completing the Pulling Together Guide for Curriculum Developers series with support and involvement of the VCC Indigenous Education department. 
  Pulling Together: A Guide for Indigenization of Post-Secondary Institutions is a set of open professional learning guides that are the result of collaboration between BCcampus, the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training, and a steering committee of Indigenous education leaders. The content in these guides is authored by teams of Indigenous and ally writers from across B.C.
• Beginning consultation with Indigenous Education and Community Engagement about updates to program renewal guiding questions and curriculum development documents with respect to Indigenization and decolonization.
• Co-facilitating a Pulling Together for Teachers and Instructors learning series with IECE. 
• Providing resources and peer learning support in consultation with IECE for instructors/curriculum developers interested in starting or continuing their own and/or department journey of indigenizing and decolonizing curriculum and instruction. 

The resources below are not a comprehensive list but a gathering of some possible entry points for your journey - starting with grounding knowledge of the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, the impacts of colonization, and Indigenous resilience and resistance. With respect to teaching and learning, you will also find resources on Indigenous ways of knowing and teaching, what Indigenization of education means, land acknowledgements, finding authentic resources, supporting Indigenous students, and land-based learning. We have tried as much as possible to centre resources from the lands and host nations we are privileged to work on.

The Indigenous Education and Community Engagement department at VCC is an excellent resource and collaborated with us to suggest and review the resources on this page. They lead many community education events during the year at VCC and can connect you with VCC Elders, Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and Cultural Advisors. You can also look into the wider community for events to participate in like National Indigenous Peoples Day, National Truth and Reconciliation Day, visiting the Aboriginal Friendship centre for pow wow family nights, Hoobiyee Nisga’a New Year at the PNE and others.   

“The road we travel is equal in importance to the destination we seek. There are no shortcuts. When it comes to truth and reconciliation we are forced to go the distance.” Justice Murray Sinclair

We all have our own unique starting point and positionality in this work. There will be mistakes and relearning on the way, but know that you’re not journeying alone. The First Peoples Principles of Learning provide guidance as you engage in this work: learning requires the exploration of one’s identity; learning takes patience and time; learning involves recognizing the consequences of one‘s actions; learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential and relational; learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge; learning is embedded in memory, history, and story; learning involves generational roles and responsibilities; learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and/or in certain situations; and learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors. We welcome feedback on this list as it evolves with time and in relationship.

“Decolonization requires an understanding of Indigenous history and acceptance and acknowledgement of the truth and consequences of that history. The process of decolonization must include non-Indigenous people and Indigenous Peoples working toward a future that includes all.” – Kory Willson and Collen Hodgson, Pulling Together: Foundations Guide

• First Peoples Guide for Newcomers (online book)
• Pulling Together Foundations Guide (online book)
• San’Yas Anti-Racism Indigenous Cultural Safety Training Program (online course, check VCC’s People Services Learning for Life series for upcoming spots)
• Musqueam Teaching Kit
• University of Alberta Indigenous Canada MOOC (free online course)
• Indigenous activism – past, present and future (article)
• Indigenous resistance - Fight to protect Mother Earth (article)

“What we see in these [Indigenous education] frameworks are approaches to learning that are holistic. They emphasize social, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of learning. These frameworks advance ways of knowing that are experiential, land-based, tied to narrative traditions and promote intergenerational learning.” - Dr. Jan Hare, Learning from Indigenous World-Views

• First Peoples Principles of Learning (website) Jo-Anne Chrona, with reflections on each of the First Peoples Principles of Learning
• Learning from Indigenous World-Views (video, 10 min) Dr. Jan Hare, Anishinaabe from M’Chigeeng First Nation, University of British Columbia
• Indigenous Pedagogy  (website) Learn Alberta
• Etuaptmumk: Two-Eyed Seeing (video, 14 min) Rebecca Thomas
• UBC’s Reconciliation through Education MOOC (6 week online free course, only opens at certain times of year)
• Land-Based Learning (article)
• Introduction to Land-Based Education (video, 10 min) Dr. Glen Coulthard

“Indigenization is a process of naturalizing Indigenous knowledge systems and making them evident to transform spaces, places, and hearts. In the context of post-secondary education, this involves bringing Indigenous knowledge and approaches together with Western knowledge systems. This benefits not only Indigenous students but all students, teachers, and community members...”- Pulling Together for Curriculum Developers Guide

“[Indigenizing] is positioned as verb, not a noun, not an outcome as such …  we need to understand this is a continual process of learning and that as we learn we have a responsibility to share with others and that’s just a teaching of hands back hands forward again.”  Dr. Jo-Ann Archibald

• Indigenizing Higher Education (video series, < 5min)  Mukwa Musayett (Dr. Shelly Johnson), Canada Research Chair, Indigenizing Higher Education, Thompson Rivers University
• What does Indigenizing the curriculum mean? (video, 7 min) Dr. Jo-Ann Archibald
• How do you do it? Indigenizing the Curriculum 101 (video, 25 min) Mukwa Musayett
• First Nations and higher education: The four R’s – Respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility. (article) Verna Kirkness and J.R. Barnhardt 
• Faculty perspectives (video series, 20 min) Interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty at UBC about topics like “differing student knowledge levels in the classroom, the impacts of contemporary events and initiatives on increasing awareness of Indigenous topics, the importance of community building to create positive classroom climates, and the collective nature of institutional change.”
• What I learned in class today (student perspectives) (video, 13 min). “Undergraduate and graduate students at UBC coming from diverse disciplines recount problematic encounters with peers and instructors during conversations about Indigenous histories, perspectives, and contemporary realities. They also share advice to faculty about how to set up classroom spaces in ways that account for the positionalities, lived experiences, emotions, and power dynamics of students in the room.”
• Pulling Together Guide for Teachers and Instructors (open book, best done with a group but can be used individually)
• Teaching remotely from an Indigenous perspective (podcast)
• Indigenous ways of teaching, learning and being with Libby Roderick (podcast)
• What can universities do to support Indigenous resurgence? (video, 5 min) Gerald Taiaiake Alfred

Elder Deanne George, Tsleil-Waututh Nation giving territorial welcome.

The current institutional territorial acknowledgement for VCC is below.

“We acknowledge that Vancouver Community College (VCC) is located on the traditional unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples who have been stewards of this land from time immemorial.”

It is a starting place toward your own personalized land acknowledgement. According to Clay Little, Associate Director of Indigenous Education and Community Education, developing a personalized land acknowledgement, takes time and practice as you become consistent in correctly saying the names of the host nations, and then work on adding your own context and ancestry, and personal commitments toward reconciliation. The articles and videos below will help you explore some of the complexity and intentionality of giving a land acknowledgement.

• Land acknowledgements – what’s wrong with them (CBC news article)
• Territorial Acknowledgements: Going Beyond the Script (video: 13 min) University of Alberta
• UBC videos on land acknowledgements
• native-land.ca (find out whose land you’re on)

How to thoughtfully consider authentic resources and invitation to Indigenous speakers.

If you are interested in inviting an Elder to your classroom as a guest speaker, please plan for an honorarium of at least $200 for up to 1.5 hours of an Elder’s time. Email IECE to explore possibilities to work with VCC Elders, Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and Cultural Advisors.

• Appropriate Uses of Indigenous Content (Pulling Together for Curriculum Developers)
• How and when to invite Indigenous speakers to the classroom (website)
• Weaving Ways: Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Classroom and Schools (pdf)
• Indigenous Information Literacy (online book) Kwantlen Polytechnic University
• Indigenous information literacy ) (videos) Kwantlen Polytechnic University
• Authentic First Peoples Resources: 10-12, adult learners (pdf) First Nations Education Steering Committee, BC
• BC First Peoples 12 Teacher Resource Guide (pdf) This guide is intended in part to address the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, particularly the call to “integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms” (clause 62) and “build student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy and mutual respect” (clause 63). The focus of the guide is on holistic, student-centered learning.

Working with Indigenous students

• Guide for Working with Indigenous Students (pdf)
• Indigenous cultural competency self-assessment checklist
• 15 strategies for teachers of Aboriginal students
• How do I get started - FAQ for non-Indigenous STEM faculty (pdf)
• Indigenous Ally Toolkit (pdf)

• Indigenous Pedagogy: VCC Library Resources (several resources on Truth and Reconciliation, Indigenous History and current topics, Indigenous knowledge and traditions, teaching approaches, and decolonizing higher education).
• Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: VCC Library Resources
• All My Relations podcast by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) and Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation)
• Unreserved podcast with Rosanna Deerchild (O-Pipon-Na-Piwan Cree Nation)
• Warrior Life by Dr. Pam Palmater (Mik’maw) Featuring the voices of Indigenous warriors, advocates & leaders on the front lines of Indigenous resistance, resurgence and revitalization, who are protecting our lands, peoples and sovereignty.
• APTN News
• National Film Board’s Indigenous cinema page