Weaving Knowledge Systems Resource Materials

In print since 1971, the American Indian Culture and Research Journal (AICRJ) is an internationally renowned multidisciplinary journal designed for scholars and the general public. The premier journal in Native American studies, it publishes book reviews, literature, and original scholarly papers on a wide range of issues in the fields of history, anthropology, geography, sociology, political science, health, literature, law, education, and the arts. It is published by the American Indian Studies Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. [From Publisher]

The University of the Fraser Valley has presented its first-ever Indigenization and Reconciliation Award to Teaching and Learning Specialist Lorna Andrews. Lorna speaks about her work to educate faculty and staff on Indigenous issues in the efforts towards reconciliation in Canada. [From Website]

The Journal of American Indian Education (JAIE) is a refereed journal publishing original scholarship directly related to the education of American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Indigenous peoples worldwide, including Inuit, Métis, and First Nations of Canada, Māori, Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander peoples, Indigenous peoples of Latin America, Africa, and others. JAIE strives to improve Indigenous education through empirical research, knowledge generation, and transmission to researchers, communities, classrooms, and diverse educational settings. [From Website]

Recently I attended an evening talk by Richard Wagamese, an accomplished Canadian Aboriginal author. He read from some of his books, and talked of his journey as a writer. He provided helpful advice for aspiring authors in the audience. Like Thomas King, he also emphasized the power of story. What we experienced that evening, and the reason why Richard Wagamese’s writing is so compelling, is the connection of story – our stories – to what it means to be human. Richard Wagamese is a great author because he finds ways to connect his stories to our humanity. As we continually search for our own meaning and purpose, these stories allow us to communicate with others who are also searching. In that communication we develop understandings of our shared humanity, and realize that our differences enrich that shared journey. This article tells a more academic story of a research program funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), under their Community University Research Alliance (CURA) initiative. Our program, entitled "Community-Based, Aboriginal Curriculum Initiatives", received funding from 2005 to 2012. There are interrelated stories, but the focus is
on the importance of story for indigenizing the curriculum and making a difference in schools for all children and youth as they learn about First Peoples. Addressing how the hegemonic story of Aboriginal peoples has been created in North America is important in providing the initial framework for this story of our research. [From Author]

In high school Brad hid his heritage from his best friends. He wasn't the only one. As an Indigenous Educator, Brad seeks to ensure First Peoples move forward with courage.

Brad Baker is a member of the Squamish Nation and is presently working as a District Principal for the North Vancouver School District. His passion is bringing the history of First Nations to the classroom to allow a better understanding of how we as a society can move forward in a collaborative manner. Brad was the recipient of the national Indspire Guiding The Journey Indigenous Educator Award in Leadership in 2014. Brad believes that conversation on the tough topics of Aboriginal Education will lead to reconciliation which will enhance the learning environment for all learners. GO FORWARD WITH COURAGE. [From YouTube]

The Canadian Journal of Native Studies is a highly recognized journal in the field of Native Studies. It began as a publication of the Society for the Advancement of Native Studies which is no longer in operation and whose founder; Sam Corrigan; was the Chief Editor from 1981-2008. it comes out on a bi-annual basis, and publishes original research which is refereed by peer review. [From Website]

Adopting the principle that the Indigenization of education is critical to the reconciliation of a colonialist Canadian past with a more inclusive, and decolonized future, the ITA’s stated objectives were to share best practices for Indigenizing the academy in all aspects of its program delivery and governance; to foster cross-institutional dialogue and generate practical solutions for administrative and curricular shortcomings in the existing post-secondary delivery model; to develop resources that would enable administrators, faculty and Indigenizers to implement strategies and initiatives; and to build the networks that would facilitate the process of Indigenization generally.

The American Indian Law Review serves as a nationwide scholarly forum for analysis of developments in legal issues pertaining to Native Americans and indigenous peoples worldwide. Publishing two issues each year, AILR circulates in-depth articles by legal scholars, attorneys and other expert observers. In addition, the Review provides comments and notes written by student members and editors on a variety of Indian law-related topics. [From Website]

American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research is a professionally refereed scientific journal. It contains empirical research, program evaluations, case studies, unpublished dissertations, and other articles in the behavioral, social, and health sciences which clearly relate to the mental health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives. [From Website]

This expansive collection explores the complexities of decolonization and indigenization of post-secondary institutions. Seeking to advance critical scholarship on issues including the place of Indigenous epistemologies, knowledges, curriculum, and pedagogy, Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education in Canada aims to build space in the academy for Indigenous peoples and resistance and reconciliation. This 15-chapter collection is built around the two connecting themes of Indigenous epistemologies and decolonizing post-secondary institutions. Aiming to advance and transform the Canadian academy, the authors of this volume discuss strategies for shifting power dynamics and Eurocentric perspectives within higher education. Written by academics from across Canada, the text reflects the critical importance of the discourse on truth and reconciliation in educational contexts and how these discourses are viewed in institutions across the country. This expansive resource is essential to students and scholars focusing on Indigenous knowledges, education and pedagogies, and curriculum studies. FEATURES: Includes discussion questions and further reading lists and offers practical examples of how one can engage in decolonization work within the academy Features Canadian authors in varying academic positions and provides content specific to the Canadian education system. [From Publisher]

This essay is in four parts. The first part deals with the form and force of the exhortation, "always Indigenize!" The second part offers no single solution to the struggle for justice inside and outside universities but instead suggests the doublet, "vision and conspiracy," as a way of taking advantage of millennial dependencies in governments and elite institutions while recognizing that such dependencies exist within neopaternalistic structures designed to be perceived as ethical and inclusive while practising an oppressive and contradictory politics of difference. The third part argues for the radical humanities as a crucial piece of the decolonizing puzzle and offers an example of the kind of critique that non-Indigenous scholars should undertake as one element in their contribution to the Indigenization process. And finally, I turn more particularly to the discipline of English within the grand narrative of English as a world language, a narrative constantly and uncontrollably as a world language, a narrative constantly and uncontrollably interrupted and abducted by both native and non-native speakers in familiar as well as exotic settings. Here I argue for a more concertedly activist disciplinarity which will have at its centre new alliances between English literary studies and Indigenous studies. This argument, like the exhortation always to Indigenize, gestures towards rather than guarantees a particular future. In transforming each other through new rapprochements and articulations that both express and connect in strategically contingent ways (Hall 141), academic English and Indigenous studies can help transform the institutions that house them and the publics which fund them, but only if "we" work together to make that happen. [From Author]

The First Peoples Child & Family Review is an open-access, interdisciplinary, and peer-reviewed journal honouring the voices and perspectives of First peoples and non-Indigenous allies and supporters. Our mission is to promote research, critical analysis, stories, standpoints, and educational resources which advance innovation within child, family, and community based-matters for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit, as well as Indigenous peoples abroad. [From Publisher]

Following the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, Canadian universities and colleges have felt pressured to indigenize their institutions. What “indigenization” has looked like, however, has varied significantly. Based on the input from an anonymous online survey of 25 Indigenous academics and their allies, we assert that indigenization is a three-part spectrum. On one end is Indigenous inclusion, in the middle reconciliation indigenization, and on the other end decolonial indigenization. We conclude that despite using reconciliatory language, post-secondary institutions in Canada focus predominantly on Indigenous inclusion. We offer two suggestions of policy and praxis—treaty-based decolonial indigenization and resurgence-based decolonial indigenization—to demonstrate a way toward more just Canadian academy. [From Author]

In recent decades, educators have been seeking ways to improve outcomes for Indigenous students. Yet most Indigenous education still takes place within a theoretical framework based in Eurocentric thought. Teaching Each Other provides an alternative framework for teachers working with Indigenous students – one that moves beyond merely acknowledging Indigenous culture that actually strengthens Indigenous identity. Drawing on Nehinuw (Cree) concepts such as kiskinaumatowin, or 'teaching each other', Goulet and Goulet demonstrate how teachers and students can become partners in education. They provide a template for educators anywhere who want to engage with students whose culture is different from that of the mainstream. [From Publisher]

What are the role and responsibility of the professor of European ancestry, who has also battled for legitimizing Indigenous epistemologies and educational considerations in academe, in working with students who take up the challenges involved in this scholarship? This article focuses on an analysis of some of the articulated responses to a panel presented at a graduate conference in a faculty and university committed to equity and social justice. It creates space to address such questions as What does it mean to take Indigenous thought seriously in an educational institution? How can the relational and traditional/historic aspects of these knowledges, with their commitment to spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and physical dimensions, move beyond acceptance to being seen as normal? How to ensure that intellectual space is open to this turn to the re-creation of such knowledges in the context of the post/colonial university? The article interrogates the roles, limits, and possibilities of education in addressing persistent epistemological inequities as certain knowledges are valued in the university whereas others are relegated to secondary status when they are acknowledged at all. Guswentha and Homi Bhabha's notion of third space provide analytic moments to investigate the tensions and contestations as knowledges collide, interact, and reform in confined discursive spaces. [From Author]

This book offers an in-depth study of a remarkable school for native students, the Joe Duquette High School in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The key to the school's success is its commitment to aboriginal spirituality as a guiding principle for both curriculum and human behaviour. The sacred circle, a recognition of the interrelatedness of all things, is the foundation of the school's philosophy. Sweet grass circles, trips to the sweat lodge, feasts, and respect for the teaching of Elders are central elements of the Duquette educational experience. Making the Spirit Dance Within offers a model for educating native students that stands in stark contrast to the ignorance of First Nations history and culture typical of mainstream Canadian schools. [From Publisher]

This toolkit is intended to assist with efforts to create and continue the establishment of respectful dialogue and partnership arrangements between Aboriginal institutes, First Nations communities, public post-secondary institutions, industry partners, and the Ministry of Advanced Education.

It provides background information and sample templates for the creation of agreements that reflect equitable and collaborative partnerships between post-secondary institutions, including Indigenous, public and private institutions. [From Website]

From improved critical thinking to increased self-esteem and school retention, teachers and students have noted many benefits to bringing Aboriginal viewpoints into public school classrooms. In Integrating Aboriginal Perspectives Into the School Curriculum, Yatta Kanu provides the first comprehensive study of how these frameworks can be effectively implemented to maximize Indigenous students' engagement, learning, and academic achievement. Based on six years of empirical research, Kanu offers insights from youths, instructors, and school administrators, highlighting specific elements that make a difference in achieving positive educational outcomes. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines, from cognitive psychology to civics, her findings are widely applicable across both pedagogical subjects and diverse cultural groups. Kanu combines theoretical analysis and practical recommendations to emphasize the need for fresh thinking and creative experimentation in developing curricula and policy. Amidst global calls to increase school success for Indigenous students, this work is a timely and valuable addition to the literature on Aboriginal education. [From Publisher]

In December 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its calls to action for reconciliation related to the oppressive legacy of Indian Residential Schools. Required actions include increased teaching of intercultural competencies and incorporation of indigenous ways of knowing and learning. Intercultural Communication as a discipline has primarily been developed from euro-centric traditions based in three domains of learning referred to as Bloom’s taxonomy. Scholars and practitioners have increasingly identified problems in the way that intercultural competency is taught. The decolonization of education is implicated in finding solutions to those problems. Indigenization of education is one such effort. This chapter posits the Medicine Wheel, a teaching/learning framework that has widespread use in indigenous communities, for use in instructing intercultural communication. Bloom’s taxonomy of the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains, is missing the fourth quadrant of the Medicine Wheel, spiritual. Examples of the spiritual quadrant are offered. [From Author]

Nishnaabe Kinoomaadwin Naadmaadwin
Published by the School of Native Human Services - Native Social Work Journal, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario. The Native Social Work Journal is registered with the Canadian Association of Learned Journals. Cover artwork by Leland Bell. An open access journal. [From Website]

In 2015, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) described Canada’s residential school policy, established in the 1880’s and active through most of the 20th century, as ‘cultural genocide’. Earlier that same year, Maclean’s magazine described Winnipeg as Canada’s most racist Winnipeg. Winnipeg, situated on Treaty One territory, has the largest Indigenous population of any Canadian City. Situated in the centre of the City, The University of Winnipeg is seeking ways to respond to the TRC Calls to Action and is exploring ways to Indigenise. In this paper I describe the pedagogical approach of a small university department purposefully situated outside of the main campus in a low-income inner-city neighbourhood with a large Indigenous population. The department integrates critical, place-based pedagogies rooted in an understanding of systemic oppression. We agree that reconciliation begins with acknowledging the truth about the past and present damage caused by colonial policies. Despite the fact that what we have learned is essential to reconciliation in the postsecondary education context, we face many obstacles in a political context driven by neoliberal austerity that threatens our approach and makes reconciliation near impossible to achieve. [From Author]

From the University of Manitoba. A variety of articles about Indigenizing the curriculum and more. 2008 - 2014.

Early in 2006, the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and Alaska Pacific University (APU) formed a partnership to improve the learning climates at our institutions. Our stated goal was to make our campuses more inclusive of minority voices and ways of knowing and safer places for the free exchange of ideas. Supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation’s national Difficult Dialogues initiative, we created faculty development, classroom practice, and Books of the Year models to support our faculty members to reach different kinds of learners, promote deeper kinds of learning, and lead more productive discussions of controversial issues they may have been avoiding in their classrooms. That work is described in Start Talking: A Handbook for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education, published in 2008 and available online through the UAA Difficult Dialogues website (www.difficultdialoguesuaa.org). [From Author]

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has sparked new discussions about reforming education to move beyond colonialist representations of history and to better reflect Indigenous worldviews in the classroom. Trickster Chases the Tale of Education considers the work of educators and Mi’kmaw community members, whose collaborative projects address the learning needs of Aboriginal people.

Writing in the form of a trickster tale, Sylvia Moore contrasts Western logic and Indigenous wisdom by presenting dialogues between her own self-reflective voice and the voice of Crow, a central trickster character, in order to highlight the convergence of these two worldviews in teaching and learning. Exploring the challenges of incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, and being into education, this volume weaves together the voices of co-researchers, community members, and traditional Mi’kmaw story characters to creatively bring readers into the realm of Indigenous values. Through a detailed study of a community project to highlight the important connection between the Mi’kmaw and salmon, Moore reveals teachings of respect, reciprocity, and responsibility, and emphasizes the need for repairing and strengthening relationships with people and all other life. These dialogues demonstrate the need for educators to critically examine their assumptions about the world, decolonize their thinking, and embrace Indigenous knowledge as an essential part of curriculum. [From Publisher]

Concerned by the need to decolonize education for Aboriginal students, the authors explore philosophies of Indigenous ways of knowing and those of the 21st century learning movement. In their efforts to propose a way forward with Aboriginal education, the authors inquire into harmonies between Aboriginal knowledges and tenets of 21st century education. Three stories from the authors’ research serve as examples of decolonizing approaches that value the congruence between 21st century education and Indigenous knowledges. These stories highlight the need for two-eyed seeing, co-constructing curriculum for language and culture revitalization, and drawing from community contexts to create curriculum. [From Author]

The Deepening Knowledge Project (DKP) seeks to infuse Indigenous peoples' histories, knowledges and pedagogies into all levels of education in Canada. The project is a part of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, which is located on the territories of Anishinaabe and Onkwehonwe peoples. Led by a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty, students and staff, DKP provides information about the history and perspectives of First Nations, Métis and Inuit and Native American cultures; information related to the issues of pressing concern to Indigenous peoples and their communities today; as well as curricula for teachers to incorporate this into teaching practice.
All of the resources on the Deepening Knowledge website are organized by grade, subject, and theme. Please browse our site using the menus at the top and to the left of this page to find lessons and links to help support your classroom learning. These resources provide ideas, lesson templates, and links to books, films, and music to bring Indigenous perspectives, knowledges, and stories into your classroom. We encourage you to use them with other resources and determine what is appropriate for your class. [From Website]

The UR Strategic Plan, Peyak Aski Kikawinaw (2015-2020) identifies three key priority areas that include Student Success, Community Engagement and Research Impact. Indigenization and sustainability are over-arching themes for this plan. Each key priority identifies particular objectives. Indigenization is embedded in our collective work at the University of Regina and
the Federated Colleges. [From Author]

Indigenization is an overarching theme of our university’s strategic plan, Peyak Aski Kikawinaw (Cree: We are one with mother earth). In my role as Lead, I animate the vision for Indigenization as identified by the members of the Indigenous Advisory Circle (IAC). In our 2015–2020 strategic plan, the IAC identified five strategic priorities that are aligned with the university’s strategic plan, including Governance & Leadership; Student Support; Community Engagement; Indigenous Research; and Academic Indigenization. [From Author]

An Indigenous wholistic framework is used to examine the question "what makes a university a successful place for Aboriginal students?" This study moves away from a student deficit discourse by critiquing universities from an Indigenous methodological and theoretical approach in terms of (a) how Indigenous knowledges were defined and found in universities and (b) how Indigenous understandings of success, responsibility, and accountability resonated in three universities in British Columbia, Canada. This research is grounded in Indigenous theory; however, social reproduction theory was used to explain power structures inherent in the mainstream educational system. The Indigenous research process involved a mixed methods approach. Approximately 60 interviews and four sharing circles were held with a total of 92 participants representing various stakeholders across the institution. In addition, the Undergraduate Baccalaureate Graduate Surveys. [From Author]

In the winter term of 2016, Cape Breton University launched a revised version of a second year Mi’kmaw Studies course entitled Learning from the Knowledge Keepers of Mi’kmaki (MIKM 2701). This course was designed to be led by local Elders and Knowledge keepers with facilitation support from university faculty. It was designed by course facilitators as a dual-mode course, with the opportunity for students to participate face-to-face and online, and the excitement it generated quickly went “viral.” In this paper, we describe the experiences of the participants in the course through an analysis of their own reflections on the 13 weeks of instruction. The aim of this analysis is to share course design considerations for post secondary institutions attempting to “Indigenize the academy” at a course level, but also to evaluate the process of co-learning as it was evidenced in the course as a means to address educational complexity and decolonization efforts in the classroom. [From Author]

AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples is an internationally peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal published continuously online as well as in quarterly print issues. AlterNative publishes scholarly research on Indigenous worldviews and experiences of decolonization from Indigenous perspectives from around the world. AlterNative provides the latest thinking and practice in Indigenous scholarship and has become the leading source for scholarship by Indigenous peoples and for those working alongside and with Indigenous communities. [From Publisher]

This series and content was developed to support educators with these questions:

How do we respectfully bring Indigenous arts into our teaching practice when we are unable to invite an Indigenous artist to lead our learning?​
How can we, as non-Indigenous educators or Indigenous educators from different Nations from the art we are sharing, support students to engage in non-appropriative Indigenous arts practices?​
How can we, as educators, support Indigenous resurgence through Indigenous arts education?
[From Website]

With the move to "Indigenize" and "Decolonize" Education underway, what could an Indigenous university look like and how might it be for everyone?

Dr. Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair is Anishinaabe, originally from St. Peter’s (Little Peguis) Indian Settlement near Selkirk, Manitoba, and is an Associate Professor and current Head of the Department of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba. [From Youtube]

Recently I was invited to join a provincial discussion about the high school social science curriculum. One area of contention was whether all students should be required to take a course that would combine and integrate social studies, history, and native studies. Aware that integration of native studies content into existing courses could easily result in the erasure of native studies, I suggested, at that provincial meeting, that all students should take such a course if its starting point and continued foundation was native studies. One participant, in response to this suggestion, stated, “Aboriginal people are not the only people here.” [From Author]

This Journal focuses on critical discourse and research in diaspora, indigenous, and minority education; is dedicated to researching cultural sustainability in a world increasingly consolidating under national, transnational, and global organizations. [From Publisher]

This article focuses on the creation, implementation, experiences, and research surrounding the first online professional development course for principals of First Nations schools across Canada, named the First Nations Schools’ Principals Course (FNSPC). First, we describe the contexts, goals, and designing of the FNSPC. Second, we outline the complexities of bringing Indigenous values into an online educational space. Lastly, we describe how using the Five R’s (Kirkness & Barnhardt, 2001; Restoule, 2008) of respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility, and relationships recasts the challenges of Indigenizing online education into opportunities for spaces of traditional and non-traditional Indigenous learning through the FNSPC. [From Author]

A new body of research is beginning to demonstrate that Aboriginal students’ self-esteem is a key factor in their school success. An educational environment
that honours the culture, language and world view of the Aboriginal student is critical. Schools need to meaningfully represent and include Aboriginal people’s
contributions, innovations and inventions.2 Aboriginal students require a learning environment that honours who they are and where they have come from. These
strategies nurture the self-esteem – the positive interconnection between the physical, emotional-mental, intellectual and spiritual realms – of Aboriginal
students. [From Author]

aboriginal policy studies is an online, peer-reviewed and multidisciplinary journal that, on a bi-annual basis, publishes original, scholarly, and policy relevant research on issues relevant to Métis, non-status Indians and urban Aboriginal peoples in Canada. [From Website]

The Canadian Journal of Native Education is published twice yearly: in spring/summer a theme issue is compiled at the First Nations House of Learning at the University of British Columbia; and in fall/winter a general edition is compiled by the First Nations Graduate Education Program at the University of Alberta. Occasional supplements are also published. [From Website] Available online to 2013 and then in print in Chilliwack Library.

During the past two decades, Native American Studies has emerged as a central arena in which Native American populations in the United States define the cultural, religious, legal, and historical parameters of scholarship and creativity essential for survival in the modern world. Founded in 1985, Wicazo Sa Review is a journal in support of this particular type of scholarship, providing inquiries into the Indian past and its relationship to the vital present. It aims to be an interdisciplinary instrument to assist indigenous peoples of the Americas in taking possession of their own intellectual and creative pursuits. [From Publisher]

As the journal of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) is based in North America but seeks to bridge the distances across the Indigenous world. The editors of NAIS are committed to creating a dynamic intellectual space for the communication and dissemination of excellent scholarship related to Indigenous Studies. [From Publisher]

Studies in American Indian Literatures (SAIL) is the only journal in the United States that focuses exclusively on American Indian literatures. With a wide scope of scholars and creative contributors, the journal is on the cutting edge of activity in the field. SAIL invites the submission of scholarly, critical pedagogical, and theoretical manuscripts focused on any aspect of American Indian literatures as well as the submission of poetry and short fiction, bibliographical essays, review essays, and interviews. SAIL defines "literatures" broadly to include all written, spoken, and visual texts created by Native peoples. [From Publisher]

American Indian Quarterly has earned its reputation as one of the dominant journals in American Indian studies by presenting the best and most thought-provoking scholarship in the field. The journal is a forum for diverse voices and perspectives spanning a variety of academic disciplines. The common thread is AIQ’s commitment to publishing work that contributes to the development of American Indian studies as a field and to the sovereignty and continuance of American Indian nations and cultures. In addition to peer-reviewed articles, AIQ features reviews of books, films, and exhibits. [From Publisher]

Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society solicits any work purposefully engaged in the decolonization process, regardless of discipline or field, encouraging work that actively seeks undisciplinary connections that work both against and beyond the Western academy. We recognize that this is a wide net to cast but feel strongly that decolonization must happen at all levels, in all fields, and all locations; decolonization seeks to explore the relationships between knowledges and tears down the artificial disciplinary demarcations of dominant ways of knowing and being. Colonial power affects all areas of life and thought - this journal seeks to engage and confront that power at every level. [From Publisher]

Features original scholarly research on issues from Aboriginal perspectives in contemporary & historical contexts. It is a multidisciplinary, social science based periodical featuring research from Canada & abroad. Ceased publication 2016 [From EBSCO]

As summer turned into fall of 2012, 275 delegates from 33 post-secondary institutions came together at the University of the Fraser Valley’s Aboriginal Gathering Place. The purpose of the gathering: to discuss indigenization – a way of making universities welcoming for indigenous cultures, knowledge, learners, faculty, and staff. [From Website]

The International Journal of Indigenous Health (IJIH) was established to advance knowledge and understanding to improve Indigenous health. The Journal seeks to bring knowledge from diverse intellectual traditions together with a focus on culturally diverse Indigenous voices, methodologies and epistemology. The Journal is peer-reviewed, online, open-access and shares innovative health research across disciplines, Indigenous communities, and countries. Building on its trusted reputation for sharing community-relevant and high-quality knowledge, the IJIH welcomes submissions within the IJIH mandate from researchers and practitioners in Indigenous health around the world. [From Publisher]

An editorial and advisory board made up of experts in Indigenous issues leads this peer-reviewed journal. Regionally, they represent North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. IIPJ is a peer-reviewed, policy-relevant research journal addressing issues pertaining to Indigenous Peoples throughout the world. At its founding, we felt it was an important time to take up the development of IIPJ because we saw growing similarity in the challenges facing Indigenous Peoples worldwide and yet no dedicated peer-reviewed forum for discussion of these challenges. Whether we look at health, educational attainment, development, social welfare, or any of the many key issues facing peoples of this world, we find important and common concerns being expressed by Indigenous Peoples and their communities. This Journal aims to expose the policy issues related to these concerns by encouraging and giving expression to the very best research, which can then be used as an evidence base to guide policy making. We are also concerned that research and policy be developed in an ethical manner by taking into direct consideration needs and concerns of the peoples themselves. [From Website]

In this chapter, the author draws on personal experiences as pedagogical advisor and as a doctoral student, to consider how recognizing voice, family, and vulnerabilities may assist in developing a sense of accountability in academia. Reflecting on the Canadian context of reconciliation, the author considers how moving from an intercultural to an equity paradigm may melt the cultural iceberg. [From Author]

This book argues that two principal factors are inhibiting Native students from transitioning from school to college and from succeeding in their post-secondary studies. It presents models and examples of pathways to success that align with Native American students' aspirations and cultural values. Many attend schools that are poorly resourced where they are often discouraged from aspiring to college. Many are alienated from the educational system by a lack of culturally appropriate and meaningful environment or support systems that reflect Indigenous values of community, sharing, honoring extended family, giving-back to one's community, and respect for creation. The contributors to this book highlight Indigenized college access programs, meaning programs developed by, not just for, the Indigenous community, and are adapted, or developed, for the unique Indigenous populations they serve. [From Publisher]

Building Indigeneity into the curricula at Canadian post-secondary schools requires more than just introducing Indigenous history and knowledge. To ensure systemic change, we must have the courage to engage in uncomfortable conversations with ourselves and in every classroom, boardroom, library, breakout room and theatre within the post-secondary system. [From Website]

This article presents an evolving transformative praxis referred to as “a potlatch methodology” to establish wholistic truth and reconciliation engagement for diverse classroom compositions, drawing on traditional ways of knowing in the authors' Híɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) communities. The Potlach is a high-context (ancient, culturally and spiritually informed) approach designed to apply intercultural /transformative learning concepts necessary for witnessing greater intergenerational learning and success. At the micro level, the method can be used to engage your students and to design your lessons plans and rubrics; at the macro level, its utility can also serve to respectfully engage community scholars to help indigenize your institution (Wilcox et al. 2008). In this article, we model the ways in which we create inclusive teaching spaces by incorporating our Indigenous languages, storytelling, and ways of knowing and learning into our courses and teaching approaches. For example, as you read the article, you may notice the ways in which we articulate our positionality and sources of knowledge to create an inclusive learning space, or the ways in which we infuse traditional academic writing with storytelling, argumentation, and unique concepts from our cultures, represented in our original languages and spelling in order to decolonize academic discourse. [From Author]

Colonialism is a significant problem that impacts how Indigenous (and all) students engage with learning, and how teachers create learning contexts. In this dissertation study, I examined how a Community of Inquiry (CoI), comprised of Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators, parents, academics, and community members came together to (re)imagine educational contexts that could better support Indigenous (and all) students. Although much of the research was co-constructed with members of the CoI, the research design, activities, and interpretation were informed by literature discussing colonialism, decolonization, and collaborative inquiry focusing on CoIs. I used a four-dimensional model of colonialism to clarify challenges in the educational system. Decolonizing perspectives were used to critically confront colonialism, and (re)imagine ethical relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples. CoI models offered a way to build on the strength of diverse perspectives. These theoretical considerations were a springboard for investigating how the CoI came together, what they identified as key challenges students and teachers navigated, and the pedagogical principles and practices they co-constructed to support Indigenous (and all) learners in a small school district in British Columbia, Canada. This research was conducted using a critical ethnographic case study methodology, grounded in decolonizing perspectives. Within this approach, research methods were co-constructed with participants to ensure that the research undertaken was situated and responsive to the needs of Indigenous students. Findings from this study highlighted specific CoI structures, such as facilitation, context, communication, and goals that opened possibilities for reflection and transformation among CoI participants. Using these structures, participants co-constructed understandings, grappled with pedagogical questions, and (re)imagined a shared future. Participants built from this foundation to create a set of seven principles and practices that could cultivate supportive learning environments. The principles and practices they co-constructed were designed to inspire educators’ self-reflection, create a space that accepts and builds from the strengths of Indigenous and decolonizing perspectives, and bolster supports for Indigenous (and all) students. Lastly, I discuss how these findings contribute to the literature on CoIs, decolonizing possibilities, and pedagogical practices, and provide suggestions educators may use to open decolonizing possibilities within their own contexts. [From Author]

This chapter tells the story of a group of faculty members from various disciplines, with little expertise or training in Indigenous studies or related fields, who explored these issues over the course of one academic year, learning to interrogate, and in many cases, unsettle, their own histories and assumptions in the process. [From Author]

While reconciliation seems like a vague or unattainable concept, RTS breaks it down into small but impactful steps for everyone and anyone. Our work focuses on learning from the past, gaining the tools to make change in our present and being empowered to create a better future. [From Website]