Âsokan– Building the Bridge to Reconciliation

in Post-Secondary Education Alberta Advising Symposium

Calgary, AB November 2017

∗ Who are we? ∗ My story - a white woman from the prairies ∗ The college experience as seen by this advisor ∗ What is happening at our post-secondary

institutions? ∗ Discussion and sharing of resources

Tanisi!

Introductions

∗Where are we from? ∗What is our

connection to this topic?

“By acknowledging gaps in diversity and asking for guidance from those with greater cultural competence, advisors can make significant progress toward their own cultural competence” (Archambault 186).

Cultural Competence

How did I get here?

http://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/jarita-naistus

A White Woman in a Colonial Institution on Treaty 6 Land

This is me…

∗ Faculty (SFT) ∗ Senior Academic Advisor (on

leave) ∗ University Transfer ∗ Lakeland College ∗ Lloydminster, Alberta

∗ Email ∗ charlene.bonnar@lakelandco

llege.ca ∗ Facebook ∗ “Lakeland Charlene Bonnar”

My belief… “…all of us who work with students in post-secondary education have a role to play in re-storying our collective pasts and redirecting our futures. Change begins by raising awareness about our own cultural assumptions and indoctrinations. It is no longer sufficient to have good intentions; we must unpack what has been given to us as cultural baggage and take action” (Bonnar)

My very white childhood…

∗ Popular culture ∗Racialized language ∗ Textbook rhetoric

What I heard and learned as a child…

http://nctr.ca/map.php

Residential Schools and the Intergenerational Impact

My Cultural Incompetence

∗ Lengelle, R., Jardine, C., & Bonnar, C. (2018). Writing the self for reconciliation and global citizenship: The inner dialogue and creative voices for cultural healing. In F. Meijers, & H.J.M. Hermans (Eds), The Dialogical Self in Education: A multicultural perspective. (pp. 81-96) New York, NY: Springer.

The next step for me…

My Perspective as an Academic Advisor

The Lakeland College Experience

FNMI Student Statistics

2017-2018 ∗ Total UT Students ∗ 301

∗ Self Declared FNMI ∗ 21 = 7%

∗ Actual FNMI (to date) ∗ 41 = 14%

2016- 2017 ∗ Total UT Students ∗ 271

∗ Self Declared FNMI ∗ 9 = 3%

∗ Actual FNMI ∗ 41 = 15%

∗ “What’s the big deal with the residential schools? That was generations ago. Why haven’t they gotten over it by now?”

∗ “So what are we supposed to call them?” ∗ “How could she just leave her kids behind to come to

college?” ∗ “Really, why do teachers need to learn all this

Aboriginal history?” ∗ “My grandmother was abused in a Catholic boarding

school too. It wasn’t only Natives, you know.”

What I heard as an educated adult from other educated adults…

∗ According to the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada,

[f]or over a century, the central goals of Canada’s Aboriginal policy were to eliminate Aboriginal governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in Canada….

The TRC Report

…The establishment and operation of residential schools were a central element to this policy, which can best be described as “cultural genocide”.… (TRC 1)

∗ Be vulnerable – acknowledge gaps in knowledge and seek to fill them

∗ Attend on-campus and community cultural events ∗ Seek mentors ∗ Ask questions ∗ Become an advocate ∗ Share resources ∗ Partake in PD opportunities ∗ Consider your office environment

Archambault (199-200)

Building Cultural Competence

My Office

KAIROS Blanket Exercise http://www.kairoscanada.org/what-we-do/indigenous-rights/blanket-exercise

Field Trips & Guest Speakers

New Initiatives – Winter 2017

∗ Established an Aboriginal Student Advisory Council

∗ Hired an Indigenous Support Specialist

∗ Special Events ∗ Traditional feast ∗ Bannock making contest ∗ Round dance ∗ Convocation

New Initiatives – Fall 2017

∗ Flag Raising Ceremony ∗ Indigenous Student Lounge

(in progress) ∗ Orange Shirt Day ∗ Introduction to the Cree

Language course ∗ Teepee Raising (annual

event in partnership with local school divisions)

Reconciliation Speaker Series Fred Sasakamoose MMIWG Walk / ReDress Photography Project Harold Johnson Dr. Dwayne Donald & Elder Bob Cardinal

Indigenizing the Academy What is happening at other institutions?

https://www.univcan.ca/media-room/media-releases/universities-canada-principles-

on-indigenous-education/

Indigenization is understood as “the transformation of the existing academy by including Indigenous knowledges, voices, critiques, scholars, students and material as well as the establishment of physical and epistemic spaces that facilitate the ethical stewardship of a plurality of Indigenous knowledges and practices so thoroughly as to constitute an essential element of the university. It is not limited to Indigenous people, but encompasses all students and faculty, for the benefit of our academic integrity and our social viability” www.uregina.ca/president/assets/docs/president-docs/indigenization/indigenize-decolonize-university-courses.pdf

University of Regina 100 Ways to Indigenize and Decolonize

University of Saskatchewan

https://aboriginal.usask.ca/

University of Calgary https://www.ucalgary.ca/indigenous-strategy/files/indigenous-strategy/17-unv-001-indigenous-

strategy_publication_final_nov17_digital.pdf

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/treaty-6-and-metis-nation-flags-to-fly-permanently-over-macewan-university?utm_source=Academica+Indigenous+Top+Ten&utm_campaign=40f70f0a35-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_31&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3481455c59-40f70f0a35-51915753

http://mtroyal.ca/IndigenousMountRoyal/

Where do we go from here?

“Canadians must do more than just talk about reconciliation; we must learn how to practice reconciliation in our everyday lives—within ourselves and our families, and in our communities, governments, places of worship, schools, and workplaces. To do so constructively, Canadians must remain committed to the ongoing work of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships” (TRC 21).

∗ Events, programs, and toolkits: ∗ http://reconciliationcanada.ca/

∗ National Center for Truth and Reconciliation: ∗ http://nctr.ca/map.php

∗ Timeline of events: ∗ http://wherearethechildren.ca/en/timeline/

∗ CBC Indigenous on Facebook ∗ A National Crime by John Milloy

Suggested Resources

∗ Monchalin, Lisa. The Colonial Problem: An Indigenous Perspective on Crime and Injustice in Canada. U of T Press, 2016.

∗ Alberta Government ∗ https://education.alberta.ca/first-nations-métis-and-inuit-

education/guiding-documents/everyone/about-the-documents/?searchMode=3

∗ MacEwan University – Time to Listen http://www.macewan.ca/wcm/MacEwanNews/LONGFORM_TIME_TO_LISTEN

∗ Archambault, Karen L. “Developing Self-Knowledge as a First Step Toward Cultural Competence.” The New Advisor Guidebook: Mastering the Art of Academic Advising, edited by Pat Folsom et al., Jossey-Bass/NACADA, 2015, pp. 185-201.

∗ Bonnar, Charlene. “Âsokan– Building the Bridge to Reconciliation, One Story at a Time.” Athabasca University, 2017. Available at: http://dtpr.lib.athabascau.ca/action/viewdtrdesc.php?cpk=308&id=50309

References

∗ Kinew, Wab. The Reason You Walk. Toronto: Penguin, 2015.

∗ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Volume One: Summary. James Lorimer and Company, 2015.

Final Thoughts - Wab Kinew

∗ “Reconciliation is realized when two people come together and understand that what they share unites them and that what is different about them needs to be respected” (Kinew 211).