Here you will find all of the exercises proposed throughout the Indigenizing and Decolonizing by Grey and Ivy sections.

ReconciliACTions

00 – Introduction

It can be challenging knowing where to start. It may feel uncomfortable especially if justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) are not already part of the conversation at your institute. It takes courage to bring up issues with your peers, colleagues, and supervisors. Regardless of your background or history, Indigenous or settler, you do have a role to play in reconciliation.

Reconciliation is not straightforward; many people get frustrated as there is not a checklist to follow. Reconciliation is a practice that we can adopt into our regular jobs workplaces, and day-to-day life.

01 Vocabulary

Select a term from the vocabulary list, each of which encapsulates a complex concept rich in history, significance, and potential misunderstanding. Delve into the chosen word to unravel its layers, exploring its historical context, nuanced meanings, and personal relevance.

1. Research the historical and cultural significance of your chosen vocabulary word. This deeper investigation will enhance your understanding and provide a more comprehensive perspective on its implications and usage.
2. Reflect on what this term signifies to you individually.
3. Bring your insights and interpretations to your discussion group to share, compare, and deepen your collective understanding of the word’s impact and implications.

02 Doing the Work

Exploring Hesitancy

Activity: take a piece of paper and journal your hesitancies

1. What are you hesitant about? Be as specific as possible
2. Can you identify any underlying reasons for your hesitation, such as fear, uncertainty, lack of knowledge or experience, or past negative experiences?
3. Outline some strategies to address your hesitancy (i.e. seeking out information, seeking support from others, or setting small achievable goals)
4. What are some potential roadblocks that may arise and how can you plan ahead to overcome them?

Dive Deeper with your learning

1. Join or form a discussion group on Indigenization and Decolonization in Education.
   How?
   Ask friends and/or colleagues to work on the module together and meet-up weekly to discuss.
2. Immerse in the land and community. “Effective learning does not happen in a content vacuum,” (Anderson, 2008).
   How?
   Attend events in the community, reach out to communities, contact organizations.
3. Develop a process for working with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and Indigneous communities. Review the following guidelines and make your own version. Be aware that some practices are local and may not apply to Indigenous practices of the Land you work on.
   1. Brandon University. (2019). Guidelines for Respectful Engagement with Knowledge Keepers & Elders.  https://www.brandonu.ca/indigenous/policies-guidelines/knowledge-keepers-and-elders/
   2. Antoine, A., Mason, R., Mason, R., Palahicky, S. & Rodriguez de France, C. (2018). Appendix F: Working with Elders in Pulling Together: A Guide for Curriculum Developers. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. https://opentextbc.ca/indigenizationcurriculumdevelopers/back-matter/appendix-f-working-with-elders/
   3. Ferland, N., Chen, A., Villagrán Becerra, G., & Guillou-Cormier, M. (2021). Working in Good Ways: Practitioner Workshop. Community Engaged Learning University of Manitoba. https://umanitoba.ca/sites/default/files/2021-05/practitioner-workbook.pdf
4. Once you have done the work and can approach with understanding, respect, reciprocity, and humility, connect with Elders/Knowledge Keepers. Can you involve them in your course development and/or delivery?

03 – It is All Relationships

The Four R’s

Explore the 4Rs self-reflection tool. This exploration will help develop a deeper understanding of the 4Rs and how you relate to it personally as well as through your teaching practice and curriculum.

Self-location

Develop a transformative territory acknowledgement that is personal and for the land you live, work, and play on.

You may find it helpful to reflect on and research questions such as:

• Why am I sharing this acknowledgement? Why am I choosing this medium/context to do this?
• How does this acknowledgement relate to the event or work I am doing?
• What is the history of this territory? What are the impacts of colonialism here?
• What is my relationship to this territory? How did I come to be here? How did I or my ancestors come to be here? Have my ancestors always been here? What does this mean to me? How do I remain accountable?
• What are your ethical and political commitments and obligations to this land and Indigenous Peoples?
• What intentions do you have to disrupt and dismantle colonialism beyond this territory acknowledgement?

(Queen’s University: Centre for Teaching and Learning, 2023)

Positionality

What Is Your Instructor Positionality?

Answer the following questions:

• What groups—race, gender, sexual orientation, age, social class, religion, ability and so on—do I identify with and how salient is each group membership to my identity and related actions as an instructor?
• What roles—significant other, parent, sibling, child, friend, instructor, scholar, author—do I have and how do these impact my identity and related actions as an instructor?
• What type of training and experiences do I have? How have they shaped who am I professionally today, and how might they positively or negatively impact marginalized populations in my classes today?
  What beliefs or values and characteristics do I have, and how do they impact my identity and related actions as an instructor?
• In what ways do my identities represent privilege or marginalization, and how might they compare to those of my students? How might I be engaging in actions that marginalize or discourage students? What actions do I take to promote student success for all the students in my classes?

(Harrington, 2022)

Two-Eyed Seeing

Reflect individually in a journal and/or engage in a group discussion on the following questions:

• How could two-eyed seeing influence one’s worldview, relationships, and approach to problem-solving? Does two-eyed seeing demand or inspire a specific philosophy?
• How could the practice of two-eyed seeing be integrated into your daily life? How would it look different in various contexts such as home, work, play? What kind of support or change to the environment is needed to facilitate two-eye seeing?
• What are some contradictions in western ways of knowing vs. Indigenous ways of knowing? Explore concepts such as time, relationships with others and nature, or knowledge.
• How do we mediate the differences of Western ways of knowing vs. Indigenous ways of knowing and hold them both as true and valid? How can these differing views coexist or complement each other in various sectors like education, the trades, or society?
• Share any personal experiences or research historical examples where integrating multiple perspectives has led to innovative solutions or deeper understandings. What practices or mindsets can facilitate the reconciliation and validation of both knowledge systems?

Ecological Thinking

Watch the following talks. Reflect individually in a journal and/or engage in a group discussion.

• Watson, J. (2020). How to build a resilient future using ancient wisdom. TED. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DOOJx7AZfM&ab_channel=TED
• June, L. (2022). 3000-year-old solutions to modern problems. TEDxKC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH5zJxQETl4

Holistic Pedagogy

Reflect individually in a journal and/or engage in a group discussion on the following questions:

• Can you share examples where you’ve observed or personally experienced a significant enhancement in the academic journey of students through supportive measures? What specific support strategies were implemented, and how did they contribute to the improvement in students’ learning experiences, engagement, or academic outcomes?
• What challenges do you anticipate when introducing holistic pedagogy into your institution’s academic culture, and what strategies could effectively address these obstacles?

04 – History of Colonization

Review Section 04 – “History of Colonization.” After reading, conduct additional research to deepen your understanding of the subject.

Reflect individually in a journal and/or engage in a group discussion on the following questions:

• How do the historical timelines of Indigenous peoples in Canada intersect with your own family’s history, including your ancestors such as parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents? What were you or your ancestors doing during key events such as the Indian Act (1876) or the Sixties Scoop, (1960).
• How have colonial policies and practices affected you and your family’s lineage or current social standing. How does this awareness affect your perspective on reconciliation and Indigenous rights?
• Can you imagine what it’s like to be a child taken from your family, or a parent rendered powerless in such a situation? Being forced to endure an overwhelming scale of injustice without any means to resist has persisted across generations. How would your culture remain after centuries of such experiences?
• How has the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada been taught or represented in your education? How has this influenced your perception of Indigenous communities and their historical and ongoing struggles?
• Do you think the historical and current experiences of Indigenous peoples in Canada could be compared to slavery? Consider aspects like loss of autonomy, cultural suppression, and forced assimilation. Was there ever a point where Indigenous peoples were legally or culturally considered slaves, and what features of their treatment might support or challenge this idea?
• Explore your personal connection to the Land in which you live or grew up on. How does this connection, or the lack of it, inform your views on land rights and environmental stewardship?

05 – Build the Local Indigenous Voice

The Perfect Stranger

Watch the following talk:

Dion, S. (2013). Introducing and disrupting the “perfect stranger”. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/59543958

Reflect individually in a journal and/or engage in a group discussion on the following questions:

• Can you recognize aspects of the “perfect stranger” persona within yourself or among your friends, family, or colleagues? How does this mindset emerge in your interactions with or perceptions of Indigenous peoples?
• What do you understand about Indigenous people, and what shapes this understanding? Where did this knowledge about Indigenous peoples come from?
• What does it mean to not be a “perfect stranger”?

Combat Racism – Implicit Bias Self-Awareness

Test the implicit biases you may hold: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

These tests are developed by Project Implicit, a non-profit organization founded by multiple researchers. They function based on word association – it measures how quickly you associate the given words to a specific group which may give a glimpse into your unconscious biases.

It’s important to note that these reflect one’s implicit bias or automatic thoughts. We do not all act nor accept our first thoughts and most importantly, our implicit biases do not define us, especially if we reflect and challenge them where appropriate.

Connect With Indigenous Community

Reflect upon your and your organizations readiness, ability, purpose, and values to engaging with Indigenous Communities through this tool developed by Communities Choose Well (2023).

Values:

1. What are my values?
2. Do my values match, align or complement the values of the potential Indigenous community partner?

Capacity:

1. Do I have the capacity to participate in genuine relationship building outside of working hours on an ongoing basis?
2. Do I have the capacity and interest in participating in the practice of “making relatives”?

Resource Sharing:

1. Am I able and prepared to provide resources (including funding) to the partner if they are better positioned to use it?
2. Am I prepared to support activities/ initiatives that do not directly produce or contribute to my or my organization’s outputs or deliverables? (e.x., participate/ host/ fund a community event that meets a community need but does not contribute to your deliverables.

Allyship & Sharing Power:

1. Am I willing to participate in allyship?
2. Am I willing to use your power to have difficult conversations to advocate for your Indigenous partners? (i.e. Am I prepared to relocate an event if a space will not allow for important protocols like smudging?)

All of the questions as well as reflections can be found here:

Communities Choose Well. (2023). How to Effectively Engage with Indigenous Communities.

https://communitieschoosewell.ca/healthy-communities-framework/7-pillars/partnerships/indigenous-voices-in-partnerships/how-to-effectively-engage-with-indigenous-communities/#incorporating-the-foundational-elements

References

Harrington, C. (2022). Reflect on Your Positionality to Ensure Student Success. [BLOG]. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2022/01/26/successful-instructors-understand-their-own-biases-and-beliefs-opinion

Queen’s University: Centre for Teaching and Learning. (2023). Positionality Statement. Queen’s University. https://www.queensu.ca/ctl/resources/equity-diversity-inclusivity/positionality-statement

Western University. (2018). Guide for Working with Indigenous Students: Interdisciplinary Development Initiative in Applied Indigenous Scholarship. https://teaching.uwo.ca/pdf/teaching/Guide-for-Working-with-Indigenous-Students.pdf