Magnifying and healing colonial trauma in higher education: Persistent settler colonial dynamics at the Indigenizing university.

Abstract

Processes of Indigenization under way in Canada aim to bring more Indigenous students and faculty to mainstream colleges and universities. These Indigenization initiatives are critical components that work toward reconciling systemic and societal inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous within higher education. Despite these important efforts, institutions of higher education were founded on and continue to reflect the goals and norms of a settler colonial society, and such contexts constitute a complicated and evolving environment for Indigenous people. Based on interviews with 23 Indigenous faculty, students, staff, and community members, this paper explores their experiences at an Indigenizing university. We outline how encounters with ongoing colonialism and contradictions at an Indigenizing university both generated new pain and echoed existing historical trauma. In many ways, explicit and publicized institutional efforts to incorporate Indigenous people and perspectives, while needed and valued, simultaneously magnified the cultural dissonance, biases, and power structures within the institution. Consequently, participants identified needs for healing that were insufficiently supported and also constrained by institutional logics. This study calls attention to the settler colonial dynamics that often persist within North American colleges and universities in their efforts to target and recruit Indigenous students and how such institutions should support robust and culturally appropriate healing practices and resources that depart from default institutional understandings and operative processes.

Diversity and development of Indigenous rehabilitation professional student identity

“…Steinman and Sanchez [ 34 ] emphasize that the process of Indigenization – meaningful changes to practices and processes in universities to include Indigenous Peoples, and ways of knowing and doing things - must be done thoughtfully to minimize the re-creation of harm. If universities prioritize public and explicit changes, for example, celebrating the hiring of Indigenous faculty and incorporating Indigenous art into the environment, without deconstructing policy that upholds colonial power structures, this contradiction can perpetuate colonial power dynamics and harm to Indigenous Peoples.…”

“…The students in this study identified several important ways that cultural incongruity can be reduced that is supported by literature and Indigenous leaders. The most important of these is hiring Indigenous faculty staff, and support services and ensuring they are included meaningfully in all aspects of the academic institution [ 34 , 35 ]. Indigenization in the university is not possible without Indigenous leadership and working partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty and staff.…”

“…Steinman and Sanchez [34] emphasize that the process of Indigenization -meaningful changes to practices and processes in universities to include Indigenous Peoples, and ways of knowing and doing things -must be done thoughtfully to minimize the re-creation of harm.…”

How ethnic identity affects campus experience and academic outcomes for Native American undergraduates.

“…Settler colonialism continues today and actively causes harm to many NA students (Masta, 2019; Steinman & Kovats Sánchez, 2021). Masta (2019) discussed three markers of ongoing settler colonialism in higher education.…”