Teaching American Indian Studies to Reflect American Indian Ways of Knowing and to Interrupt Cycles of Genocide

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

“…Taking these Native student and faculty experiences into consideration, Indigenization efforts in higher education have sought to recenter Indigenous ontologies, methodologies, and ways of knowing (Battiste, 2005;Battiste et al, 2002;Brayboy et al, 2012Brayboy et al, , 2015Gross, 2005;Pete, 2015;Phillips et al, 2005;Venable et al, 2016). Several scholars point to how Indigenization efforts serve as sites for recovery and restoration (Fiddler, 2015;McAlpin, 2008), healing among Native students and faculty (Fiddler, 2015;Gross, 2005;Iseke, 2013;Lawson-Te Aho, 2014;Linares, 2016;Sato, 2014;Scully, 2012;White Shield, 2009), and the restoration of systemic and societal inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in higher education (Pidgeon, 2016). Moreover, with the release of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Canada, Indigenization efforts particularly at Canadian Universities have grown significantly.…”

“…Despite the strides made to challenge Eurocentric academic disciplines, policies, and practices and center Indigenous knowledges within higher education, Indigenous scholars are critical of Indigenizing initiatives that are solely focused on programmatic aspects to improve college access and enrolment of Indigenous students rather than recognizing the existing colonial projects that negatively impact Indigenous students' academic development (Battiste et al, 2002;de Leeuw et al, 2013;LeBlanc, 2012). Efforts to include Indigenous topics typically consist of "studying about" Indigenous people rather than challenging colonial disciplinary spaces within the institution (Gross, 2005;Phillips et al, 2005). The representation of Indigenous knowledges and ways of being is often limited to certain departments on campus (LeBlanc, 2012;Pidgeon, 2014), and it is the Indigenous faculty and staff in those departments who are burdened with the labor of creating spaces, curriculum, and support programs for and about Indigenous communities, typically without additional compensation (de Leeuw et al, 2013).…”

“…Institutional policies have been reformed to allow the implementation of spiritual practices on campus and in the classroom, such as smudging, pipe ceremonies, and cultural feasting on campus (Beck & Pidgeon, 2020; Pete, 2015). Storytelling and Indigenous inquiry are also recognized as essential Indigenizing practices, aimed at empowering Native students (Gross, 2005; Lawson-Te Aho, 2014; Linares, 2016; Sato, 2014). Various graduate programs, for example, have integrated pedagogical practices that encourage and assist students in pursuing Indigenous research methodologies and disrupt normative Eurocentric graduate programs (Venable et al, 2016).…”