This website was created as a result of the collective work of those that attended the ‘NIC Indigenization Think Tank Symposium’ (which will be referred to as ‘the symposium’ throughout this website) on July 14th & 15th 2022, and is intended to act as a platform to house the knowledge, wisdom and potential future actions and directions that emerged through the collective thought process of symposium attendees. The symposium was hosted with the objective to answer the research question: “how might we progress epistemic justice and reduce the hierarchy of epistemologies at North Island College?” Epistemic justice, within the context of this research, refers to the need for equality in worldviews within all aspects of higher education, as higher education is traditionally associated with producing and disseminating knowledge. Although the knowledge that higher education produces is often of Eurocentric origins, epistemic justice asks that knowledge be created and disseminated in a way that involves diverse ways of knowing or worldviews. Institutes working towards epistemic justice are inherently working towards decolonizing their practices and programs, as the colonial, western or Eurocentric worldview must be destabilized from the dominant and pervasive way of doing, and institutes must be reconfigured to honor and operate out of diverse ways of knowing, being and doing. 

 

North Island College (NIC) seeks to become ‘Indigenous-serving’, as outlined in the Indigenization Plan: Working Together, published in 2021 by Shopland, Child & Everson. Through the symposium, it was determined that to work towards the objective of Indigenous-serving, the College must consider two separate but related concepts: 

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1. The ‘Indigenization’ of existing programs, policies and practices (Indigenization is explained in this quote from Working Together: “Indigenization calls on us to create environments across our campus that support weaving together the distinct knowledge systems reflected in our college community with local Indigenous knowledge systems so that learners, faculty, and staff come to understand, appreciate, and mutually respect on another” (p.14)). 

2. The prioritization of ‘Indigenous-led’ education (best outlined in Goal Seven of Working Together: “NIC will build relationships and be accountable to Indigenous Communities in support of self-determination through education, training, and applied research” (p. 39)). 

 

The two largest thematic barriers to these objectives were determined through the symposium to be: 

1. The rigidity of existing policies and procedures, meaning the design of the institutional ‘system’ (the word system here being used in the context of systems thinking, a way in which to consider and explore systems in wholes and relationships instead of through individual parts and pieces) does not allow for the necessary fluidity, innovation and creativity to consider more contextual, compassionate approaches.

2. The lack of human capacity and resources available to progress the goal of becoming an Indigenous-serving institute. 

 

In response to these barriers, participants of the symposium worked together to develop solutions through the process of Na̱nwaḵola, the Kwakwaka̱'wakw practice of “bringing wise peoples together to seek solutions” (personal communication, Sara Child, 2022). Solutions are outlined on this website and presented under the heading of the same name. There are five proposed solutions that work to support the progression of the Working Together Indigenization Plan: 

 

1. Establish a ‘Working Together Working Group’ 

2. Create an ‘Indigenization Teaching & Learning Specialist’ Role in the Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation

3.  Take action to create a community of care and compassion throughout NIC institutional structures 

4. Take action to create a community of care and compassion throughout NIC individuals

5. Work towards an Indigenous-led Education Centre

 

Further, the solution to establish a “Working Together Working Group” has been expanded to allow for the immediate implementation of such a working group, and is detailed under the heading ‘Working Group’. The working group will act as a central location in which members of NIC can inquire about anything in relation to Indigenizing or decolonizing their practices. Further, the working group will act as an ‘avant-garde’ for reconciliation at the institute, and hold the college accountable for the implementation of the Working Together Indigenization Plan. 

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