For Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians alike, Truth and Reconciliation Day is important, now more than ever due to a rising amount of residential school denialists. Research has shown that service burden remains high amongst Indigenous scholars to selflessly give up their time and energy to support institutions on Indigenous-related initiatives with little given in return. Moreover, Indigenous scholars often become the face of Truth and Reconciliation on behalf of institutions to claim tokenistic victories that the TRC Calls of Action are being accomplished.
However, there is substantial risk to this; on top of placing service burden on Indigenous scholars. These scholars vicariously become the face denialists seek out to further their racist agendas and subject Indigenous scholars to racialized trauma. It’s not fair, it’s not right, and it needs to stop.
Our work at NCIS seeks to align itself with the TRC Calls to action, specifically: #7 – developing a strategy to eliminate educational and employment gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians; and #10(ii) – improving educational attainment levels and success rates. While the Calls to Action are aimed at federal government, we understand that we have a role to play in advancing these calls.
At the NCIS, our team has been personally affected by residential schools and/or Indian hospitals. For Dr. Shauneen Pete (Dean), both of her parents (Jacob and Eileen) as well as her grandparents (Myra, Ernest, Isadore and Mary) survived the system. Like some of her aunts, uncles and cousins, Shauneen has worked tirelessly to disrupt assimilation while promoting greater levels of First Nations control in K-12 and higher education in Saskatchewan. Like many Métis families in Manitoba, Lauren’s (Research Assistant) family has been impacted over generations by residential schools, road allowances, and Indian hospitals. Anthony Nickel’s (Coordinator) Kohkum attended residential school in Lebret, Saskatchewan in the 1950s and became a devout Catholic for the remainder of her life. While her children did spend time in community and took part in cultural practices, she struggled to fully engage with it as a result of her time spent in residential schools. She later became a successful educator and continues to be a strong role model for Anthony’s family.
We want to take this opportunity to re-affirm our commitment to truth and reconciliation, to decolonizing post-secondary education, and working towards a more equitable future for Indigenous scholars across the country.
Sincerely,
The NCIS Team