The Importance of Embedding Indigenous History in Courses and Curriculum Across the Disciplines

In this webinar, Syilx/Okanagan Nation Elders Chris Marchand and Eric Mitchell, along with their daughter, Vanessa Mitchell, Interior Health, shared their experience and perspectives on the importance of Indigenous history in education.

A panel of UBC Okanagan faculty from the School of Engineering and the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies shared presentations on the importance of Indigenous history across the disciplines, how they approach embedding Indigenous history into their teaching, and how faculty can learn more about Indigenous histories and its relevance and importance to different disciplines.

The presentations were followed by a moderated Q&A. A recording of the webinar will be posted once it is available.

 

resources

Here is a list of resources referenced in the webinar:

Reports and Declarations

• Truth and Reconciliation Commission Reports
• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
• C. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act
• Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
• In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care
• Declaration of Cultural Safety and Humility

Online Resources

• First Nations Information Governance Centre: The First Nations Principles of OCAP
• First Nations and Higher Education: The Four R’s – Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, Responsibility
• UBC Indigenous Foundations
• UBC Anti-Racism Research and Resources — First Nations and Indigenous Studies
• Memorial to Sir Wilfred Laurier from the Chiefs of the Shuswap, Okanagan and Couteau Tribes of British Columbia

Books:

• Colonized Classrooms: Racism, Trauma and Resistance in Post-Secondary Education by Sheila Cote-Meek
• Pulling Together: Foundations Guide by Kory Wilson
• Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods by Shawn Wilson
• Academic Well-Being of Racialized Students edited by Benita Bunjun

Local Resources

• Sncewips Heritage Museum
• En’owkin Centre

 

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about the speakers

Elders Christina E. Marchand and Elder Eric Mitchell with Vanessa Mitchell, Interior Health

Elders Eric and Chris are members of the Okanagan Nation from the Okanagan Indian Band. Elder Chris is a Sixties Scoop survivor and Elder Eric is a survivor of the Residential School system.

Elders Eric and Chris received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from UBC in 2020.

As Elders in Residence at the UBC Okanagan Aboriginal Center, Elders Eric and Chris make important contributions to enriching the educational experience for Indigenous students. As co-founders of cultural safety programming and

Adjunct Professors in both the School of Nursing and Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, they have made tremendous contributions to the experiences of Indigenous students, faculty and staff. They have influenced the cultural safety education at UBC Okanagan by giving voice to Indigenous stories, exposing the truth about the colonial narrative and inspiring participants to position themselves in Reconciliation.

Elders Eric and Chris will also be joined by their daughter, Vanessa Mitchell, Aboriginal Lead and Program Manager for Interior Health.

 

Ian Foulds, Associate Professor, Principal’s Research Chair – Indigenous Reconciliation in Engineering (Tier 1)

Ian Foulds is an associate professor at the School of Engineering, and UBC Okanagan Principal’s Research Chair (Tier 1) in Indigenous Reconciliation in Engineering.

In his role as PRC, Foulds is developing a framework for preparing engineers to engage with Indigenous communities, developing models and best practices for incorporating Indigenous knowledge and perspective into engineering curriculums, developing best practices for promoting engineering to Indigenous students and establishing a multi-institution hub for Indigenous Reconciliation in Engineering.

Dr. Foulds uncovers innovations within the field of microfabrication related to micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and microfluidics. He leads the Electromechanical Microsystems & Polymer Integration Research (EMPIRe) Group developing MEMS and Microfluidic systems and the techniques to build them.

 

Allison Hargreaves, Associate Professor, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies

Allison Hargreaves is a settler-scholar of Indigenous literatures and an assistant professor in the Department of Critical Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, where she teaches courses in Indigenous literary and cultural studies in contemporary North America.

Allison’s research investigates literary and policy interventions into gendered colonial violence in Canada, and has appeared in Studies in American Indian Literatures, Canadian Literature Quarterly, Canadian Woman Studies, and Canadian Theatre Review.

 

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Moderator

Brad Wuetherick, Associate Provost, Academic Programs, Teaching and Learning

Brad Wuetherick is the Associate Provost, Academic Programs, Teaching and Learning at UBC Okanagan.

Prior to joining UBC Okanagan, Brad served as Executive Director, Learning and Teaching at Dalhousie University. Of Métis ancestry, Brad served as co-chair of Dalhousie’s Indigenous Council for the past five years, championing a number of key Indigenous initiatives on campus.

Brad helped establish Dalhousie’s Indigenous Studies and Elders-in-Residence programs. He was also part of the team that created Dalhousie’s Indigenous Strategy focused on the establishment of Dalhousie as the medical-doctoral research university of Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq.