Call 7 | We call upon natural scientists and their students to take a course on Indigenous history and rights.
Excerpt from paperThe TRC calls for the need for education on the history of Indigenous peoples including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Treaties and Aboriginal rights. While their calls were directed toward public servants of all levels of government (Call 57) and in elementary classrooms (Call 62.ii), we specifically identify a need for this education early in the university education of young natural scientists.
DOWNLOAD THE PAPER (EN)
Download the paper (FR)Key Takeaways*
Learn about the Indigenous history of your research area from Indigenous instructors. Include any students and others that work with you.
As teachers, expose your students to Indigenous knowledge and worldviews in your courses and fieldwork.
Advocate for a mandatory course for staff and students on Indigenous rights and history at your institution, with Indigenous instructors.
*The NWT Association of Communities worked with the authors to develop a summary of the article. Some of the wording in the Key Takeaways comes from the summary which can be found here
I sympathize with this generation of non-Indigenous people because they're having to grapple with all these ugly things that happened in their past. But I think the reality is I don't think they think about it every day like we do, like Indigenous People do, because we see the effects.
Shandin Pete, Seliš-Diné, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British ColumbiaAcknowledge History. Check Your Bias.
When you look at these two photos taken at the same location more than a century apart, how do they look different?
As part of the Mountain Legacy Project, authors Carmen Wong and Gùdia (Mary Jane) Johnson each wrote about their impressions of this image retake.
What do you see?
PHOTOS: Mountain Legacy Project (2018, 1900); Yukon Archives, Elmer Harp Jr. fonds, 2006/2, #237 (First NATION FAMILY)
2018
1900
From a Western Science perspective, it reveals the impact of climate change with the toe of a glacier in retreat.
From Gùdia’s Indigenous lens, it recalls a traumatic history when Indigenous peoples were displaced from this area by the creation of a National Park.
How does Western science ignore people?
Courses
Indigenous Canada is a free online or certificate and credit programs from University of Alberta.
Yukon First Nations 101 is a self-paced online training course from Yukon University.