how Indigenous kids don’t want to go to school in Canada’s north, I get so fucking frustrated. I’ve heard the more ridiculous explanations like “they don’t want to learn” or “they are lazy” or “the parents just don’t care”. Well you know what? They probably DON’T want to learn FROM YOU, it makes sense that they’d rather NOT learn from a bunch of teachers from out of town that have no idea how to relate to children in northern communities. In those cases, I certainly do not blame the parents for not encouraging their kids to like their teachers or learn from them. 

When there is a small chance that teachers are actually really great (and not full of themselves thinking they are the best teachers in the world when no kids like them or their ‘style’ of teaching) THEN the question that must be asked is NOT “how can we make those native kids go to school?” but rather how do we change the institution of western education to MATTER to indigenous kids? and how can we value the things that they are learning on the land (when they are not in school) in such a way that they can get the credentials required to complete school grades? Also, all of this is premised on the idea that western education is valuable in some tangible sense. The “inherent” value of western education systems certainly needs to be examined when many of these kids will not even leave their communities to be able to use it (and therefore how should communities then foster the learning environment outside of western classrooms). 

Though I say this, let me be entirely clear about where I stand about “validating” Indigenous knowledge within the academy: we should NEVER have to “prove” that our systems of knowing the world are “valid” within that context. EVER. But then why do Indigenous academics work on these things in the academy? Well, I can give you my answer to that question, but I can’t claim to speak for all Indigenous academics. 

The only way to “Indigenize the Academy” is to already know in your heart, without a doubt, that the validation of Indigenous knowledge through western forms of education is not necessary and that this knowledge stands on it’s own. In fact, Indigenous knowledge is much more complex then all of western knowledge combined (and when it even comes close, upon further examination it is often shown that the more advanced ideas were stolen from Indigenous folks, and other POCs). Adding in Indigenous ideas and practises every now and then to a structure that is completely euro-centric and basically the same as any other post-secondary institution WILL NOT change the system. I agree that there can be pockets of opportunity, but the system will always squash these spaces that open up. 

Personally, I have always excelled at the western education system. Well, until I got to university which was mostly because I was also in the process of finding my place in the world and grappling with my mixed Indigenous identity (like so many of us). Now I feel much more cemented in this world and I finally feel as though I have two feet on the ground but I also find myself at 27 years old and having little to no real Indigenous based skills or language. When I say that, I mean I have no real idea what it would take to go out into the bush to my family’s traditional hunting territory and survive for any length of time. Nor do I have the language that would great increase my understanding of how that world is organized, because we all know that language shapes our world and provides an intimate tool to show how one should relate to that world. I would like to work towards that, but living away from home in order to go to school from the age of 16 means that I am never home for the spring and fall hunts when a lot of families still go out on the land in my community. As long as I am in school, I am unable to learn those bush skills that are often skills that can only be taught by doing them. 

So my dilemma becomes more clear: Though I would rather that none of us require a western education, I also know that this is a far off goal because these structures are not easily torn down ( which if course not impossible, but unlikely). And since I am skilled at how to talk in the academy, I feel as though I need to use this strength in a good way. When I say that, I mean I want to use academic language to show that Indigenous knowledge IS how I centre my world rather than centring my world around the academy. Part of that is knowing that Indigenous knowledge is thousands of years old, existed way before me and will continue to exist after me. I am not special. But I can try to live my life in a good way that acknowledges all of my relations and is not defined or limited to western ways of schooling and building knowledge. So this is how I would like to Indigenize the academy.