Bruce Wark on Indiginization in Canada and Mount Allison University's Role

 

Bruce Wark and his efforts to report in the region since 2016 at warktimes.com are duly noted.

"As Robert Campbell mentions in the piece, Mount A was responding in part to recommendations for universities in the 2015 final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

[ this is the link to the 17 March 2016 source at "Boardwalk Radio" Mount Allison University introduced by Laura Landon, Bruce Wark's wife and Librarian at the University is mentioned above:  Mt. A. promises indigenization by Bruce Wark ] 

Here’s a summary of those recommendations:

The TRC emphasizes that universities have a vital role to play in:

• Promoting equitable access to post-secondary education for Indigenous students

• Supporting Indigenous language revitalization

• Educating future professionals (doctors, lawyers, teachers) about Indigenous history, cultures, and legal traditions

• Integrating Indigenous knowledge systems into curricula and research

• Participating in national reconciliation research efforts

Many Canadian universities have since responded by creating Indigenous-focused academic programs, mandatory Indigenous studies courses, language initiatives, land acknowledgements, and support services for Indigenous students.

When I went to elementary, secondary and vocational schools including teachers’ college, I learned almost nothing about Canada’s native peoples. Yes, we studied a couple of E. Pauline Johnson’s poems such as “The Song My Paddle Sings” and “As Red Men Die”, but not much else. I remember also learning about John A’s conflicts with the native people’s in the west and the hanging of Louis Riel, but what I learned was mainly from John A’s point of view. He was presented as a great nation builder who had to overcome terrible odds in building the railway and settling the west. Residential schools were not mentioned and I didn’t know anything about them until the 1990s.

When I read the 2021 book, “The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire” by Stephen R. Bown, I was surprised at how much of that history depended on the company’s relationship with the Indigenous peoples who provided furs. Many Hudson’s Bay Company employees married native women and stayed here instead of returning home to England. It’s a rich, cross-cultural history that our schools should be teaching. "

Bruce Wark, Warktimes.com emailed message received by contributor to add more insights..

Thanks for your thoughts on this Bruce.  Much appreciated.

Mount Allison University "Owens Art Gallery" flying a uniquely native flag...

Meanwhile this week in Quebec...this report:

The Kanien'kehá:ka say 97km² of Montreal’s South Shore is theirs. They want their claim settled

The Kanien'kehá:ka say 97km² of Montreal’s South Shore is theirs. They want their claim settled