I like to think that I am an “Ally (in Training)” to learn about the history of our land, and the injustices that our Indigenous Peoples have endured after European contact. I have committed to offering what I can do to support local indigenous communities in the form of partnered educational development opportunities. To do this, I must listen and learn. A lot.

Learning about this has taken many forms. I read and immerse myself in developmental opportunities when they present themselves. Our campus has some wonderful First Nations colleagues who have offered workshops where I’ve been fortunate enough to participate. Further, I attended a conference at the University of Saskatchewan in 2018 entitled “Teaching and Learning Today Conference – Indigenizing and opening academia.”

I facilitated a successful grant submission in January 2020 for the Nanadagikenim – Seek to Know Grant. Our project is called Gikinoo’amaadiwag (They teach each other) - Cross-Cultural Instructional Skills Workshop (GCCISW).  Our team consists of myself, Jen Ward – PhD Student of Umpqua and Algonquin descent, faculty member, University of Alberta; Jacqueline Stagner – Undergraduate Programs Coordinator, Faculty of Engineering, University of Windsor; Jennifer Soutter – Indigenous Outreach, Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology and Women’s and Gender Studies Librarian, University of Windsor.  By incorporating traditional conversations and perspectives from Aboriginal Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers, or community members, with ways of knowing and place-based learning, we hope to harvest the best parts of a multi-day workshop called the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) and combine it with local indigenous contributions to form a new sustainable model based on local communities and needs. Work on this has been modified due to the pandemic, so we are working on developing a better understanding of our team members and how they are coping, modelling relationship building. We have added a new member who is Indigenous from the Caldwell Nation, Darlene Marshall – Indigenous Education Lead for the Windsor-Essex County Separate School Board.

I have taken several workshops on campus to learn more from Jaimie Kechego, Indigenous Curriculum and Pedagogy Project Coordinator. I have also participated in some sessions offered through our Aboriginal Education Centre including a moccasin workshop offered by Kat Pasquach and her mother, Feb, 2020.