By ISABELLA BOURQUE 

There are so many misconceptions when it comes to Indigenous people and our heritage. Having the advantage of taking Indigenous courses here at Augustana is inherent to understanding a lot of our history, as well as the realities we face today. Taking part in Indigenous classes helps to spread awareness about our peoples that, though it is unfortunate, many Canadian citizens just aren’t aware of. You wouldn’t believe how many times I have heard ignorant assumptions about First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples – that we still live in igloos, that we don’t have electricity in our communities, or that TV and wifi are totally unheard of where we come from. You wouldn’t believe how many times my friends and I have heard, “So, how native are you?” …I don’t know about you, but I don’t go around asking people of European descent, “So, just how Irish are you?” as if a percentage makes you any less apart of the culture you identify with. You would be surprised that we, Indigenous people of all skin tones and hair colours, sometimes get asked, “So… what do the ‘real’ native people think of you? … because you’re not, like, full Indian,” (when referring to us ‘light-skinned’ or Metis Indigenous people) – well, Sharon, you’re only part Scottish so like, what do ‘real’ Scottish people think of you? We are all people, aren’t we? And I don’t mean to ruffle any feathers or insult anyone, but before you ask us about how the colour of our skin or what percentage ‘native’ we are, consider asking the question to yourself and see how that feels.

Whether you are Indigenous or not, consider that these Indigenous Studies classes are something you should subscribe to. Indigenous Studies courses are a great way to gain experiential knowledge and hands-on learning outside of the classroom (hint – if you need a break from primarily lecture based classes, you should check out an IND course)! A class like Erin Sutherland’s AUIND 240, that teaches you how to tan a hide and is based around kitchen-table theory (pssst – that means you eat a lot of food in the class), really helps to build a sense of community while learning actual things about Indigenous groups. Who wouldn’t want an interactive learning space? It’s only the best thing ever and makes class actually fun to go to! Plus, if you really don’t know anything about Canada’s Indigenous people or if you want to know more about the history of Canada (because Indigenous people are the history of Canada, *cough cough*) these classes are a safe and welcoming space to integrate yourself into a world of knowledge. If you’re weary and unsure, start with an introductory level course like AUIND 101/201! Or, if you want to be educated about what’s really going on with our peoples, and you maybe want to help refute some common misconceptions like “Native people get all their schooling paid for, how lucky is that?” or “I heard Metis is now the same as like, full status Indians so they’re all good now,” then please, get yourself to an AUIND class, educate yourself, and then help to educate others! Take it upon yourself to also help support the Indigenous students around you, ask questions, and don’t be shy about participating in some of the workshops available to you, whether that be signing up to take part in the Workshops in Building Capacity for Truth and Reconciliation or learning how to make moccasins! The moral of this story: Ignorance is not bliss. We are the future and Indigenous education for everyone will help us make the future a better place to be.

List of AUIND courses offered at Augustana:

• AUIND 101/201 – Introduction to Indigenous Studies
• AUIND 240 – Introduction to Indigenous Cultural Production
• AUIND 300/400 – Selected Topics in Indigenous Studies
• AUIND 367/467 – The Fur Trade
• AUIND 370/470 – Oral History
• AUIND 390/490 – Directed Studies in Indigenous Studies
• AUIND 399/499 – Theories in Indigenous Studies

*Note that there are other courses outside of Indigenous Studies (AUIND) that incorporate Indigenous material, however only AUIND courses are included here to give you a general idea of the solely Indigenous based classes that are offered.

By ISABELLA BOURQUE 

The Workshops in Building Capacity for Reconciliation focus on educating the public about Indigenous history and what life was like for many people when colonization started. In participating in these workshops, we recognize the truths that happened to Indigenous peoples because of colonization, as well as the outcomes from the many horrific experiences they faced. In particular, on Sept 27th, we focused on residential schools and the realities for the many families who went through it.

For this first workshop, we started with the KAIROS Blanket Exercise. Here, all of the participants stood on various blankets throughout the room to represent Turtle Island, the world where Indigenous peoples from all over lived before colonization. In the exercise, we went through a timeline of traumatic events from the beginning of colonization onward. As the exercise went on, the blankets were slowly taken away to represent the land that was being stolen from Indigenous people, so much so that by the end of it, many of us were squished right up to one another from the lack of land there was to “live” on. Throughout this exercise we were also given scrolls of documents from these events to read aloud, as well as other props like tiny felt blankets and necklaces with black hearts. These props represented those who had been taken from their families or died at residential schools, among other circumstances. The physical act of taking part in this exercise made these events so real and in your face that you couldn’t ignore it, even if you wanted to.

I think this is a big thing for people who don’t want to believe in our history, or who choose to look past it and ignore it. If you are face-to-face with real, raw facts for 3 hours and you fully participate in the workshop, you  have no choice but to confront your lack of knowledge and accept the truth. The facilitators of this workshop are a family of 3 generations, including an Elder who is a survivor of residential school. We got to hear stories of real people, including some very young children who had to go through devastating things, via letters they had actually written about their experiences. The whole evening was very emotional for the participants and opened many people’s eyes to a big part of Canada’s history.

After the workshop, many of the participants felt frustrated and angry with this new knowledge. They were heartbroken that their government would do such terrible things. There were many who were stunned that, in those 3 hours, they learned more about Indigenous history and residential schools than they had ever learned in their whole lives. Several participants expressed that their own schools never taught them much, if anything at all, about Canada’s treatment of Indigenous peoples. Many were sad and felt sympathy for the families who had to go through such trauma. And most were filled with appreciation and hope that, moving forward and with more education to come, there would be healing for Indigenous peoples and a push forward in reconciliation with hope for future generations to take back their identity and culture, never to be without it again.