Indigeneity, Equity and Diversity

Acknowledging the history of the land you are living, learning, and meeting upon is an important step in acknowledging the truth of colonization. Making a land acknowledgement before proceeding with a meeting has become more common. In an effort to get it “right,” institutions often encourage particular wording for a land acknowledgement. At UBC’s Vancouver campus, an example is:

UBC’s Point Grey Campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. The land it is situated on has long been a place of learning for the Musqueam people, who for millennia have passed on in their culture, history, and traditions from one generation to the next on this site.

However, land acknowledgements can sometimes do more harm than good. When a land acknowledgement ignores the trauma to Indigenous people caused by colonization, or presents Indigenous people and their land rights as something of the past, it can do harm. To the extent a land acknowledgement feels impersonal, rehearsed, or performative, it can also turn the opportunity to acknowledge truth into a cynical exercise. For these and other reasons, some Indigenous scholars have requested a pause in land acknowledgments so that improvements can be made to them, including acknowledging the history of one's academic field in relation to Indigenous people.

We encourage everyone to learn about the history of the land they live and work within, about their own history in relation to that land, and to craft a personal land acknowledgement. On this website there are resources for learning more about the history of the land you are on. For starters you can go to native-land.ca to learn about Indigenous territories, language, and treaties around the world. You can take this self-paced course offered by UBC to understand why land acknowledgements are an important part of UBC, to identify your positionality and responsibility when offering land acknowledgements and engaging with Indigenous communities, and to learn more about other resources and educational tools needed to deliver land acknowledgements.

Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education, University of British Columbia, MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)

Respect, Sincerity & Responsibility: Land Acknowledgements @ UBC, University of British Columbia, self-paced online course

Indigenous Canada, University of Alberta, MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)

CBPR Summer Institute: Community Based Participatory Research Institute for health:  Indigenous and Critical Methodologies

rETHICS: Research Ethics Training for Health in Indigenous Communities

Colonization Road: https://www.cbc.ca/firsthand/episodes/colonization-road

Short documentary, Woman Who Returns: Adopted into her Haida clan after 30 years away

We Know the Truth: Stories to Inspire Reconciliation

nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up by Tasha Hubbard

UBC Indigenous Podcast List

Reports

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation: TRC Reports (2015-present)

Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019)

The UBC President's Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Final Report (2022)

Academic Readings

Vowel, C. (2017). Indigenous Writes : A Guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Issues in Canada, Portage & Main Press, Chapter 14, 15, and 16.

Huyser, Kimberly R. (2020). Data & Native American Identity. Contexts, 19(3): 10-15.

Steinman, Erich W. Settler colonialism and sociological knowledge: insights and directions forward. Theory and Society (2021): 1-32.

Kovach, M. (2021). Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts, Second Edition. University of Toronto Press.

Arthur J. Ray. (2016). Illustrated History of Canada’s Native People, Fourth Edition.

Forte, M. C. (Ed.). (2013). Who is an Indian?: Race, Place, and the Politics of Indigeneity in the Americas. University of Toronto Press.

McKay, Dwanna L., Kirsten Vinyeta, and Kari Marie Norgaard (2020). Theorizing race and settler colonialism within US sociology. Sociology Compass 14.9: e12821.

Arvin, Maile, Eve Tuck, and Angie Morrill (2013). Decolonizing Feminism: Challenging Connections between Settler Colonialism and Heteropatriarchy. Feminist Formations, Vol. 25 No. 1 (Spring) pp. 8–34.

Tuck, Eve and K. Wayne Yang (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society Vol. 1, No. 1, 2012, pp. 1-40.

The department has a budget for Indigenous Guest Speakers, who should receive honorariums for their time. You can write to ied.sociology@ubc.ca to request funding.

Write a letter to a friend or family member about what you’ve learned about Indigenous people this term

Government of Canada Tri-Council Policy Commission's Statement on Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada

OCAP training

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples statement on research ethics

Assembly of First Nations: First Nations Ethics Guide on Research and Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge

First Nations Regional Longitudinal Health Survey: Code of Research Ethics

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami: National Inuit Strategy on Research

Principles for Global Health Research by the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research

Musqueam Educational Resources

Professor Kyle Whyte, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan: Teaching #NoDAPL in Ethics and Other Courses

Canadian Sociological Association Indigeneity and Sociology Resource Guide