Racism within the Canadian University

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Kerry Bailey discusses the investigation and understanding of the impact that everyday racism/microaggressions can have on the academic experience of Indigenous students.

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Institution: McMaster University

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Kerry Bailey discusses the investigation and understanding of the impact that everyday racism/microaggressions can have on the academic experience of Indigenous students.

Image courtesy of interviewee. March 13, 2024

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This video video discusses a study focusing on the experiences and perceptions of Indigenous university students in Canada regarding racism within the context of post-secondary education. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical backdrop of colonization and systemic racism in Canada, which significantly impacts Indigenous peoples. The study highlights that colonial structures extend into universities, affecting the experiences of Indigenous students who face ongoing racism, marginalization, and discriminatory practices.

The research includes interviews with Indigenous students, revealing high levels of anti-Indigenous racism across universities. Key themes identified include challenging in-class experiences, negative interactions with professors, difficult social dynamics, and systemic racism within university institutions. Students report a lack of cultural sensitivity and frequent microaggressions, as well as overtly racist remarks. The study underscores the resilience of Indigenous students who actively seek to create safe spaces, advocate for their rights, and push for systemic changes within their academic environments, despite the challenges they encounter.

Additionally, the text details gaps in previous research, highlighting the need for qualitative studies that consider the lived experiences of Indigenous students. It calls for further investigation into the effectiveness of reconciliation initiatives in Canadian universities, asking whether changes have been merely performative and questioning how to disrupt colonial hierarchies within these institutions. The overarching finding is that Indigenous students are committed to advocating for change and improving the educational experience for future generations, despite the ongoing challenges they face within an entrenched system of racism and inequality.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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Context for this study is a complicated one

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with multiple layers.

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This study examines

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how indigenous university students in Canada perceive

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and experience and manage the racism

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that they face in that context.

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But you have to begin looking at

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and acknowledging the history of Canada first

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before you can look more specifically at that environment.

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The history of Canada is not something

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that I can adequately address here today in this interview,

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not comprehensively.

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However, I will touch on a couple of main points

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that are very relevant.

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So in Canada, there's a long history

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of colonization and racism.

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This travels back to the very origins of the country itself

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and is in fact the bedrock that the country was built upon.

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And over time, the processes

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of settler colonialism have severely harmed indigenous

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peoples who live on this lands on all levels spiritually

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as individuals, community members, nation members.

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Uh, these harms are too many to mention comprehensively,

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but do include stolen land, stolen children,

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broken promises, implementation of racist laws and policies,

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and both historical and temporary contemporary attempts

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at elimination.

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These processes of colonization are not simply historical,

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as many seem to believe they are ever present structures

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that are systemically embedded within

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contemporary Canadian society.

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So we must learn and understand colonial operations both

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past and present before we can begin comprehending how

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that plays out in our everyday lives, particularly in terms

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of racism, inequality,

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and the continued marginalization of indigenous peoples.

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Canada is often known internationally as peacekeepers

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with focus on equality and justice,

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but this view is ignorant to the ongoing marginalization

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of indigenous peoples

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and the pervasive racism that continues across the nation.

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So up to this point,

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I've been speaking about the larger Canadian context.

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However, this study zooms in to examine the context

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of post-secondary institutions across the nation.

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The grander Canadian context

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and the more focused context

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of this study are intimately connected,

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which is why I began on that more general level.

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The colonial structures

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and the attached racial ideologies

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that were the building blocks

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for Canada were also the building blocks

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for Canadian universities,

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and they continue to invade those spaces.

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Now, when looking at the post-secondary context,

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there's a lot of variation across institutions.

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After the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released their

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final report in 2015, there became a new

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and vast movement across the country within universities

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to start addressing the calls to action

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and start addressing the concept of reconciliation.

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However, these changes varied greatly depending on the

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province, depending on the institution where they began

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to make change, how quickly those changes advanced were

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extremely different across institutions.

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Some institutions develop strategies such

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as implementing land acknowledgements, inclusion

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of mandatory indigenous learning content, increased hiring

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of indigenous faculty,

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and increased creation of indigenous spaces,

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and also the creation of indigenous insight committees.

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Now, arguably these are all very positive steps and changes,

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but what has come to light is that the outcomes

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of these changes, what is often called reconciliatory

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initiatives, have not been consistent

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and not consistently positive.

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So within the Canadian University context,

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indigenous students have been working for decades

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to secure access to secure power and space.

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However, many institutions continue to center

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and normalize Eurocentric ideologies.

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This can create environments that are dangerous

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for indigenous students, and by using the term dangerous,

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I am including concerns for physical, mental,

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and community safety.

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Now, indigenous post-secondary students show resilience,

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determination and extreme perseverance on a daily basis.

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Within these institutions,

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indigenous students are pushing forward,

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securing safe spaces, continuing to demand equity

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and visibility, and through ongoing advocacy,

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they're battling for success both

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personally and academically.

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When looking at previous literature

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regarding indigenous peoples

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and education in Canada, there is a large body of evidence

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that shows significant discrepancies in

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achieved education outcomes.

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Uh, some statistical analyses have revealed disparities

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that show that potentially less than 10%

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of the indigenous population are achieving post-secondary

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degrees or completing that level of education, whereas

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this is compared to approximately 27%

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of the non-indigenous population achieving

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that level of education.

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Now, we know through investigation

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and a lot of different research that higher levels

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of education are directly related to improved standards

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of living, greater employment satisfaction, higher incomes,

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and improved health.

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And so the lived impact

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of these disparities are extremely significant.

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Uh, further research studies have demonstrated

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that at post-secondary institutions in both Canada

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and the United States, ethnic

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and racial discrimination continue to be ubiquitous,

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including issues such as exclusion,

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isolation, and marginality.

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Hor research studies also support serious concerns

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regarding institutional rhetoric rather than action

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and academic, a way of describing a lot of words

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and a lot of written policy

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with not enough legitimate change.

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Uh, much of the data

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regarding indigenous university students in Canada has been

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based within quantitative studies rather than qualitative,

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with minimal attention given to the lived experience

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of the indigenous students

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and how these experiences connect to systemic racism

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and settler colonialism.

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Um, however, I will mention today a couple

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of previous studies that also centralized expert testimony

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of indigenous students when looking at the relational

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experiences they're having within those environments.

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Um, in 2014, Clark's team published a study

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that looked at the racial climate

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of one research-based Canadian university.

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After completing six interviews,

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they identified five major themes

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of experience including unconstrained, voyeurism,

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jealous accusations, cultural elimination

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or misrepresentation expectations of primi and isolation.

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Following that, I myself began researching in this area

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with a published study in 2016,

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and this study further investigated

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indigenous students experiences.

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It extended the research done by Clark's team in terms

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of the scope of investigation

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and furthering understandings of everyday racism

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and microaggression directed toward indigenous students.

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17 interviews were completed

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and additional themes were highlighted

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to further support this research, including very low levels

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of interaction between indigenous

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and non-indigenous students, audience effects

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that affected behavior

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and the persistence of racism in both in class,

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administrative and social realms across the university.

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Then in 2019,

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Johanna's team published another qualitative based study

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looking at, focus groups and interviews,

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and again, expanding understandings of overt discrimination,

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assumptions of intellectual inferiority,

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constant invalidation, racial segregation,

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and how the myth of meritocracy was

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operating within those zones.

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One of the things Yohanna's team strongly noted was very

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little support for indigenous students from faculty

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and staff, and in fact,

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individuals in those positions were often, came

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to be known as the origin of those experiences

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with overt discrimination.

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In 2022 F Moff published a study looking at the impacts

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of the indigenization process.

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This was one of the many movements that came

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after the TRC published their final report.

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Um, after completing 10 in-person interviews, ECMA found

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that there were both positive

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and negative outcomes from

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participation within these processes

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and called it a paradoxical pursuit, outlining

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that while including

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and supporting the indigenous students,

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their participation in these processes was

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also causing them harm.

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The current study under discussion builds upon those

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findings by increasing the number

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of indigenous students interviewed

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and including multiple university contexts for comparison.

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This created a more comprehensive understanding

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regarding the nature of indigenous students' experiences

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with racism and discrimination,

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its operations and its impacts.

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It also highlights the numerous ways

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that indigenous students are advocating

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and persevering with a determined focus on bettering

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post-secondary institutions for future generations.

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The data for this project was drawn from

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ethnographic observation interviews and demographic surveys.

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So T'S project 27 in-person interviews were completed

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with indigenous students at three different universities in

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the province of Ontario Canada.

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Two of the universities were located in the southern region

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with one university located in the north.

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The interviews were spread fairly evenly across these

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interviews or across these universities with 10

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or nine interviews being done at the southern universities

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and the following eight being done at

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the one found in the north.

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16 of the students were female, 11 were male.

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12 lived on reserve lands prior to relocating,

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for their post-secondary education,

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and their ages ranged from 19 years old

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to over 70 years old.

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Each interviewee also completed a short demographic survey.

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Now when working with post-secondary within the

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post-secondary context, one has to be aware

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that at each institution the indigenous student body is

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drawn from many different communities and lands.

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And then beyond that, each institution supports

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and commits to having different compositions

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of indigenous led student groups or committees.

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So it's in really important to note these variations

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in place, space, language, community,

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and beliefs that are all encompassed within this description

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of an indigenous student community at each institution.

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Uh, after carefully following ethics board

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and indigenous review panel protocols,

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administrative context,

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then disseminated my project information

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through email list serves so

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that indigenous students could choose whether they wanted

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to volunteer and participate in the project

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once the interviews had begun,

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further interviewees were then recruited using the snowball

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sampling technique to participate.

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The students were required to self-identify

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as ident indigenous and to be in their second year

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of university or higher.

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And the in-person interviews were semi-structured

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with participants being welcomed

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and encouraged to take the the reins to take the direction

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of those interviews to bring forward the information they

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considered to be the most relevant.

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Throughout the project, I used a grounded theory approach,

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so I was continuously moving between the interview data

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and the interview structure

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and questions adjusting the structure as new questions

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and analytical themes emerged,

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and this allowed me to more deeply examine the aspects

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of experience that were highlighted as important

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by the interviewees.

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Then once the interviews were completed

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and transcribed, I used Atlas TI to do a thematic analysis

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to further enhance the comprehensive nature of the data.

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I spent time experiencing the university environment,

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spending time on the campus of each institution.

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So this included visiting both learning

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and social spaces on campus, listening

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to course instruction,

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attending indigenous led student events, and observing

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and creating detailed notes in all of those spaces.

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Of the 27 students interviewed 93% reported experiencing

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anti indigenous racism within the university context.

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These experiences were described as frequent and recurrent.

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They're representing very sizable barriers.

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The indigenous students described four areas

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or themes that framed their experiences within this

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environment, and then they described the barriers

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contained within these areas.

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The four areas were outlined as in-class experiences,

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direct interactions with professors, social interactions,

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and then engaging the university institution itself

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within the university classroom, the high levels of racism

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and the similarities in the way then that the racism

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is operating its nature

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was consistent across all three universities in question.

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The in-class experiences were extremely challenging,

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often eliciting great frustration, anger,

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and upset for the students

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that included facing openly declared statements of racism,

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demonstrations of ignorance regarding Canada's relationship,

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current and past with indigenous peoples.

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Um, open disrespect, important community elders, continuous

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and ongoing microaggressions and misrepresentation

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or erasure of indigenous peoples within curriculums.

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Serious concerns were raised by the majority

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of interviewees about the university classroom being a safe

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and productive space for indigenous students.

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Experiences of racism in the classroom take a heavy toll on

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indigenous students and in some cases threaten their ability

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to further pursue their education.

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One female indigenous student was told

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that her communication style was not deemed appropriate

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despite evidence of her exceptional skills.

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She was failed from her program

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and told she could not continue

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until she participated in additional communication training

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at her own expense and was taught,

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and I quote how to be white.

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Now, in terms with interactions directly with professors,

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these experiences differed from the more general in-class

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experiences as they reflect interactions

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with the professors.

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Specifically, some of the problematic experiences identified

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included lack of cultural sensitivity

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and inability to deal

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with racially charged in class situations.

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Often professors would rely on indigenous students

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to guide course content regarding indigenous peoples,

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sometimes even teaching those parts of the courses.

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For them. This caused the students to be singled out,

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feel extreme stress,

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and also to experience a high level of pressure to represent

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what I've already established is a very diverse indigenous

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student population.

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Many students also described instances where the racist

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or ignorant comment came directly from the professor

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themselves and others highlighted discrimination they faced

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from professors when the students wanted to include

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and incorporate indigenous knowledge in into their

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assignments being told it was simply personal opinion

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and not fact or data.

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These experiences

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and interactions present critical barriers

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to not only secure and safe learning spaces,

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but also to positive achievements

15:22.855 --> 15:25.355
and course completion in the social environment.

15:25.625 --> 15:28.795
Experiences of interpersonal racism were least common,

15:29.065 --> 15:31.515
however, the personal narratives brought forward

15:31.695 --> 15:34.275
by the students presented very valuable insights.

15:35.665 --> 15:39.305
Examples of indigenous students being exoticized, instances

15:39.405 --> 15:42.545
of brutally explicit overt racism from non-indigenous

15:42.825 --> 15:47.225
students, even experiencing racism within university led

15:47.225 --> 15:48.665
extracurricular activities.

15:49.405 --> 15:51.265
One student shared how when warming up

15:51.265 --> 15:52.905
for her university lacrosse game,

15:53.605 --> 15:55.705
the coach demanded in front of the entire team

15:56.095 --> 15:59.225
that she let out, and I quote her savage call.

15:59.735 --> 16:01.145
This led to her being singled out

16:01.405 --> 16:03.385
and being laughed at in front of the entire team.

16:04.795 --> 16:07.345
These social experiences were much more direct

16:07.485 --> 16:08.705
and elicited strong

16:08.705 --> 16:11.145
and immediate responses from the indigenous students

16:11.145 --> 16:14.465
themselves, and there's no question of the barrier

16:14.465 --> 16:15.465
that these presented.

16:15.965 --> 16:18.105
To continue the lacrosse team example,

16:18.375 --> 16:19.705
this student petitioned the coach

16:19.705 --> 16:23.305
and the team leadership to embed anti-racism policy

16:23.865 --> 16:25.945
directly into their team code of conduct.

16:26.525 --> 16:28.945
And after months and months of no action being taken,

16:29.325 --> 16:31.625
she quit the team for her own welfare and safety.

16:32.605 --> 16:35.465
The third zone of experience encompassed encounters

16:36.345 --> 16:38.305
systemic racism that occurred when engaging

16:38.415 --> 16:40.825
with the university At the institutional level,

16:41.515 --> 16:44.585
these concerns varied greatly in terms of both the nature

16:44.765 --> 16:46.545
and the source within the institution.

16:46.775 --> 16:50.545
However, what connects these experiences is systemically

16:50.905 --> 16:52.225
embedded barriers that appear

16:52.225 --> 16:55.385
to be rooted in anti indigenous racism and discrimination.

16:56.295 --> 16:58.625
Some examples included being told

16:58.625 --> 17:01.545
that indigenous led initiatives were not worth funding.

17:02.245 --> 17:05.185
An example of a systemic move toward elimination

17:06.185 --> 17:08.875
mismanagement by the university of banned funding

17:08.935 --> 17:12.315
for tuition, which led to delays in access, stress,

17:12.335 --> 17:15.875
and significant interest charges, lack of staff

17:15.935 --> 17:17.555
and infrastructure to lead courses

17:17.665 --> 17:19.835
that the universities themselves had promoted

17:20.175 --> 17:22.995
as having indigenous content, and

17:22.995 --> 17:24.595
therefore these courses being canceled

17:24.775 --> 17:26.755
and impacting education opportunities

17:27.695 --> 17:29.035
or even universities pushing

17:29.035 --> 17:32.475
through policy changes without properly informing the

17:32.475 --> 17:34.795
general student body and the faculty of the direction

17:34.795 --> 17:38.755
and the purpose resulting in severe negative racial backlash

17:39.475 --> 17:40.875
directly towards indigenous students.

17:41.365 --> 17:43.355
There were so many personal stories shared

17:43.355 --> 17:45.635
where intersectionality played a critical role,

17:46.335 --> 17:49.075
the intersection of numerous social positions coming

17:49.405 --> 17:52.045
together to alter individual's lived experience.

17:52.665 --> 17:55.405
Gender brought forward some very important variations,

17:55.875 --> 17:57.445
both positive and negative.

17:58.205 --> 18:01.185
Female students mentioned the positive impact

18:01.185 --> 18:03.665
of indigenous female leaders within the university

18:03.665 --> 18:06.745
institution and also having great opportunities

18:06.805 --> 18:08.145
for community involvement.

18:08.615 --> 18:11.945
However, female students also spoke to their subjugation

18:11.965 --> 18:13.425
to male indigenous students

18:14.285 --> 18:16.225
and female students who are mothers.

18:16.225 --> 18:19.425
Described many additional complexities and burdens.

18:19.935 --> 18:22.905
This research data has expanded understandings of

18:22.925 --> 18:25.785
how anti indigenous racism continues

18:25.785 --> 18:27.465
to operate within higher education.

18:28.005 --> 18:29.145
It has shown that the levels

18:29.245 --> 18:31.625
of anti indigenous racism are very high

18:32.085 --> 18:35.185
and pervasive across different areas of the university

18:35.285 --> 18:38.585
and also between different university institutions.

18:39.925 --> 18:42.395
Along with supporting the themes highlighted in my initial

18:42.395 --> 18:46.635
study from 2016, two additional themes were identified.

18:47.095 --> 18:50.235
The fluid nature of how the racism is operating.

18:51.115 --> 18:52.555
Shifting in between covert

18:52.555 --> 18:55.235
and overt depending on external variables

18:55.815 --> 18:57.955
and how the negative impact impacts

18:57.955 --> 19:01.635
of racism can be amplified when experiences overflowed

19:01.635 --> 19:04.915
simultaneously into multiple areas of the university

19:05.135 --> 19:06.595
or multiple thematic areas.

19:07.215 --> 19:10.675
The consistency and validity of the research data suggests

19:10.675 --> 19:13.715
that anti indigenous racism may be a concern amongst

19:14.555 --> 19:16.635
Canadian post-secondary institutions.

19:16.705 --> 19:19.515
More widely and further research should pursue this.

19:19.985 --> 19:22.395
Most interviewees reported their perception

19:22.665 --> 19:24.955
that the racism they experienced was a result

19:24.955 --> 19:26.635
of ignorance and misinformation.

19:27.415 --> 19:30.075
As racism becomes enmeshed within the systems

19:30.255 --> 19:32.715
and institutions that govern our everyday life,

19:33.185 --> 19:35.475
individuals themselves are unaware

19:35.575 --> 19:37.515
of the ideologies that they're operating within.

19:38.845 --> 19:41.115
These systemic structural elements

19:41.175 --> 19:44.675
of racism perpetuate preexisting inequalities

19:44.705 --> 19:47.955
through manifestations such as invisibility of the other

19:48.455 --> 19:51.395
and stereotypical portrayals or misrepresentations.

19:53.105 --> 19:56.345
A highly significant finding within the data encompassed the

19:56.585 --> 19:57.745
strength, perseverance,

19:57.765 --> 19:59.945
and ongoing commitments to advocacy

20:00.285 --> 20:01.505
by the indigenous students.

20:02.335 --> 20:05.505
This data exemplifies the many ways in which indigenous

20:05.865 --> 20:08.705
students are refusing to accept the settler colonial

20:08.705 --> 20:09.985
project of elimination.

20:11.105 --> 20:14.305
Repeatedly within the data, students describe a shared sense

20:14.305 --> 20:15.345
of responsibility

20:15.345 --> 20:17.465
and determination that appears

20:17.465 --> 20:20.225
to override the additional weight responsibility

20:20.245 --> 20:23.265
and fatigue, but not without cost to those individuals.

20:24.215 --> 20:26.945
With the nationwide focus on reconciliation,

20:27.095 --> 20:29.665
that was brought about by the TRC report

20:30.085 --> 20:32.825
and the many positive initiatives for reconciliation

20:32.825 --> 20:35.825
that emerged at Canadian universities across the country.

20:36.865 --> 20:40.585
The question arises as to why the levels of both systemic

20:40.805 --> 20:44.785
and interpersonal anti indigenous racism are still so high

20:44.925 --> 20:46.265
as is reflected in the data.

20:47.275 --> 20:49.085
Have the changes remained performative?

20:49.585 --> 20:51.605
Are the changes based only in policy

20:51.745 --> 20:54.965
and content rather than doing the work of unsettling

20:55.475 --> 20:59.005
Eurocentric teaching, why are universities not following

20:59.005 --> 21:00.925
through with the necessary financial support

21:00.985 --> 21:02.525
and infrastructure requirements?

21:02.895 --> 21:05.685
These are critical questions for future research.

21:06.385 --> 21:09.085
It is imperative to investigate further how

21:09.105 --> 21:12.365
and where colonial hierarchies within post-secondary

21:12.405 --> 21:13.965
institutions can be

21:13.985 --> 21:16.565
or have been disrupted, including

21:16.745 --> 21:19.285
how the changes universities have put in place are

21:19.385 --> 21:22.445
or perhaps are not improving the lived experiences

21:22.505 --> 21:24.325
of indigenous university students.

Indigenous Student Experiences and Systemic Racism

00:00:00 - Context for this study is a complicated one with multiple layers. This study examines how indigenous university students in Canada perceive and experience and manage the racism that they face in that context. But you have to begin looking at and acknowledging the history of Canada first before you can look more specifically at that environment. The history of Canada is not something that I can adequately address here today in this interview, not comprehensively. However, I will touch on a couple of main points that are very relevant. So in Canada, there's a long history
00:00:35 - This travels back to the very origins of the country itself and is in fact the bedrock that the country was built upon. And over time, the processes of settler colonialism have severely harmed indigenous peoples who live on this lands on all levels spiritually as individuals, community members, nation members. these harms are too many to mention comprehensively, but do include stolen land, stolen children, broken promises, implementation of racist laws and policies,
00:01:08 - at elimination. These processes of colonization are not simply historical, as many seem to believe they are ever present structures that are systemically embedded within contemporary Canadian society. So we must learn and understand colonial operations both past and present before we can begin comprehending how that plays out in our everyday lives, particularly in terms of racism, inequality,
00:01:40 - Canada is often known internationally as peacekeepers with focus on equality and justice, but this view is ignorant to the ongoing marginalization of indigenous peoples and the pervasive racism that continues across the nation. So up to this point, I've been speaking about the larger Canadian context. However, this study zooms in to examine the context of post-secondary institutions across the nation. The grander Canadian context
00:02:08 - of this study are intimately connected, which is why I began on that more general level. The colonial structures and the attached racial ideologies that were the building blocks for Canada were also the building blocks for Canadian universities, and they continue to invade those spaces. Now, when looking at the post-secondary context, there's a lot of variation across institutions. After the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released their final report in 2015, there became a new
00:02:42 - to start addressing the calls to action and start addressing the concept of reconciliation. However, these changes varied greatly depending on the province, depending on the institution where they began to make change, how quickly those changes advanced were extremely different across institutions. Some institutions develop strategies such as implementing land acknowledgements, inclusion of mandatory indigenous learning content, increased hiring

Challenges and Resilience of Indigenous Students

00:03:10 - and increased creation of indigenous spaces, and also the creation of indigenous insight committees. Now, arguably these are all very positive steps and changes, but what has come to light is that the outcomes of these changes, what is often called reconciliatory initiatives, have not been consistent and not consistently positive. So within the Canadian University context, indigenous students have been working for decades to secure access to secure power and space.
00:03:45 - and normalize Eurocentric ideologies. This can create environments that are dangerous for indigenous students, and by using the term dangerous, I am including concerns for physical, mental, and community safety. Now, indigenous post-secondary students show resilience, determination and extreme perseverance on a daily basis. Within these institutions, indigenous students are pushing forward, securing safe spaces, continuing to demand equity
00:04:17 - they're battling for success both personally and academically. When looking at previous literature regarding indigenous peoples and education in Canada, there is a large body of evidence that shows significant discrepancies in achieved education outcomes. some statistical analyses have revealed disparities that show that potentially less than 10% of the indigenous population are achieving post-secondary degrees or completing that level of education, whereas
00:04:50 - of the non-indigenous population achieving that level of education. Now, we know through investigation and a lot of different research that higher levels of education are directly related to improved standards of living, greater employment satisfaction, higher incomes, and improved health. And so the lived impact of these disparities are extremely significant. further research studies have demonstrated that at post-secondary institutions in both Canada
00:05:22 - and racial discrimination continue to be ubiquitous, including issues such as exclusion, isolation, and marginality. Hor research studies also support serious concerns regarding institutional rhetoric rather than action and academic, a way of describing a lot of words and a lot of written policy with not enough legitimate change. much of the data regarding indigenous university students in Canada has been based within quantitative studies rather than qualitative,
00:05:55 - of the indigenous students and how these experiences connect to systemic racism and settler colonialism. however, I will mention today a couple of previous studies that also centralized expert testimony of indigenous students when looking at the relational experiences they're having within those environments. in 2014, Clark's team published a study that looked at the racial climate of one research-based Canadian university. After completing six interviews,

Indigenous Student Experiences and Racism in Universities

00:06:26 - of experience including unconstrained, voyeurism, jealous accusations, cultural elimination or misrepresentation expectations of primi and isolation. Following that, I myself began researching in this area with a published study in 2016, and this study further investigated indigenous students experiences. It extended the research done by Clark's team in terms of the scope of investigation
00:06:57 - and microaggression directed toward indigenous students. 17 interviews were completed and additional themes were highlighted to further support this research, including very low levels of interaction between indigenous and non-indigenous students, audience effects that affected behavior and the persistence of racism in both in class, administrative and social realms across the university. Then in 2019, Johanna's team published another qualitative based study
00:07:31 - and again, expanding understandings of overt discrimination, assumptions of intellectual inferiority, constant invalidation, racial segregation, and how the myth of meritocracy was operating within those zones. One of the things Yohanna's team strongly noted was very little support for indigenous students from faculty and staff, and in fact, individuals in those positions were often, came to be known as the origin of those experiences
00:08:02 - In 2022 F Moff published a study looking at the impacts of the indigenization process. This was one of the many movements that came after the TRC published their final report. after completing 10 in-person interviews, ECMA found that there were both positive and negative outcomes from participation within these processes and called it a paradoxical pursuit, outlining that while including and supporting the indigenous students,
00:08:33 - also causing them harm. The current study under discussion builds upon those findings by increasing the number of indigenous students interviewed and including multiple university contexts for comparison. This created a more comprehensive understanding regarding the nature of indigenous students' experiences with racism and discrimination, its operations and its impacts. It also highlights the numerous ways that indigenous students are advocating and persevering with a determined focus on bettering
00:09:07 - The data for this project was drawn from ethnographic observation interviews and demographic surveys. So T'S project 27 in-person interviews were completed with indigenous students at three different universities in the province of Ontario Canada. Two of the universities were located in the southern region with one university located in the north. The interviews were spread fairly evenly across these interviews or across these universities with 10

Indigenous Student Experiences in Canadian Universities

00:09:41 - and the following eight being done at the one found in the north. 16 of the students were female, 11 were male. 12 lived on reserve lands prior to relocating, for their post-secondary education, and their ages ranged from 19 years old to over 70 years old. Each interviewee also completed a short demographic survey. Now when working with post-secondary within the post-secondary context, one has to be aware that at each institution the indigenous student body is
00:10:13 - And then beyond that, each institution supports and commits to having different compositions of indigenous led student groups or committees. So it's in really important to note these variations in place, space, language, community, and beliefs that are all encompassed within this description of an indigenous student community at each institution. after carefully following ethics board and indigenous review panel protocols, administrative context,
00:10:43 - through email list serves so that indigenous students could choose whether they wanted to volunteer and participate in the project once the interviews had begun, further interviewees were then recruited using the snowball sampling technique to participate. The students were required to self-identify as ident indigenous and to be in their second year of university or higher. And the in-person interviews were semi-structured with participants being welcomed and encouraged to take the the reins to take the direction
00:11:16 - considered to be the most relevant. Throughout the project, I used a grounded theory approach, so I was continuously moving between the interview data and the interview structure and questions adjusting the structure as new questions and analytical themes emerged, and this allowed me to more deeply examine the aspects of experience that were highlighted as important by the interviewees. Then once the interviews were completed and transcribed, I used Atlas TI to do a thematic analysis
00:11:49 - I spent time experiencing the university environment, spending time on the campus of each institution. So this included visiting both learning and social spaces on campus, listening to course instruction, attending indigenous led student events, and observing and creating detailed notes in all of those spaces. Of the 27 students interviewed 93% reported experiencing anti indigenous racism within the university context.
00:12:20 - They're representing very sizable barriers. The indigenous students described four areas or themes that framed their experiences within this environment, and then they described the barriers contained within these areas. The four areas were outlined as in-class experiences, direct interactions with professors, social interactions, and then engaging the university institution itself within the university classroom, the high levels of racism

Racism in Indigenous Students' Classroom Experiences

00:12:52 - is operating its nature was consistent across all three universities in question. The in-class experiences were extremely challenging, often eliciting great frustration, anger, and upset for the students that included facing openly declared statements of racism, demonstrations of ignorance regarding Canada's relationship, current and past with indigenous peoples. open disrespect, important community elders, continuous
00:13:23 - or erasure of indigenous peoples within curriculums. Serious concerns were raised by the majority of interviewees about the university classroom being a safe and productive space for indigenous students. Experiences of racism in the classroom take a heavy toll on indigenous students and in some cases threaten their ability to further pursue their education. One female indigenous student was told that her communication style was not deemed appropriate
00:13:55 - She was failed from her program and told she could not continue until she participated in additional communication training at her own expense and was taught, and I quote how to be white. Now, in terms with interactions directly with professors, these experiences differed from the more general in-class experiences as they reflect interactions with the professors. Specifically, some of the problematic experiences identified
00:14:26 - and inability to deal with racially charged in class situations. Often professors would rely on indigenous students to guide course content regarding indigenous peoples, sometimes even teaching those parts of the courses. For them. This caused the students to be singled out, feel extreme stress, and also to experience a high level of pressure to represent what I've already established is a very diverse indigenous student population. Many students also described instances where the racist
00:14:59 - themselves and others highlighted discrimination they faced from professors when the students wanted to include and incorporate indigenous knowledge in into their assignments being told it was simply personal opinion and not fact or data. These experiences and interactions present critical barriers to not only secure and safe learning spaces, but also to positive achievements and course completion in the social environment. Experiences of interpersonal racism were least common,
00:15:31 - by the students presented very valuable insights. Examples of indigenous students being exoticized, instances of brutally explicit overt racism from non-indigenous students, even experiencing racism within university led extracurricular activities. One student shared how when warming up for her university lacrosse game, the coach demanded in front of the entire team that she let out, and I quote her savage call.

Experiences of Racism in University Sports Teams

00:16:01 - and being laughed at in front of the entire team. These social experiences were much more direct and elicited strong and immediate responses from the indigenous students themselves, and there's no question of the barrier that these presented. To continue the lacrosse team example, this student petitioned the coach and the team leadership to embed anti-racism policy directly into their team code of conduct. And after months and months of no action being taken, she quit the team for her own welfare and safety.
00:16:36 - systemic racism that occurred when engaging with the university At the institutional level, these concerns varied greatly in terms of both the nature and the source within the institution. However, what connects these experiences is systemically embedded barriers that appear to be rooted in anti indigenous racism and discrimination. Some examples included being told that indigenous led initiatives were not worth funding. An example of a systemic move toward elimination
00:17:08 - for tuition, which led to delays in access, stress, and significant interest charges, lack of staff and infrastructure to lead courses that the universities themselves had promoted as having indigenous content, and therefore these courses being canceled and impacting education opportunities or even universities pushing through policy changes without properly informing the general student body and the faculty of the direction and the purpose resulting in severe negative racial backlash
00:17:41 - There were so many personal stories shared where intersectionality played a critical role, the intersection of numerous social positions coming together to alter individual's lived experience. Gender brought forward some very important variations, both positive and negative. Female students mentioned the positive impact of indigenous female leaders within the university institution and also having great opportunities for community involvement. However, female students also spoke to their subjugation
00:18:14 - and female students who are mothers. Described many additional complexities and burdens. This research data has expanded understandings of how anti indigenous racism continues to operate within higher education. It has shown that the levels of anti indigenous racism are very high and pervasive across different areas of the university and also between different university institutions. Along with supporting the themes highlighted in my initial
00:18:47 - The fluid nature of how the racism is operating. Shifting in between covert and overt depending on external variables and how the negative impact impacts of racism can be amplified when experiences overflowed simultaneously into multiple areas of the university or multiple thematic areas. The consistency and validity of the research data suggests that anti indigenous racism may be a concern amongst

Addressing Systemic Racism in Higher Education

00:19:16 - More widely and further research should pursue this. Most interviewees reported their perception that the racism they experienced was a result of ignorance and misinformation. As racism becomes enmeshed within the systems and institutions that govern our everyday life, individuals themselves are unaware of the ideologies that they're operating within. These systemic structural elements of racism perpetuate preexisting inequalities
00:19:48 - and stereotypical portrayals or misrepresentations. A highly significant finding within the data encompassed the strength, perseverance, and ongoing commitments to advocacy by the indigenous students. This data exemplifies the many ways in which indigenous students are refusing to accept the settler colonial project of elimination. Repeatedly within the data, students describe a shared sense of responsibility
00:20:17 - to override the additional weight responsibility and fatigue, but not without cost to those individuals. With the nationwide focus on reconciliation, that was brought about by the TRC report and the many positive initiatives for reconciliation that emerged at Canadian universities across the country. The question arises as to why the levels of both systemic and interpersonal anti indigenous racism are still so high as is reflected in the data.
00:20:49 - Are the changes based only in policy and content rather than doing the work of unsettling Eurocentric teaching, why are universities not following through with the necessary financial support and infrastructure requirements? These are critical questions for future research. It is imperative to investigate further how and where colonial hierarchies within post-secondary institutions can be or have been disrupted, including how the changes universities have put in place are
00:21:22 - of indigenous university students.

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