Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Part 2 – CBS Office of Educational Scholarship and Practice

We All Start Somewhere – Part 2

Words By: Jessi Nelson

In this article: Equity, diversity, and inclusion is happening across multiple levels within the College of Biological Science. The goal for this article is to consider what and how we teach our students and how Indigenous Knowledge can be woven into the classroom.

Find out more about:

Experiences, thoughts, and lessons learned when incorporating Indigenous understanding and perspectives in the class
Helpful resources for getting started

Embracing Equity, Diversity & Inclusion – What & How We Teach

Land Acknowledgement

My relationship with the land is special to me. I grew up outside the city limits and did not have access to bus routes and often did not have parents available to drive me places. The forested area beside our home was a sanctuary I often turned to. It was a place I could explore and a place where I could sit quietly on a branch and find peace. What I did not know, was the lands I enjoyed as a child are stolen lands. They were stolen long before my family came to reside there, but that does not change the fact that they are stolen.

During a Native Literature course during my undergrad, I learned a little about Canada’s residential schools and life on reserves. However, it is really in the last two years that my understanding of Canada’s history and present with Indigenous Peoples has grown. I experience a great deal of emotional unrest that falls along a spectrum from being sad to disheartened to angry when I learn about assimilation, cultural genocide, and the unthinkable treatment of others, especially children. The repercussions of those actions are ongoing today, and it’s not enough to be sorry about the past or to think we are free from it. Today, I am inspired by the movement and conversations happening and am hopeful that positive changes will continue to gain momentum, especially when the voices of many come together.

I am happy to learn that the land I grew up on, and now live, work, and reside on, are the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, Attiwonderonk, and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations. What I have yet to learn, is what can I do to further my understanding. What relationship do these groups have with the land, and what are their teachings? How can I connect in a respectful way and form a reciprocal relationship? As a white person, whose family immigrated to Canada at different points in history, I am not Indigenous to Canada, and I need to be respectful and appreciative to the people who took great care of this land for generations before our arrival. I hope to gain insight and to collaborate with others who embrace the changes that must happen to improve the lives of our Indigenous neighbours. This is how I reflect on and acknowledge the land and my relationship with it. -Jessi

Weaving Indigenous Knowledge with Western Knowledge

How many of us consider ourselves lifelong learners? What if the next thing we learned was how to weave western science with Indigenous Knowledge? What if we took a Two-Eyed seeing approach to teaching and learning? What would our classrooms look like?

What is Two-Eyed Seeing?

Etuaptmumk |Two-eyed seeing. “Two-Eyed Seeing is the Guiding Principle brought into the Integrative Science co-learning journey by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall in Fall 2004. Etuaptmumk is the Mi’kmaw word for Two-Eyed Seeing. We often explain Etuaptmumk – Two-Eyed Seeing by saying it refers to learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledges and ways of knowing … and learning to use both these eyes together, for the benefit of all.” (http://www.integrativescience.ca/Principles/TwoEyedSeeing/)

**BOTANY*2100: Making Changes Towards Two-Eyed Seeing**

Of course, any journey starts somewhere, and that is exactly what is happening in a 2^nd year botany course (BOT*2100), where lab instructor Dr. Chris Meyer, from the department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Brad Howie, Anishinaabe Environmental Educator at The Arboretum, have connected to shift how students are learning about plants and our relationship with them. Howie collaborated with Dr. Meyer in 2021 during the Fall semester and gave a guest presentation titled, “Miskiki: The Strength of Mother Earth and Our Relationships with Plants.” During that presentation, students learned about Anishinaabe environmental philosophies and medicines. How we might turn to nature, not only to understand it, but also how we might become a student of nature, where we learn and listen to what mother earth and the plants that grow there share with us.

Changing the Learning Landscape One Step at a Time

When asked about where to start, Dr. Meyer suggested, “it’s really about the core values of the lab. EDI, respect, and recognition for Indigenous Knowledge is a core value of the lab, and that is maintained for the entire semester (and beyond).”

It is not any one thing. There are many aspects that contribute to creating a welcoming space that include Indigenous perspectives. Most importantly, it is authentic and ongoing.

What does this look like in practice?

Having a reflective land acknowledgement whereby everyone is invited to reflect on their relationship to the land and the history associated with land in Canada
- Include your personal experiences and journey of reflection
Inviting Indigenous guests to come talk with students or sharing webinars led by Indigenous scholars, Elders, Knowledge Holders, etc.
Including Indigenous names for plants/animals based on the relationship Indigenous peoples have with them, alongside scientific names (Ojibwe).
Incorporate Indigenous Knowledge across your various course topics—not as an “add on,” but as an integral part of the subject

Important Considerations:

Don’t work to achieve perfection. Encourage students to engage with you and correct you if something is misrepresented.
Show students your passion for the subject – bring humanity into the space – what draws you to a topic as an instructor and learner? Why is it cool, what has been meaningful along your learning journey as you gain knowledge of how western science pairs with Indigenous knowledge?
When engaging with or requesting input or guest speakers from the Indigenous community, focus on building a reciprocal relationship of mutual benefit.

Interested in Connecting with Brad Howie

Former Guelphite and Master’s graduate from Dr. Jesse Popp’s lab in the School of Environmental Science. Brad is of mixed European and Anishinaabe ancestry and during his Master’s reconnected with his Anishinaabe heritage by researching the creation of educational materials that weave Anishinaabe knowledge, language, culture, and science into the University of Guelph Arboretum (Brad Howie: About). Brad is now an Anishinaabe Environmental Educator at The Arboretum, Guelph and is creating educational programming and will be leading walks, workshops, and guided land-based tours.

Brad approaches his educational work with the Anishinaabe understanding that we have four states of being: mind, body, spirit, and emotions. Our minds are one piece of who we are, and as educators we must learn to respect students for not only their minds, but their bodies, spirit, and emotions. This is a core value of Anishinaabe pedagogy, and one that connects to the land-based teachings about nature, water, and being a person in the physical world.

Brad believes there is always an aspect of strength of the earth that can be shared and approaches education with an understanding that we are all learning together. Brad is presently offering educational consulting services, providing land-based teachings and lectures, centering on Anishinaabe culture, language, knowledge, and science.

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC04tjehOIpad3ynDsIHpKcA

Website: https://2bradhowie.wixsite.com/website

Support + Resources

Change Does Not Happen in Isolation

The Arboretum

The Arboretum is a vast 400 acre green space directly adjacent to the University of Guelph campus that is meant to be a space to connect people with nature and enhance teaching, research, and outreach at the University. The Arboretum is integral to many undergraduate courses, and acts as a ‘living laboratory’, providing support, expertise, and a wide variety of plants, wildlife species, and environments for researchers and leaners at all levels. The Arboretum has several new Indigenous-led initiatives currently occurring that will weave traditional knowledge systems into this already incredible teaching space.

Nokom’s House: Decolonizing Post-Secondary Spaces

Two-Eyed Seeing

http://www.integrativescience.ca/ (About Two-Eyed Seeing: Elder, Albert Marshall, Integrative Science, Cape Breton University)

Online dictionary and pronunciation guide: “Ojibwe People’s Dictionary”

Key sources of Anishinaabe botanical information:

Wendy Makoons Geniusz. 2009. Our Knowledge Is Not Primitive: Decolonizing Botanical Anishinaabe Teachings. Syracuse University Press, New York.
Mary Siisip Geniusz. 2015. Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask: Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings. University of Minnesota Press, Minnesota.
Robin Kimmerer. 2013. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, Minnesota.
Nothing acts as a substitute for getting out on the land and walking with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Holders. *Brad notes, this is something that happens more naturally because a big thing in the community is reciprocity. You go and walk with an Elder, you give them tobacco. You see a Knowledge Holder maybe before cutting buckthorn down on their property. The connection and experiences are meant to be natural and organic.

Conscious Integration of Indigenous Voices In The Classroom

Indigenous scholars are being increasingly turned to for guidance about how to respectfully incorporate and integrate Indigenous knowledge and histories in the classroom. While there are good intentions in consulting with Indigenous scholars, it is not always the best approach. In an article by Dr. Jesse Popp, “Want To Reach Out To an Indigenous Scholar?”, there are ten very important considerations prior to connecting:

Do research first.
Recognize we have a lot of requests.
Recognize we are not all the same.
Just because we are Indigenous doesn’t mean we know all things Indigenous.
Think about your intentions.
Avoid box-ticking.
Ensure your ideas include meaningful engagement.
Prioritize reciprocity.
Consider compensation.
Know that our ways of knowing are as equally valuable as yours.

*For a full description, please refer to Dr. Popp’s full article.

One method of lessening the load on Indigenous scholars could include researching academic societies. Given the increased awareness about EDI and the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in higher education institutions there may be relevant resources available from discipline-specific academic societies that are related to your course content. Therefore, you might try a similar approach that was used in a 4000-level nutrition course of 200 students, where instructor, Dr. Jennifer Monk from Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, shared a live webinar with students for National Truth and Reconciliation Day.

What does this look like in practice?

After seeing an email from the Canadian Nutrition Society, sharing, “A Special Webinar: Out of the Darkness and Into the Light,” Dr. Monk brought it to the students in her course. Not only was the webinar content relevant to the course material about malnutrition and nutrition research practices and ethics, but it also created an opportunity for students to learn about Indigenous residential schools and the “food and nutrition research practices that failed to protect the health and safety of residential school children […] and how Indigenous Peoples – including children continue to be affected disproportionately by malnutrition and diet-related health problems” (webinar description).

The goal of the webinar was to provide “an opportunity to acknowledge past harms and ongoing colonial practices that negatively impact the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples, and to learn how we can move forward knowing that there are many shining examples of fully participatory nutrition research projects that are occurring from a place of respect, honour, trust and collaboration” (webinar description).

Integration:

Connect with the discipline-specific professional society putting on the webinar & request for student access or permission to include the webinar in your course, especially if you have a larger class and webinar registration is limited.
Determine if the webinar can be accessed live or recorded for students to access afterward.
Create a bonus/optional reflection assignment that students can participate in (especially if you learn of the webinar after the course has started).
Use the webinar as a means of conversation and to empower students, wherever they are on their journey in learning about Canada’s history with Indigenous Peoples.

Sharing Thoughts & Experiences

When asked, “what is important to share with other instructors,” Dr. Monk said

Support + Resources

Change Does Not Happen in Isolation

Canadian Nutrition Society (available to both members and non-members)

Professional Development Series of online workshops on “Supporting Equity Within Nutrition”
Online access to the recorded webinar “Out of the Darkness and Into the Light”

(Try searching for a professional society related to your area of research/teaching)

Want To Reach Out To an Indigenous Scholar? By Dr. Jesse Popp

Indigenous Initiatives website on Learning Together as a possible resource – https://indigenous.uoguelph.ca/learning

Inclusive Teaching Guide from Columbia University