Universities must uphold Indigenous rights to self-determine – IRPP

January 30, 2024

Attempts to ‘verify’ the Indigenous identity of faculty, staff and students, and to get rid of ‘fraudsters’ are hurtful and often based on false premises.

Indigenous identity has long been a topic of (un)critical debate in Canada, usually shaped by colonial stories rooted in assimilation and erasure. The impact of Sir John A. MacDonald, the Indian Act, the 1969 white paper and Joey Smallwood continues to influence relations within and between Indigenous and non-Indigenous societies.

In my professional and personal experience, the nature of identity dialogue has often been triggered by Indigenous relations with the state in reaction to the colonial world around us, not due to any changing nature of Indigenous identity.

I come from Inuit and European ancestry on both the maternal and paternal sides of my family. I was born and raised on the lands of my Inuit ancestors off the southeast coast of Labrador (NunatuKavut) in the remote community of Black Tickle on the Island of Ponds.

Read More: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/january-2024/universities-indigenous/