Universities need to value Indigenous knowledge, Mi’kmaw youth tells Senate committee – CBC

Jun 08, 2023

Knowledge held by elders is equivalent to a PhD, says Muin Ji’j

The Mi’kmaw perspective was among those presented on Wednesday, when eight youth leaders addressed the Senate standing committee on Indigenous Peoples in Ottawa.

Muin Ji’j (Bertram Bernard Jr.) from Eskasoni First Nation in Nova Scotia, shared his journey through the education system.

He called on academic institutions to place a higher value on the knowledge shared by Indigenous people. He said universities should take a two-eyed seeing approach, to see both through an Indigenous lens and a western lens.

He said in his community, all the knowledge held about the world by an elder like Albert Marshall is equivalent to a PhD.

Muin Ji’j, who has a master of business administration degree from Cape Breton University (CBU) and a certificate from the Harvard School of Business, said getting an education is a path to success but he faced harmful stereotypes.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/mikmaw-youth-stereotypes-education-1.6868471