Introduction to Indigenous Cultural Competency for McMaster Educators

What is cultural competency? 

Let’s begin with establishing an understanding of what cultural competency means.   

The Sylix Okanagan Nation Alliance states that: “We are all bearers of culture. The process of developing cultural competency involves reflecting on our own attitudes, beliefs, and values and how these can influence how we understand the cultural norms of others, like the Syilx. Aboriginal people have a unique socio-political history, one that has been marked by injustice and violence between newcomers and First Nations. Therefore, one must remain mindful of the power relations between certain groups, such as their economic and political positioning in society.”  

Cultivating cultural awareness

The first step toward cultural competency is cultivating cultural awareness. This refers simply to understanding one’s own cultural origins and influences, and recognizing how this may differ from other cultural understandings and experiences. In a settler colonial nation like Canada though, one must also attend to the history of forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples into Euro-Western cultures. 

Knowledge of the differences between groups in this case is not enough – we must also work toward restoring the power imbalances that continue to affect Indigenous peoples lives in Canada today. If you are a non-indigenous Canadian, non-citizen newcomer, or visiting international student, these reflections might carry an additional impact of shock, or feelings of discomfort when reflecting on one’s own identity and relation to Indigenous peoples through the nation of Canada. 

Acknowledging the Land 

“McMaster University recognizes and acknowledges that it is located on the traditional territories of the Mississauga and Haudenosaunee nations, and within the lands protected by the ‘Dish with One Spoon” wampum agreement.”

You may have been audience to this practice in various other settings or territories, and witnessed varying depths of engagement.

“Indigenous land acknowledgment is an effort to recognize the Indigenous past, present, and future of a particular location and to understand our own place within that relationship. Usually, land acknowledgments take the form of written and/or verbal statements. It’s becoming more and more common to see land acknowledgments delivered at conferences, community gatherings, places of worship, concerts and festivals, etc.” (Beyond Land Acknowledgment: A Guide) 

Indigenous Worldviews and the Western University 

Decolonize the Academy

After spending some time cultivating your cultural awareness, watch Decolonize the Academy – Understanding the colonial roots of the academy & knowledge (approx. 10 minutes) to learn more about the intersections of culture, history, and the role of the academy in what mik’maq scholar Marie Battiste calls cognitive imperialism. 

Note: the video is set to start at 12:56. Please watch until 22:20 - alternatively you can view a  trimmed clip of the video 

A History of Colonial Impacts on Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island 

As we learn by engaging in the Land acknowledgement, the Indigenous nations that lived on Turtle Island prior to European colonialism have long and complex, international political histories. As competing powers sought control of the lands and resources of the “new world”, relationships with local Indigenous people took many forms, including in some cases, alliance, following local Indigenous protocols of treaty-making. 

As the Dutch, British, French, and eventually American colonists battled for lands and resources, these relationships shifted over time in relation to the utility of Indigenous allies to the European powers. As Indigenous homelands were lost and nations suffered great decline due to warfare, disease, and targeted removal, colonies turned their focus to the establishment of settler colonies. 

What is futurism? 

Futurism is the practice of imagining cultures and ways of being still existing far into the future. Futurisms is a practise of visioning and manifesting Indigeneity into the future. Futurity is not only for the benefit of Indigenous Peoples but for everyone and everything on the earth. 

Why is futurism important?

Depending on your positionality and privilege, it may be difficult to understand why this is important or what happens when we discuss futurity and Indigenous futurity more specifically. But futurisms is important for many BIPOC communities and Indigenous communities specifically because they have been actively erased and continue to be today. Ancestors were erased from the landscape and removed from their territories for the expansion of Canada, thousands of children were taken into residential schools to “kill the Indian in the child”; thousands of children have been and continue to be apprehended by Children’s Aid Society and other organizations; Indigenous men make up 23% of those incarcerated; Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to go missing or be murdered than non-Indigenous women all while Indigenous Peoples only make up 4.9% of the Canadian Population (Statistics Canada).  

In the video below, Richard Hill talks about how the traditional worldviews and governance of the Haudenosaunee are being revived and adapted to contemporary times through the Two-Row wampum in Voice from Here (Episode 4) (13 minutes) 

In this module, we covered how to:

• Recognize some key elements of Indigenous worldviews and knowledges, and how they differ from Western/European-influenced ways of knowing
• Identify key historical and contemporary contexts that shape systemic racism, power, and privilege in relation to Indigenous Peoples in a Canadian, and McMaster University-specific context
• Reflect on your own attitudes and beliefs that can influence our relationship to Indigenous peoples and knowledges in our classrooms.