Wholistic and Ethical: Social Inclusion with Indigenous Peoples

Abstract

This paper begins with a poem and is inclusive of my voice as Anishinaabekwe (Ojibway woman) and is authored from my spirit, heart, mind and body. The idea of social inclusion and Indigenous peoples leave more to the imagination and vision than what is the reality and actuality in Canada. This article begins with my location followed with skepticism and hope. Skepticism deals with the exclusion of Indigenous peoples since colonial contact and the subsequent challenges and impacts. Hope begins to affirm the possibilities, strengths and Indigenous knowledge that guides wholistic cultural frameworks and ethics of social inclusion. A wholistic cultural framework is presented; guided by seven sacred teachings and from each element thoughts for consideration are guided by Indigenous values and principles. From each element this paper presents a wholistic and ethical perspective in approaching social inclusion and Indigenous peoples.

Four Generations For Generations: A Pow Wow Story to Transform Academic Evaluation Criteria

“…This remarkable story of restoration and inclusion began with an invitation (Absolon, 2016). In 2019 my daughter was invited to be lead female dancer at the University of Waterloo pow wow, where she had completed her undergraduate degree.…”

Melting the Cultural Iceberg in Indigenizing Higher Education: Shifts to Accountability in Times of Reconciliation

“…In this section, I use positionality as a way to reflect on how dynamics of voice, family, and vulnerability are related to our educational experiences and practices. Personal and family narratives as introductions are becoming more common in academic settings (Wilson ; Moffat ; Absolon ). In the introduction to this chapter, I provided a positionality statement inspired by Chung () in which the individual naming of our relationships to land, family, and Indigenous languages becomes part of a collective transformation process toward inclusion and reconciliation.…”

“…Teaching from a social inclusion perspective, Anishinabe author Kathleen Absolon (, 45) names the challenge of recognizing “that values and ideas of inclusion from and within a colonized environment still contain western values that I have internalized.” How do we melt the iceberg while acknowledging the sediments within it, along with recognizing their impacts on relationships in the classroom?…”

“…A decolonizing of higher education (Battiste ; Donald ; Coulthard ) includes a reframing of relationships through truth‐telling (Corntassel ), accountability (Absolon ; Alfred ), and an opening toward the epistemological shifting required to put forth better relations (Bartlett, Marshall, and Marshall ; Barrett et al. ; Kovach ).…”

Positionality and Research: “Two-Eyed Seeing” With a Rural Ktaqmkuk Mi’kmaw Community

“…This served as the basis for my master's research. For the purposes of this article, traditional knowledge is considered as the local knowledge shared from community participants in Ewipkek through oral narratives of their relationship to and understanding of their environment (Absolon, 2016;Black & McBean, 2016;Corbière, 2000). Although other terms are referenced that may refer to traditional knowledge, such as Indigenous knowledge (IK; Bartlett et al, 2012), traditional knowledge will be the term used for consistency in this article.…”