Concordia launches a guide to support relationship-building with Indigenous communities

Concordia is marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 with a number of events.

As part of the series, the university’s Office of Community Engagement has launched an important resource to contribute to the decolonization process in academic institutions and to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action. 

Dewemaagannag/My Relations: Principles and values to decolonize engagement with Indigenous communities is a guide for researchers, academics and students who would like to engage with Indigenous Peoples, organizations and communities.

With contributions from Indigenous experts at Concordia as well as from other universities and organizations in Canada, the guide features key principles and values to help in building relationships, as well as stories from Indigenous people about best practices. It is a resource for self-reflection for non-Indigenous academics and students within universities who are considering research or teaching collaborations with Indigenous communities.

“As universities respond to the call to decolonize and Indigenize their institutions, we hope that this guide will be a tool that non-Indigenous faculty, students and staff can use to reflect on their motivations for this work and then take action to move Indigenous knowledges and processes from the margins to the centre,” says Amanda Shawayahamish, who co-created the guide with Geneviève Sioui, senior coordinator at the Office of Community Engagement.

From respecting Indigenous expertise and protocols to ensuring that Indigenous collaborators benefit from research work, the guide provides advice on applying key principles to transform the way researchers and academics engage with Indigenous individuals, organizations and communities.