“BEING AND DOING” IN THE COLONIAL ACADEMY

INDIGENOUS FACULTY EXPERIENCES OF RACISM: A SCOPING REVIEW

Abstract

This scoping review investigates the manifestations and impacts of Indigenous-specific racism experienced by self-identified Indigenous faculty within Canadian post-secondary institutions. Guided by the Population, Concept, and Context framework and the five-step methodology of Arksey and O’Malley, the review systematically maps 28 sources comprising journal articles, book chapters, and reports published between 1995 and 2024. Thematic analysis reveals systemic racism as a dominant pattern, expressed through inequitable complaint processes, funding disparities, curricular erasure, institutional hypocrisy, and labour inequities. Eurocentrism and white ignorance further compound these challenges, marginalizing Indigenous knowledge systems and subjecting Indigenous faculty to emotional, spiritual, and professional burdens. The review highlights geographic and identity-based patterns, distinctions between overt and covert racism, and the presence of recommendations aligned with reconciliation and decolonization. By synthesizing existing literature, this review addresses a critical gap in scholarship and supports the objectives of the Race, Gender, Diversity Tâpwewin Project, contributing to a deeper understanding of structural racism in Canadian academia and informing future research and institutional change.

 Keywords: anti-Indigenous racism, systemic racism, post-secondary education, Indigenous faculty