PLANTING SEEDS THROUGH INDIGENOUS PEDAGOGY:

PICKING UP THE RECONCILIATION BUNDLE IN THE ACADEMY

Abstract

Ontario Tech University is both small in student size and
young in relation to the Canadian academic landscape. With
its emphasis on technology well established, the university is
shifting some of its attention to address the need to include
Indigenous knowledge and history through course offerings.
This paper illustrates contextual details of the university, the
process of the first Indigenous Studies course creation, and
our work in listening to the stories of the students. We explore
the demographics and history of Ontario Tech University and
Durham Region, where it is situated. We describe the formation
of the community group that created the course, and
review our methodology addressing Indigenist research and
Indigenous pedagogical approaches. We include some of the
conversations we had during the writing of this paper, demonstrating
layers of story and relationality. Finally, we conclude
with a discussion of the stories shared by the students, noting
some of the signs for hope and for caution.