R E - I MAG I NI NG E Q U I T Y T HR O U G H CR I T I CAL AR T FU L P R ACT I CE S
LEARNING AT INTERCULTURAL INTERSECTIONS 2019, THOMPSON RIVER UNIVERSITY, Traditional Secwepemc (Shuswap) Territory 2019
Julie Vaudr in- Char ette Étudiante au doctor at en éducation, Société, Cultur e, et langues. Faculté d?éducation, Univer sité d?Ottawa. (Dir ) Dr. Car ole Fleur et et Dr. Nicholas Ng- A- Fook - jvaudr inchar ette@gmail.com
Dr. Gabr ielle Lindstr om, Niitsitapi, Blackfoot Scholar, Assistant Pr ofessor in Indigenous Studies with the Depar tment of Humanities., Mount Royal Univer sity

Su m m ar y: Indigenist and arts-based methodologies such as poetry, ecological embroideries and conversations inspirited a collective storyweaving of key questions in accessing the intercultural, pedagogical and
transformational possibilities within decolonizing practices. Participants are invited to share and reflect on critical questions through key words and poetic images emerging from our experiences at the conference.

GIFTS AND INTENTIONS

STORY-WEAVING

CRITICAL QUESTIONS

Coulthard 2014) includes a reframing of relationships through

In storyweaving case-studies and key questions, we find guidance in

Reflecting on what reconciliatory and decolonial

truth-telling (Corntassel 2009), accountability (Absolon 2016; Alfred

accessing the intercultural, pedagogical and transformational

frameworks means with/in our practice, we assess our

2015), and an opening toward the epistemological shifting required to

possibilities within those intersections. We generating critical

own contributions and complicities in re-imaging equity.

put forth better relations (Bartlett, Marshall, and Marshall 2012;

questions and stories on how reconciliatory and decolonial

We examine the critical questions at the intersections of

Barrett et al. 2014; Kovach 2015). What if we considered collective and

frameworks are understood by intercultural educators in their

reconciliation and decolonization as a way to

environmental accountability within our individual agency? This

practices.

collectively reflect on ways to enable our

A decolonizing of higher education (Battiste 2012; Donald 2013;

question expands on how Gorski, Salcedo, and Landsman (2016, 97)

learnings into our localized practices and see

ask ?How might we prepare ourselves to be bearers of peace, to make

transformational possibilities within those

our classrooms oases, especially for students who feel marginalized

intersections.

at school??

How can I contribute to making my college an
indigenous space ?
How to help the non-indigenous community
trust the process of decolonization ?

(Participants's whispers)

How can I/we co-create (academic) learning
experiences and courses that integrate
indigenous ways of being and knowing on n
equal basis with "Western ways" ?

I f elt lik e a cr af t y ch ild
Wit h a n eedle in m y h an d
In t h e silen t h ear t beat
Bet w een t w o w or lds

What can I/we do to support non-indigenous
friends and colleagues to take the initiative for
reconciliation, ? eg. create equity inclusion ?

In t o pr esen ce
Mohkintsis

Flu en t ly list en in g

Dislocation.Location.Self-location.
Land of whose ancestors ?
Bus of kids from over.there.
Who were they ? Why did'nt I care ?
Didn't I care.

To Cedar 's of f er in g

It's not about me. And

An ah at h a
Sit s qu iet ly
In t h e silen ce bet w een t w o h ear t beat s

It is
Presence.
The space between
is just as important as the beat
Beat for our hearts.
(A poem in progress)
Ktunaxa, Kootenay, mountains
clothed
In cedar, pine, ponderosa
The water a sanctuary

I sit alon e
Tr an slat in g an d h on or in g
Tw en t y belon gin g m om en t s
Of dr if t in g open -h ear t s
Wh at can m oss t each u s
In t h ese w eavin g m om en t s
Of u n k n it t in n g com plicit ies ?
(How m ay sh e ext en d ou r decolon izin g pat h s ?)

I know its taste, smell,
but not it's stories
We've taken the names
Mined the landscapes,
Mined the language,
So few fluent speakers left.
How can we learn to listen ?

Kukwstsétsemc. Tshinashkumitin !Miigwech ! Ó : nen !?? s??? n?chiniskumitin !
Julie's doctoral research project receiving support from theSocial Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

World(s).
A place of mine
A place in time
Do we walk in 2 worlds or together in
one ?
Do we make space for learning and
what we might become ?