As 2023 draws to a close the Indigenous Initiatives Team would like to say thank you to everyone who collaborated with us this year on a project or event. And of course, thank you to the many people who attended those sessions. Our work would not be possible without all of you!

We hope you have a fantastic and relaxing break and look forward to seeing you in 2024! 

On November 23rd the Indigenous Initiatives team hosted the launch for the in/relation project. The project is an educational resource for instructors, staff and students at UBC who are:

1. Interested in exploring Indigenous histories and contexts at UBC with others who are fairly new to these topics—and  
2. Non-experts on Indigenous topics themselves.  

The resource contains facilitation tools and support for those choosing to initiate and lead these learning conversations as well as sample learning modules and a framework for organizing the learning. This website also contains the background and research that informed the development of in/relation and houses stories of how the resource has been applied. 

During the launch project team members shared the new website as well as the recently published video guide. We encourage you to explore what‘s there!  

Incorporating Indigenous topics and voices into university classrooms is essential. But where do you begin? Educational institutions have historically excluded Indigenous knowledges and privileged others. Not only is this an important pedagogical shift, but it is also a needed shift to create safer classrooms for Indigenous students. Understanding the foundations is essential for growing confidence and capacity to hold the complexities of meaningful conversations. 

Date: January 24, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 11:30am
Location: In-person [Irving K Barber Learning Centre, Room 2.22 Room 302 (1961 E Mall)]

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Date: February 22, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 11:30am
Location: Zoom

Do you have questions about how to thoughtfully integrate Indigenous content and representation into your course work? Curious about how to offer meaningful land acknowledgements in online meetings or events at UBC? Indigenous Initiatives’ Virtual Coffee Drop-ins are great place to explore these topics, connect with others on the same learning path, or just get to know our team.

Andy Everson‘s Tlingit great-great-grandfather George Hunt worked alongside anthropologist Franz Boas for almost fifty years. During this time, the two amassed a tremendous volume of information about the Kwakwa̱ka̱‘wakw peoples. Andy has taken some of this work and is actively engaging in bringing back parts of the potlatch that have remained dormant due to the Canadian government‘s efforts to destroy and dismantle his people‘s traditions. By referencing both the published and non-published works of Hunt and Boas, Andy is working to reintegrate ancient traditions back into the potlatch and, by extension, his art.

Date: December 14th
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: Irving K. Barber Learning Centre

UBC Okanagan has created a new pathway for students pursuing Indigenous studies, announcing that applications are now open for the Indigenous Knowledges theme in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies programs. The program is called iʔ sqilxʷ aʔ cmiy̓ t scmypnwíłnsəlx in Nsyilxcn. 

Kim TallBear (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate) is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience, and Society, Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta. She is the author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science. In addition to studying the implications of genomics for Indigenous peoples, Dr. TallBear studies colonial disruptions to Indigenous sexualities. She is co-founder of the Indigenous sexy storytelling and cabaret show, Tipi Confessions. She is also a regular panelist on the weekly podcast, Media Indigena. You can follow Dr. TallBear‘s research group at IndigenousSTS.com. You can also find her on Mastodon @KimTallBear@mastodon.social.

Date: January 4, 2024
Time: 10:00am - 11:30am
Location: Centre for Dialogue at SFU and streamed online

IndigiDivas is envisioned as a respectful and empowering showcase of female-identifying Indigenous singers, seamlessly weaving together Indigenous traditions and cultures with the operatic and orchestral world. Indigenous-led and realized in collaboration with the Allegra Chamber Orchestra, this show will feature operatic and orchestral works by Indigenous and Canadian composers in an imaginative and impactful way that highlights First Nations stories, languages, struggles, and traditions, putting them front and centre on the concert stage. 

Date: January 21, 2024
Time: 2:00pm
Location: The Orpheum Theatre, 601 Smithe St., Vancouver, BC