Big Ideas in IDEA

In December 2015, Indigenous Canadians anxiously awaited the release of the final report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada. The focus in my first sentence on Indigenous Canadians is intentional, as it creates a reflection on the wide need for education regarding the impacts, effects, and harmful legacy of the residential school system in Canada. From 2010-2014, Canadians had the opportunity to attend the TRC hearings and listen to survivors bravely share their lived experiences and testimony about their time in the “schools.” The TRC collected over 6500 statements from survivors documenting abuse, adding to the growing awareness around intergenerational impacts on Indigenous families. The TRC visited over 300 unique communities and collected testimony ranging anywhere from minutes to many hours in length. 

As an instructor of Indigenous studies over the past decade, I have often wondered how much my students knew about the residential school system in Canada. I am also reluctant to use the word “schools” without recognizing its euphemistic connotation, as many would argue that these institutions were not genuinely educational but rather spaces of aggressive assimilation targeting Indigenous peoples and communities. Exposed to ongoing propaganda and euphemistic language, it is understandable why many Canadians are frustrated with how little they have been educated about the truthful Indigenous experience in Canada. Returning to my students, I often inquire about their knowledge of residential schools or inter-generational trauma. Quite naturally, there is a hesitancy to openly discuss this uncomfortable chapter of Canada’s history and its enduring effects and impacts on Indigenous Canadians. 

Recognizing that there is a lot of work to do in the way of education, I also must acknowledge that I am impressed with the desire of employers, academic institutions, governments, faith-based institutions, non-profit organizations, and service clubs to begin the process of unlearning the often-propagated Eurocentric past and start to actively listen and re-learn about what has occurred through government policies in our country.  

In 2019, I began my tenure with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion as I traveled Western Canada, facilitating the “Circle of Reconciliation” Community of Practice Events (COPE). The conversation was engaging, in-depth and focused on action. I openly discussed my lived experience as a Métis/Cree person from Saskatchewan and talked transparently about my role as co-chair and author of the City of Lethbridge TRC Implementation Plan (unanimously approved by city council in 2017). Following these COPE events, I was hired to create and deliver Indigenous Inclusion training through CCDI Consulting. I must add that over the past 3 years, facilitating an overwhelming amount of Indigenous inclusion sessions for employers has been incredible. The conversations were excellent. The engagement, participation and sharing have left an impact and got me thinking!

Indigenous Inclusion, through CCDI Consulting, is about identity, myth-busting, TRC, transforming change and providing practical steps to move forward. It is educational and provides a foundation to “carry on the conversation” or inspire a shared vision forward for employers. As participants concluded these sessions, I was often asked, “What is next?”, “Where do we go from here?”, or “How can we keep the momentum going?” - all valid questions. The “What’s Next?” question inspired thought into “Moving Forward”, or creating what was needed to invoke conscious actionable change within employment settings. This line of questions got me thinking, how can I provide the next steps? 

I am excited to inform employers that through CCDI Consulting, I will be offering an Indigenous Inclusion 2.0 and a 3.0. Taking my experience over the many years in the field of Indigenous studies, Indigenous Inclusion 2.0, will be available this September 2023 and will focus on understanding Indigenous Knowledge and how employers can incorporate it, how to feel confident in acknowledging the land and how we advance engaging with Indigenous communities through active allyship. Understanding and incorporating Indigenous knowledge into our workplaces becomes of critical importance. Historically, Indigenous knowledge has been viewed as unreliable and unscientific and has been less privileged than Western scientific knowledge. Oral knowledge/story telling are intricate ways of passing knowledge from one generation to the next. Therefore, it is important that, as Canadians, we begin to understand how Indigenous ways of knowing can add value, create opportunities, and inform how relationships are built with Indigenous communities. Workplaces should work to understand that incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing with how we currently conduct business will assist to create a more well-rounded workplace that is highly grounded in anti-racism work.  

Acknowledging the land and learning about the connection of Indigenous knowledge to the land, the cultural connection of the Nation to the land and the storied history of the land is paramount to beginning the journey towards relationship building. It is important that an organization learns the history of neighbouring nations that they want to engage and begin the process of reaching out and connecting. It is important to know how to situate, reflect and personalize our own connection to the land. This allows us to understand the ways of the land, the reciprocal relationship to the land and how knowledge is derived from this intimate connection. In that case, Indigenous Inclusion 2.0 will walk participants through building an acknowledgement statement, connecting it to understanding what Indigenous knowledge is and the importance of relationships in engaging with Indigenous communities. 

Indigenous Inclusion 3.0, which will also be available in the Fall of 2023, will take this one step further by walking participants through the process of building an Indigenous Engagement Strategy or a TRC Implementation Plan for your organization. As organizations begin to build their Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) strategies and realize that TRC is an integral component to engaging and working with Indigenous communities, we can develop these skills internally for an organization to lead this work. This facilitation creates a highly engaged and immersive experience that will focus on how to lead an engagement process, how to model the way forward and provide tools to manage consultations and information gathering.  As well, many IDEA audits/surveys have produced data on the small percentage of Indigenous employees in organizations, so questions arise around engaging, recruiting, and retaining Indigenous employees. These three engaging Indigenous inclusion sessions will offer opportunities to learn hands-on about how to create Reconcili-actionable change.  

I am excited to leverage my years of experience to journey with your organization in creating sustainable, impactful and actionable change.

I want to express my immense gratitude to each and every one of you who participated in the May webinar, "Unlocking the Power of Inclusion: Measuring What Matters in the Workplace," expertly led by Sheena Prasad. Your engagement and thoughtful questions have made this event genuinely insightful and captivating.

In a thriving workplace, diversity and inclusion are not just buzzwords but powerful forces that drive growth, productivity, and employee satisfaction. As we aspire towards holistic inclusion, it becomes essential to quantify and assess our progress towards these goals.

In the webinar, we discussed how measuring inclusivity is crucial to making workplaces more inclusive. Your questions were insightful and showed just how important it is to measure the impact of inclusivity and make meaningful changes. If you're interested in learning more about creating an inclusive workplace, keep reading for some great tips and advice.

Missed the webinar? Access the recording here for valuable insights on harnessing inclusion for success.