Carrying the Torch Forward: Indigenous Academics Building Capacity through an International Collaborative Model
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.14288/cjne.v37i1.196562Résumé
This article describes an ongoing international collaboration regarding Indigenouslanguage and culture education that engages post-secondary institutions in Hawai'i,Arizona, Alaska, New Zealand, and Canada. Formed in 2005 under the leadershipof the late William Demmert, Jr., this community presently brings a critical mass ofprominent Indigenous and non-lndigenous scholars together with emerging Indigenous faculty and students using hybrid delivery—virtual and face-to-face interaction—for internationally conducted coursework. Topics on Indigenous epistemology,language, culture, knowledge, traditions, and identity are the focus of two rotatingIndigenous education course themes: Indigenous culture-based education and Indigenous well-being through education. Through networking and collaboration, theseminar has created "free spaces for authentic voices " (Gilmore, 2010), and mentorship of emerging Indigenous faculty and scholars to step into the role of leadershipin academic arenas, a process we refer to as “carrying the torch forward. ” Througha reflective review that included input from site instructors and student voices, theco-authors, who are Indigenous faculty, scholars, as well as former students, discussthe impacts of engaging the academy with Indigenous knowledges, peoples, and communities in meaningful ways. In this paper, we reflect on and highlight the potentialthat such collaborations provide, to access academic power while supporting the responsibility that Indigenous students assume in navigating the pathway of highereducation toward Indigenous self-determination, broadly. More importantly, the international seminar space allows for advancement of this endeavour, grounded inthe Indigenous values of responsibility, respect, relevance, reciprocity, relationships,and resiliency.