KPU launches new Indigenous studies department
The department fulfills a 40-year promise to the Kwantlen First Nation
KPU launched the Indigenous studies department at the Surrey Conference Centre on Sept. 28. (Submitted)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University officially launched the new Indigenous studies department on Sept. 28 at the Surrey campus.
KPU’s promise of creating the department, which offers classes that explore Indigenous histories, cultures, and social justice issues, began 40 years ago when Joe Gabriel, the late grand chief of the Kwantlen First Nation, gave the university its name.
“You can go back to the 1980s, to the Indigenous Advisory Committee, and … you can see that folks from Kwantlen First Nation, Kwikwetlem, and Semiahmoo have been asking for [the department] since then,” says Melinda Bige, associate dean of the faculty of arts.
“Kwantlen First Nation gifted the name to KPU with the understanding that they would have an Indigenous studies department.”
Bige, who is Denesuline, Métis, Cree, and the first Indigenous person to teach Indigenous studies courses at KPU, says the heart of the department is the university’s relationship with the local First Nations — Kwantlen, Musqueam, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen, Qayqayt, and Kwikwetlem — in continuing to develop the curriculum and programs.
“The idea here is to co-collaborate with Indigenous academics and folks from the communities, and recognizing, respecting, and appreciating that they are the experts of their own communities, their own stories, their own teachings, and facilitating that representation appropriately within the university,” Bige says.
The department currently reflects Indigenous issues in urban areas because there is more representation of urban Indigenous People within the field than on the reserve, she says.
Bige also worked on organizing the department’s launch celebration for over a year, which featured Indigenous artists, performers, and speakers.
She says the launch date, which was two days before National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, was to “commemorate the children who were murdered in residential schools and the genocide that happened in Canada.”
Prior to the launch, data from the university suggests enrollment into Indigenous studies courses have been increasing due to fuller waitlists that did not meet the demand until recently, according to a presentation from the event sent to The Runner.
The process of forming the Indigenous studies department involved about 15 consultations from Nov. 2020 to Dec. 2021, which included meeting with KPU Elder-in-Residence Lekeyten, the Indigenous Advisory Committee, as well as criminology instructor Lisa Monchalin.
“Lisa Monchalin was one of the first people we spoke to,” says Shelley Boyd, the dean of the faculty of arts.
“She’s a faculty member in the criminology department. … Lisa was definitely an early voice many years ago, advocating for the creation of an Indigenous studies department. She’s one of the faculty members who created the Indigenous community justice minor, and that minor is now housed within the department.”
For students who take courses within the department, Bige hopes they can use their takeaways to have a positive impact in their communities.
“I don’t believe that you can make someone learn something. That is the opposite of residential schools. They forced children to think in a particular kind of way, and we’ve been dealing with the repercussions for a long time as a result,” she says.
“My hope is that whatever students do take, they move forward with a compassionate heart with the knowledge that they’re receiving towards themselves, towards the people around them, and take action to assist in restoring the balance.”
Bige also hopes Indigenous students who take the courses can connect with who they are and where they come from through the teachings and apply it to their lives.
To learn more about the Indigenous studies department, visit www.kpu.ca/arts/indigenous-studies.
