Michaela Kelly is a third-year communication studies student in the School of Journalism and Communication. She attended the Rheal Brant-Hall Memorial Lecture, hosted by the School of Social Work. Dr. Michael Anthony Hart presented the lecture entitled, “Indigenous Peoples, Research, and Reconciliation: Buzzwords or Systemic Change?”
The Rheal Brant-Hall Memorial Lecture began on a sombre note as Thomas Ludic, a residential school survivor, asked those present to rise for a traditional Indigenous prayer to introduce the session.
It was an appropriate introduction to the words of Dr. Michael Anthony Hart, the guest speaker and a citizen of the Fisher River Cree Nation, who offered a clear understanding of colonialism and the detrimental effects that it has had on Indigenous people all over the world. He introduced the term, “Indigenism”, which is when Indigenous perspectives, knowledge, and practices are recognized in academic research. The two key aspects to Indigenism are rejecting colonialism and the resetting of Indigenous traditions.
According to Dr. Hart, academics who practice research of this nature must conduct a critical self-analysis to understand his or her privileges and internalized practices, theories, and world views that could be imposed on an oppressed people. They must also be supportive of a resetting of traditions undone by a colonialist portrait of Indigenous people and legitimize holistic Indigenous research.
This lecture honours the memory of Rheal Brant-Hall, who was the coordinator of the Off-Campus Indigenous Social Work education program at Carleton University until her premature death in 2000.
-Michaela Kelly
Wednesday, March 9, 2016 in Ambassadors, FPA Research Series, News, School of Social Work
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