{"id":78385,"date":"2021-08-09T12:28:57","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T16:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=78385"},"modified":"2025-10-18T16:47:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T20:47:53","slug":"new-program-support-indigenous-students","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/new-program-support-indigenous-students\/","title":{"rendered":"New Program to Foster Allyship and Support for Indigenous Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n New Program to Foster Allyship and Support for Indigenous Students\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

When Carleton University\u2019s Centre for Indigenous Initiatives<\/a> released the Kin\u00e0m\u00e0gawin: Learning Together<\/a> report in May 2020, it put forward 41 calls to action aimed at making the campus a safer space for Indigenous students, faculty and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To continue moving toward that goal, the centre is launching a new Kin\u00e0m\u00e0gawin Indigenous Learning Certificate program this fall\u2014a series of workshops to help teach students, faculty and staff about allyship and teach the Carleton community about Indigenous experiences within the education system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Benny
Centre for Indigenous Initiatives Director Benny Michaud<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\u201cDeveloping this program was our team\u2019s response to the events of last summer,\u201d says Benny Michaud<\/a>, director of the Centre for Indigenous Initiatives.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe deaths of George Floyd and Chantel Moore brought to the forefront how prejudice can fuel violence towards racialized and Indigenous Peoples. Healing from trauma requires action on the part of those impacted. Our team was deeply impacted by these events and, ultimately, realized that the training we have offered to date needed to be updated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted to go beyond providing a simple history lesson in these workshops,\u201d she continues, \u201cand create a learning journey that ends with participants feeling empowered and able to intervene when anti-Indigenous racism is occurring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPart of bringing humility to this conversation is recognizing anti-Indigenous racism is present at Carleton. We are a community of over 30,000 people. In order to do the work of reconciliation, we first must acknowledge these difficult truths.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
President Benoit-Antoine Bacon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\u201cI am thrilled with this important new initiative,\u201d says Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cOur Kin\u00e0m\u00e0gawin report\u2019s 41 calls to action provide a roadmap for continuous improvement. The only way to make progress is to meet each other in the spirit of learning and to listen in order to understand each other. These workshops are an important step in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Taking<\/figure>\n\n\n

Empowering People to Stop Anti-Indigenous Racism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lane Bourbonniere<\/a>, who became Carleton\u2019s first Indigenous Curriculum Learning Specialist this past May, will be the program\u2019s lead facilitator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Indigenous
Lane Bourbonniere<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\u201cThese workshops will allow non-Indigenous allies to become equipped with proper tools to help Indigenous Peoples, however they will also help Carleton address critical issues in a good way,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThey will provide context to Indigenous experiences within the education system and show why there is a need to implement programs and services that allow Indigenous students, staff and faculty to succeed on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although some people may feel they know enough about allyship and Indigenous issues already, \u201cI think it is essential to realize that you can always learn more,\u201d says Bourbonniere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kin\u00e0m\u00e0gawin\"<\/a>
Kin\u00e0m\u00e0gawin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\n

\u201cWe all need to be held accountable to make changes for the better, and signing up for this workshop is one way you can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Michaud is continuously heartened by the number of Carleton faculty, staff and students who express their desire to actively address the inequities Indigenous peoples face\u2014to continue to learn and impact change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey have the will,\u201d she says, \u201cand our team at the Centre for Indigenous Initiatives wants to provide the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

Kin\u00e0m\u00e0gawin Workshops Starting this Fall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workshops will run twice a year\u2014once in the fall term and once in the winter. Each session will consist of four different workshops, each about three hours long, over four months. They will start online and transition to in-person when it is safe to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registration is open<\/a> and each session can accommodate 20 to 25 participants, with separate cohorts for students and faculty\/staff, depending on the number of people who sign up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four specific topics to be covered are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n