Students in the Department of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) will now be reminded of the university’s location on traditional indigenous territory each time they consult their course syllabi.
Earlier in November, the department unanimously passed a resolution mandating that a statement of territorial recognition will appear in all course outlines.
The statement will read: “We acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnawbe and Haudenosaunee peoples.”
According to Jean Becker, Senior Advisor for Aboriginal Initiatives at WLU, it is customary in indigenous communities across Canada “to acknowledge the people whose territory it is . . . It’s a protocol that recognizes the original inhabitants of that land.”
The resolution was adopted after professors who came from other Canadian universities were surprised WLU does not have a formal policy to acknowledge indigenous territory, said Ute Lischke, chair of the Department of English and Film Studies at WLU.
Lischke called the acknowledgement an “educational tool.” She said there are many students at the university who remain unaware of indigenous issues in Canada.
“We live on their territory. We live and work with them, beside them, and we have forgotten all about them,” she said.
Becker said institutional acknowledgement of indigenous territory at universities is not common, although such policies have been adopted at a number of Canadian post-secondary institutions.
Among others, the universities of British Columbia, Alberta, Winnipeg, and Manitoba have statements on their websites formally recognizing their location on traditional territory.
Carleton University’s Centre for Aboriginal Culture and Education has a statement posted on its website that reads: “Carleton University acknowledges the location of its campus on the traditional, unceded territories of the Algonquin nation.”
Becker said she likes that faculty members within an individual department are leading the territorial recognition movement at the university because it demonstrates “the faculty understands and supports the whole notion of indigenizing an academic institution.”
There is not enough indigenous curriculum at universities created by Indigenous Peoples, Becker said.
“If you’re indigenizing that curriculum, you’re bringing our perspective to it, and it’s a completely different story,” she explained.
Kevin Crowley, communications director at WLU, said in an email the university “has a long-standing commitment to enhancing post-secondary educational opportunities for Aboriginal students.”
Crowley said the decision by the Department of English and Film Studies “merits further consideration.”
He noted at the moment, the idea is only supported by one department.
“Any broader discussion and possible policy development would require that the proposal go through the university’s established decision-making processes,” Crowley said.
On Nov. 14, Lischke met with the dean’s advisory council in the Faculty of Arts.
Lischke said she hopes the meeting will prompt a faculty-wide adoption of territorial acknowledgement within course syllabi.
