Indigenization
Way' – Weytk – Hello
Greetings in nsyilxcən and secwepemctsin (the language of Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc peoples, respectively). Way' is the Syilx Okanagan greeting and connotes an acknowledgement that what has happened is done and everything is now a possibility. Weytk is the Secwepemc greeting meaning hello or welcome.
Indigenization in action
Communities
Okanagan College respectfully acknowledges that our Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon campuses are located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan People, our Salmon Arm campus is located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Secwepemc, and our Revelstoke centre is located on the traditional and unceded territories of the Ktunaxa, Secwepemc, Sinixt and Syilx Okanagan Peoples.
The Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc peoples have taken care of their homelands for thousands of years. Okanagan College is respectful of the Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc peoples, their knowledge, language, and history, as well as their ongoing relationship to the land and natural world. Learn more about and peoples, their homelands and governance.
Syilx Okanagan communities
- Westbank First Nation
- Okanagan Indian Band
- Penticton Indian Band
- Osoyoos Indian Band
- Lower Similkameen Indian Band
- Upper Similkameen Indian Band
- Upper Nicola Indian Band
Secwepemc communities
- Adams Lake Indian Band
- Neskonlith Indian Band
- Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw
- Splatsin Indian Band
Urban communities
- Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society
- Kelowna Métis Association
- Salmon Arm Métis Association
Our plan for Indigenization
Indigenous Strategic Framework
Okanagan College leadership and broader College community are committed to working with, and learning from, the Indigenous community.
Indigenous Guiding Principles
The Okanagan College Board of Governors is committed to participating and contributing to Okanagan College’s responsibility and goals related to Indigenization, Decolonization, and Reconciliation. The Board is committed to explore and gain an understanding of Indigenized decision-making processes that support and honour Indigenous guiding principles behind informed practice. The Board commits to further learning and training that is inclusive of key principles that bring together the traditions of the Okanagan Syilx and Secwépemc Nations.
As part of the College's Strategic Plan and other strategic directions (, , , and ), Okanagan College created the Indigenization Task Force to foster input and direction towards our Indigenization planning and activities. The Indigenization Task Force consists of faculty and staff from various departments and all campuses.
The Indigenization plan aims to engage and enhance our ties with our Indigenous community members; strengthen the physical, cultural and spiritual spaces at OC; increase Indigenous knowledge and culture within our curriculum, as well as identify potential changes to College policies, structure and processes.
Indigenization at Okanagan College involves rejecting past colonizing patterns of homogenization, exclusion and erasure of Indigenous peoples’ knowledge, languages, identities as well as cultural and educational aspirations. Accordingly, where and when possible, Indigenous ways of being and doing, as well as methodologies that lend themselves to bringing Indigenous knowledge to the fore, will guide the Indigenization planning process.
A key tenet of this planning process is to form and strengthen respectful and inclusive knowledge relationships that will converge with the College's Strategic Plan, helping to create meaningful, inclusive projects and programming that look to the future. Accordingly, the College looks to foster meaningful relationships across departments, for projects, programs and courses with specific Indigenous content, especially Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc.
This enhanced knowledge base, presence on campus and diversity will extend outward to welcome and acknowledge all Indigenous students, staff and faculty, while also ensuring that everyone who is connected to Okanagan College is aware of the languages, knowledge and ways of the Indigenous peoples.
Okanagan College is striving to be a place where all students, staff, faculty and visitors can recognize and appreciate the history and the ongoing contribution that Indigenous knowledge and relationships make to our institution, to Canada and to the communities around us.
Indigenization will foster a greater understanding of how we can contribute to ensuring that the College becomes a place where Indigenous knowledge, ways of teaching and learning, and responsibility to the land and environment are learned, celebrated and respected.
At this point, the Okanagan College Indigenization planning process is in its engagement phase and looks to respectfully and inclusively engage Indigenous communities and organizations to meet their educational needs and aspirations. This Indigenization journey begins with meaningful relationships with the Indigenous people in whose homeland each campus is situated.
Accordingly, starting with our discussions with Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc communities, extending out into a comprehensive list of internal and external groups, what we hope to achieve is a deeper understanding of our role as a College within the web of people, animals and the natural world. The actions that we will take will contribute to our relationships within our community of learners and will help establish a stronger and more inclusive extended family network.
We have taken some steps forward already as we continue to work with and learn from Indigenous communities and we will now be looking at what other concepts we need to understand and what actions we can take to develop a larger strategic plan. To do this, we will engage further with Indigenous communities, students, staff, faculty, leadership and all of our partners in education.
During the upcoming phases of the Okanagan College Indigenization plan there will be meetings and community gatherings to discuss the needs of Indigenous communities. These meetings and community gatherings will help shape the direction that Okanagan College Indigenization will take.
Educational institutions have been predicated on knowledge production and reproduction in a way that has been exclusive, and in many ways destructive to Indigenous peoples. Okanagan College respectfully recognizes that our Indigenization planning process is primarily a summary of thoughts and perspectives to date. Ultimately, it is intended to be a starting place for further dialogue and engagement as we expand and elaborate. We anticipate that as our knowledge and understanding grows as an institution, so too will relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty, staff, students, and community members. In short, Okanagan College can be a site where Indigenous knowledge, languages and cultures are respected, alive and dynamic.
Four Pillars of Indigenization at Okanagan College
The Four Pillars Model represents a traditional Q’wc’i?, C7iskten (Pit House), embodying Indigenous principles, ways of being, and ways of knowing. It reflects the strength of many coming together as one, with Okanagan College serving as a house of learning. The four pillars represent the College’s commitment to Indigenization, aligned with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples, and the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls final report. Indigenization is an ongoing, collaborative process that will evolve as we journey toward reconciliation.
Knowledge. Be a college where all students, staff, faculty, and visitors can recognize and appreciate Indigenous history and the fundamental contribution of Indigenous knowledge and relationships to the College. Be a College where Indigenous knowledge, languages, and cultures are respected and are valued elements of the College’s culture grounded in an urgency to embed them in all elements of the College.
Language & Culture. Create opportunities for students, employees, and visitors to enhance individual and collective knowledge about Indigenous Cultural Protocols, Land Acknowledgement, Indigenous history and culture, and language that is inclusive of the traditional and unceded territories on which Okanagan College delivers services.
Programs & Courses. Working with Indigenous community focus groups, Mentors, and Knowledge Keepers, develop culturally appropriate curricula inclusive of Indigenous language that transform learning into a collaborative process which enriches and promotes healing, sense of belonging, identity, embraces diversity, and improves education attainment levels and success rates. Weave trauma informed teaching and learning practices into college program and course development.
Experiential & Land Based Learning. Work with Elders and Knowledge keepers to engage OC students and employees in land-based learning experiences and protocols of the local Indigenous Peoples of the Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc Territory.
Alignment to Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action
TRC Calls to Action #7 - To develop with Indigenous groups a joint strategy to eliminate educational and employment gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.
TRC Calls to Action #10 – We call on the federal government to draft a new Indigenous education legislation with the full participation and informed consent of Indigenous peoples. The new legislation would include a commitment to sufficient funding and would incorporate the following principles:
- Providing sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one generation.
- Improving educational attainment levels and success rates.
- Developing culturally appropriate curricula.
- Protecting the right to Indigenous languages, including the teaching of Indigenous languages as credit courses.
- Enabling parental and community responsibility, control, and accountability, similar to what parents enjoy in public school systems.
- Enabling parents to fully participation in the education of their children.
- Respecting and honoring Treaty relationships.
TRC Calls to Action #11 - We call upon the federal government to provide adequate funding to end the backlog of First Nations students seeking a post-secondary education.
TRC Calls to Action #12 - We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate early childhood education programs for Aboriginal families.
TRC Calls to Action #14 – To enact an Indigenous Languages Act that incorporates the following principles:
- Indigenous languages are a fundamental and valued element of Canadian culture and society, and there is an urgency to preserve them.
- Indigenous language rights are reinforced by the Treaties.
- The federal government has a responsibility to provide sufficient funds for Indigenous-language revitalization and preservation.
- The preservation, revitalization, and strengthening of Indigenous languages and cultures are best managed by Indigenous people and communities.
- Funding for Indigenous language activities must reflect the diversity of Indigenous Languages.
TRC Calls to Action #16 – Post-secondary institutions to create university and college degree and diploma programs in Indigenous languages.
TRC Calls to Action #24 - We call upon medical and nursing schools in Canada to require all students to take a course dealing with Aboriginal health issues, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, and Indigenous teachings and practices. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.
TRC Calls to Action #62 – Federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in consultation and collaboration with Survivors, Indigenous peoples, and educators, to:
- Provide the necessary funding to post-secondary institutions to educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms.
- Provide the necessary funding to Aboriginal schools to utilize Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods in classrooms.
- Establish senior-level positions in government at the assistant deputy minister level or higher dedicated to Aboriginal content in education.
TRC Calls to Action #63 - We call upon the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada to maintain an annual commitment to Aboriginal education issues, including:
- Sharing information and best practices on teaching curriculum related to residential schools and Aboriginal history.
- Building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.
- Identifying teacher-training needs relating to the above.
Alignment to United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
UNDRIP Article 13. 1 - Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons.
UNDRIP Article 14. 1 - Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.
Alignment to the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
MMIWG Call for Justice 11.1 - We call upon all elementary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions and education authorities to educate and provide awareness to the public about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people, and about the issues and root causes of violence they experience. All curriculum development and programming should be done in partnership with Indigenous Peoples, especially Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. Such education and awareness must include historical and current truths about the genocide against Indigenous Peoples through state laws, policies, and colonial practices. It should include, but not be limited to, teaching Indigenous history, law, and practices from Indigenous perspectives and the use of Their Voices Will Guide Us with children and youth.
Indigenization of College Policy. Renew College policies and procedures bridging Indigenous and non-Indigenous world views and interweaving Indigenous ways of knowing and being within the College’s policy framework.
Decision Making Processes. Increase Indigenous voice, guidance, and influence in college decision-making structures and processes to support Okanagan College in developing culturally relevant and responsive policies, structures, and processes.
Consultation. Build meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities, employees, and students grounded in reciprocity and mutual respect. Regularly receive and integrate input from Indigenous communities, Indigenous Student Services Team, the Indigenous Education Advisory Council, the Indigenous and Indigenous Ally Assembly, and other points of intersection with Indigenous peoples to inform tangible action plans for the College.
Representation. Ensure that Indigenous voice is present at all levels of the college and that a leadership team is representative of Indigenous peoples at the Board of Governors, Education Council, and Leadership Council.
Alignment to United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
UNDRIP Article 5 - Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.
UNDRIP Article 18 - Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own Indigenous decision-making institutions.
Indigenization. Incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing into the College’s educational, cultural, and social structures to build student, employee, and visitor capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.
Physical Spaces. In consultation with Indigenous communities, weave Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc language, culture, art, signage, and heritage throughout Okanagan College campuses that include parallel opportunities for educational engagement and awareness. Incorporate and reflect Indigenous design in future College buildings and campus improvements. Ensure that culture, art, and language are visible and viable across all aspects of the institution and students’ experience.
Cultural and Spiritual Spaces. Improve space and place for Indigenous students to gather, learn, share, and teach others that embraces Indigenous traditional practices and ways of being and knowing. Promote the development of cultural projects that foster healing, wellness, opportunities to incorporate further learning and embrace traditional practices. Increases the visibility of Indigenous culture through gathering spaces.
Brand and Marketing Design/Media. Incorporate and weave Indigenous cultural diversity into Okanagan College communications, brand, and regional presence that reflects local Indigenous art, culture, and languages reflective of the unceded and traditional territories on which the College delivers services.
Alignment to United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
UNDRIP Article 15.1 - Indigenous peoples have the right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations which shall be appropriately reflected in education and public information.
Partnerships. In partnership with local bands in the traditional and unceded territory of the Okanagan Syilx, Secwepmec, Ktunaxa, and Sinixt, develop, formalize, and foster sustainable partnership agreements grounded in reciprocity, respect, and knowledge sharing. Recognize that the agreements and other constructive arrangements, and the relationship they represent, are the basis for a strengthened partnership among Indigenous peoples.
Co-created Community-based Learning. Co-create community-based delivery learning opportunities, ensuring appropriate protocols are followed and culturally appropriate and trauma informed approaches are applied embracing an Indigenous lens to teaching, learning, and how to build upon relationships and making connections with Indigenous communities.
Community Engagement. Work together as a team unified and representing Okanagan College with clear open communication with community partners to establish and foster points of contact within Indigenous Communities across the region. Align our communication channels with Indigenous Communities for the purpose of accountability, sharing, and activating the partnership between the college and Indigenous Communities. Actively engage in community events together at Okanagan College and in Indigenous Communities ensuring reciprocity and balance in relationships.
Relationships based in listening. Work with meaningful Indigenous and non-Indigenous relationship partners to reject past colonizing patterns of homogenization, exclusion and erasure of Indigenous peoples’ knowledge, languages, identities as well as cultural and educational aspirations and advocate for the resources to fulfil the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to action.
Alignment to United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
UNDRIP Article 2 - Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all other peoples and individuals and have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination, in the exercise of their rights, in particular that based on their indigenous origin or identity.
UNDRIP Article 3 - Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
UNDRIP Article 19 - States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.
UNDRIP Article 21.1 - Indigenous peoples have the right, without discrimination, to the improvement of their economic and social conditions, including, inter alia, in the areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social security.
UNDRIP Article 22.1 - Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities in the implementation of this Declaration.
Protocol and guidelines
Protocol around land acknowledgement, Elder visits and welcome ceremonies
Wondering what the best practices are for land acknowledgements, event welcome ceremonies and Elder visits? Check out these guidelines and protocols as you incorporate Indigenous culture into your classroom and campus setting.
Explore protocol and guidelines
As a part of Okanagan College’s commitment to enhancing the participation of Indigenous learners, the College provides culturally relevant support services at each of the four campuses.
Indigenous convocation stoles
As part of the Indigenous OC initiative, Okanagan College is gifting Indigenous graduates with commemorative convocation stoles designed with pictographs from both the Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc nations.
Indigenous Services collaborated with local Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc Knowledge Keeper and Artist Les Louis to create beautiful Indigenous-designed stoles. With family lineage to both Lower Similkameen and Bonaparte Indian Bands, Louis says, “My creativity stems from many influences, but none so important as my culture, language, traditions and mother nature.”
Respectively, these stoles were created with local Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc designs, including pictographs of a canoe family and three eagles.
The three people in the canoe are symbolic of the three Okanagan College campuses that exist on the traditional and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan people.
These three campuses, Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon, are connected by Okanagan Lake. The canoe family illustrates the collaboration and connection of faculty, staff and students at all campuses, paddling together on an educational journey.
The three eagles are a Secwepemc design, representative of the Salmon Arm campus residing on the traditional and unceded territory of the Secwepemc nation.
The three eagles carry a special significance as eagles, and their feathers, are honoured and revered with the utmost respect. Eagles are also considered messengers, bridging a sacred and spiritual connection to the Creator.
For all Okanagan College convocation ceremonies, students and employees with Indigenous ancestry may choose to wear their traditional Indigenous regalia, in lieu of a gown and hood.
Traditional regalia refers to the traditional and sacred clothing, accessories and pieces worn or carried by Indigenous peoples during various ceremonies, such as powwows, celebrations and pan-national gatherings. As regalia are personal and sacred outfits, it is appropriate to approach and inquire, however, please refrain from touching without consent.
Join the journey
Okanagan College welcomes your transformative energy on this Indigenization journey. If you would like to have a facilitated planning workshop, or if you have thoughts, ideas, questions, concerns or recommendations, please connect with us.
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Learn how you, as a student, can take part in Indigenization at Okanagan College.
Resources
Tools and information for instructors and staff to support Indigenization.
Community
OC invites the community to join and contribute to our Indigenization journey.
