sept. 22 to oct. 4, 2022
thank you for recognizing and acknowledging these important dates in a meaningful way. this was an incredible opportunity to learn directly from elders, participate in Indigenous scholarship or show support for Indigenous communities.
share your thoughts
wherever you are on your journey, we'd appreciate learning more about your experience throughout the nine-day series of events and how we can apply some of your thoughts to future events.
sept. 1 —every child matters orange t-shirts are available for purchase at the cougars campus store. A portion of the proceeds goes to the maintenance & care of the white buffalo & mru's Indigenous student emergency fund.
materials by Indigenous writers and about indigenization and decolonization will be displayed on the first floor of the riddell library and learning centre and available to borrow. discover more Indigenous collections and resources.
a tiptappay stand will be positioned at campus events for people to tap their phone, debit or credit card to donate either $2, $5 or $10 to the Indigenous student emergency fund. discover more ways to donate.
sept. 22: pipe ceremony and face painting
sept. 22 – oct. 4: campus lit up in orange
sept. 29 – 30: wear an orange shirt
sept. 29 – oct. 3: orange shirt campaign
sept. 29: every child matters booths with buttons
sept. 29: every child matters march
sept. 29: acknowledging national day for truth and reconciliation
oct. 4: sisters in spirit vigil and march
sept. 26: a racialized settler woman's transformative journey in canada: building relational accountabilities
sept 26: decolonizing anthropological and archaeological literature in the maya world
sept. 27: use of Indigenous languages in health promotion: benefits and challenges
sept. 27: a department's commitment towards Indigenization and decolonization story
sept. 28: responsibilities for decolonial research
sept. 28: the architects of the residential school system
sept. 29: the buckskin ceiling: the native perspective on native art politics
sept. 29: my journey to Indigenous ways of being through land, story, art and tobacco
oct. 3: decolonizing "storytime"
oct. 3: a review of mru and awe visual gallery of Indigenous women project
oct. 4: Indigenous science and mathematics in gned
oct. 4: ‘all my relations’: elders’ teachings grounding a decolonial bn program philosophy
oct. 4: addressing racism from a kainai perspective
journey to Indigenization
since 2021, mount royal university commemorates the signing of treaty 7, national day for truth and reconciliation, orange shirt day and sisters in spirit day within a series of institutional activities over nine days.
a series of on-campus activities will occur from september 22 to october 4 and will be hosted by the office of Indigenization and decolonization every year. these events will be known as the journey to Indigenization.
the journey to Indigenization aims to provide an opportunity to learn from one another in a series of knowledge infrastructural events. these events showcase the success and innovation in applying, linking and adding Indigenous concepts and epistemological changes to curriculum content at mru. the knowledge and learning will be shared with students, faculty and staff.
download this journey to Indigenization google meet background.

one of the numbered treaties made between the government of canada and the plains first nations, treaty 7 was signed on september 22, 1877, by the following five first nations: the siksika, kainai, piikani, îyârhe nakoda and tsuut'ina, as did commissioners representing the british crown and canada.
at the time, the canadian government was dedicated to building a transcontinental railway, and treaty 7 permitted tracks to run across the Indigenous lands in what's now known as southern alberta.
many Indigenous people say this was the beginning of the end of their traditional way of life and the start of a new way of life based on treaty cooperation and coexistence with non-Indigenous peoples. we are all treaty people.
pipe ceremony and face painting
pipe ceremony and face painting for students
thurs. sept. 22
9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
transalta amphitheatre
centennial garden (t-wing courtyard)
steve kootenay-jobin, Indigenous housing and events coordinator, iniskim centre

campus lit up in orange
mru will light up the campus in orange to commemorate orange shirt day.
thurs. sept. 22 – tues. oct. 4
dusk
charlton pond, recreation pool, various lights around campus, east gate and t-wing courtyard tipis
grant sommerfeld, associate vice-president, facilities management
everyone is encouraged to wear an orange shirt
every child matters orange t-shirts are available for purchase at the cougars campus store. this year's orange t-shirts were purchased by snake snitch, an Indigenous-owned and operated siksika nation business.
sold for $29.95; to cover the cost, $15 goes directly to the barn to care for and maintain the white buffalo, $3.76 will cover overhead costs, as well, depending on the shirt purchased, $11.20 of the proceeds will go directly to the mru Indigenous students emergency fund.
launched in 2013, orange shirt day was inspired by phyllis's story. its goal is to educate people about residential schools in canada, learn the truth from survivors and honour the loss of first nation, inuit and métis children who never made it home.
thurs. aept. 29 and fri. sept. 30
all day
orange shirt campaign
orange shirts will be displayed around campus to represent MRU's commitment to reconciliation visually.
thurs. sept. 29 – mon. oct. 3
all day
every child matters buttons
every child matters buttons will be available at various locations around campus for students, faculty, staff and the community to pick up. wear a button to honour residential school survivors and the children that never made it home.
thurs. sept. 29
8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
east gate, main street, west gate and recreation entrances, first-floor riddell library and learning centre, iniskim centre, office of Indigenization and decolonization, samru reception.
susan garrow-oliver, associate professor, faculty of health, community and education
every child matters march
wear an orange shirt and join mru leadership, faculty, staff and students as they march from east gate entrance to centennial garden (t-wing courtyard) to honour residential school survivors and commemorate the children who never made it home.
thurs. sept. 29
Noon – 12:15 p.m.
start at east gate courtyard
steve kootenay-jobin, Indigenous housing and events coordinator, iniskim centre
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
acknowledging national day for truth and reconciliation
following the every child matters march, mount royal will acknowledge the importance of the national day of truth and reconciliation. hear from elders and mru senior leadership.
thurs. sept. 29
12:15 – 12:30 p.m.
UPDATE main street (between cougars campus store and tim hortons)
steve kootenay-jobin, Indigenous housing and events coordinator, iniskim centre
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
orange cupcakes
stop by the iniskim centre, office of Indigenization and decolonization or samru's cultural inclusion centre for an orange cupcake.
thurs. sept. 29
12:30 – 1 p.m.
iniskim centre (T110)
office of Indigenization and decolonization (T123)
cultural inclusion centre, wyckham house (Z203)
steve kootenay-jobin, Indigenous housing and events coordinator, iniskim centre
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
cory cardinal, cultural inclusion programmer, students association of mount royal university

sisters in spirit day is a national movement by Indigenous women to raise awareness of the violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit, and to take a stand against the violence that leads to Indigenous women, girls and two-spirits going missing or being murdered.
everyone is encouraged to wear red.
everyone is encouraged to wear red clothes showing support to the families of murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit.
tues. oct. 4
all day
red dress campaign
inspired by métis artist, jaime black's redress project, mru will display red dresses around campus to show support for the lives of murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit.
tues. oct. 4
all day
sisters in spirit vigil and march
all are welcome to participate in the sisters in spirit vigil and march* held in downtown Calgary.
*this is a community-led initiative; mru has no direct affiliation with this initiative. search online for more detailed information.
tues. oct. 4
10 a.m. – noon
downtown calgary

a racialized settler woman's transformative journey in canada: building relational accountabilities
dr. jebunnessa chapola
women's, gender and sexualities studies
faculty of arts
this phd dissertation tells the story of my racialized settler woman’s transformative journey toward reconciliation and mutual empowerment through the community in canada. the dissertation discusses how Indigenous Land-based learning became healing and empowering for me as a newly arrived settler woman of a colour, learning about my positioning on the stolen Indigenous. lands of treaty six territory. it recounts the journey of migrating from one colonial land to another, building a family and new community networks, and learning about Indigenous histories, cultures, land-based learning, and about diverse newcomer settler communities in saskatoon, canada. the dissertation discusses how collaborative learning has supported taking responsibility for understanding the meaning of land in solidarity with Indigenous and newcomer communities through involvement in a community garden project, community radio show, and various cultural community activities. using decolonial feminist relational autoethnography as my research methodology, this dissertation discusses my quest to challenge everyday racisms and colonial practices ingrained in the daily lives of newcomer canadians. following 12 years of community activities in treaty 6 and 7 territories, this research emphasizes a key lesson from this life journey: the need to be responsible for understanding the Indigenous meaning of land in order to create belongingness with the land and its original peoples, while resisting the assimilationist forces impacting Indigenous and newcomer communities through their unique histories, despite the orchestrated biases operating through colonialist structures. the author concludes with the hope that the analysis of decolonial, collaborative learning stories and connections with the land may help other non-Indigenous communities build meaningful relationships with the land and Indigenous communities.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
decolonizing anthropological and archaeological literature in the maya world
maxime lamoureux-st-hilaire
anthropology
faculty of arts
there are many problems with peer-reviewed literature, with its accessibility (or lack thereof) acting as a conduit for most of those issues. in this presentation, i explore how i strive to craft a more accessible journal — the mayanist — to decolonize anthropological and archaeological literature on contemporary and ancient maya peoples. this effort takes multiple forms.
first and foremost, the journal is bilingual (english and spanish) and open-access, which greatly facilitates its access to latin american readers.
second, it is entirely free to publish in the journal, allowing younger and/or unaffiliated scholars to disseminate their research in open-access format. the mayanist is also beautifully illustrated and relatively jargon free in an effort to reach a broader audience. in addition, the journal purposefully makes room for latin american and Indigenous maya scholars and artists.
finally, the journal's peer-review process is designed to be caring and supportive. as a journal published by a nonprofit (american foreign academic research), there are limits to what we've managed to achieve. yet, our early progress and success with our first seven issues is promising, and hopefully just the beginning.
presentation material
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
use of Indigenous languages in health promotion: benefits and challenges
simon habegger
alberta health services
how my community health promotion program began developing a cree resource, the rationale for the resource, and the bureaucratic challenges that had to be surmounted.
our expansion of the initiative to include blackfoot, denesuline, and stoney nakota resources.
the challenges that organizations face when developing such materials, and some recommendations for how to facilitate them: - financial - budgetary - technical - bureaucratic
the benefits and limitations of these materials within the broader canadian context.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
a department's commitment towards Indigenization and decolonization story
susan garrow-oliver and espoom tah roy bear chief
child studies and social work
faculty of health, community and education
faculty and staff in the department of child studies and social work have embarked on individual and collective journeys toward decolonizing our minds, hearts and approaches to teaching and learning. part of this work comes from looking inward, what we are willing to do, and how our actions contribute to the larger whole. led by espoom tah and blackfoot elder roy bear chief we reflected on our commitments to action and developed the foundation for building a strong tipi. using blackfoot teachings and collective mind a beautiful symbol of our commitment was unveiled this fall to start our new academic year in a good way. join us to hear about how we worked together on this journey and the work that will continue as we move forward.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
harley's course
carol armstrong
biology
faculty of science and technology
this august (2022) i ran the inaugural session of 'harley's course' (biol3201: common ground — learning from the land). my colleague alexandria farmer and i took 18 third-year biology students on a field course to buffalo rock tipi camp to explore the common ground between western science and Indigenous ways of knowing. the planning for this course started in november 2018 and was a group effort (khatija westbrook, charles hepler, dorothy hill and of course, harley bastien — piikani knowledge keeper).
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
responsibilities for decolonial research
ranjan datta
decolonial research
faculty of arts
how does one decolonize and reclaim the meanings of research, particularly in the context of Indigenous and racialized community-based research? Indigenous and racialized communities have long experienced misrepresentation by western forms of research. is it possible to build collaborative and meaningful research knowledge that is culturally appropriate, respectful, honouring, and careful of the Indigenous and racialized communities? what are the challenges in western research, researchers, and western university methodology research training? how can our responsibilities benefit both our research communities and us as a researcher?
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
the architects of the residential school system
travis hay
Indigenous studies
faculty of arts
this presentation offers a historical and fact-based review of the architects of the residential school system. though it will be based on a similar talk i gave last year during journey to Indigenization, it will also include more western canadian references and histories (i.e., the role of hector louis langevin in the residential school system and the politics of changing place-names in the city of calgary).
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
the buckskin ceiling: the native perspective on native art politics
alfred youngman
humanities
faculty of arts
a broad examination of how the art and culture of first nations and native americans impact mainstream western ideology in the era of reconciliation and constructing new realities. It is no exaggeration to claim current expressions such as "critical race theory," "structural racism," "systemic racism," and other common refrains are products of what happened in indigenous communities and Indigenous studies (previously known as native american studies) before the new millennia. the deconstruction, reconstruction and decolonization of Indigenous education and history have been happening for over four decades, beginning with the first native american studies departments founded at trent university and the university of lethbridge in the early to mid-1970s where academia had no choice but to reckon with the native perspective. research in the field of first nations/native american art history and theory and its subsequent publications had, what some would say, an unfortunate colonial beginning with anthropology playing the dominant role in the previous century and more. gradually native academics in the nas field begin to play a more significant part in determining the path of mainstream education and how western society views the indigenous of north america, from music to art, to writing, to film to politics. this presentation will emphasize the native perspective as the primary vehicle by which indigenous peoples will chart their road forward, a new direction that native art and theory claim is unique to its history and territories.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
my journey to Indigenous ways of being through land, story, art and tobacco
jamie waucaush-warn
humanities
faculty of arts
waucaush-warn shares her own personal journey of decolonization through her own artistic practice that examines story, land, and tobacco. this journey is shared through her own families experience of “survivance” through acts of labour working in tobacco fields after the residential school system that took many of their stories away. the journey to bring these stories to her larger audience is what waucaush-warn is passionate about as they have served to inform the role her family and other Indigenous people have had in the shaping of canada as we know it.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
poetry, politics, and colonization: nicholas flood davin's poetry and the report on industrial schools
michele holmgren
english, languages, and cultures
faculty of arts
while the Irish-born conservative politician nicholas flood davin is now most known for the davin report, he saw himself primarily as a promoter of intellectual and cultural progress in canada. through his speeches, journalism, literary criticism, and poetry, he defended the cultural contributions of Irish emigrants and advocated for irish home rule, citing canada's successful model. however, he saw the settling of the canadian west as essential to canadian nationalism and irish peace. ironically, he continually used his rhetorical and political skills to argue for the forced dispossession and assimilation of first nations and métis peoples. his views that political leaders should guide, shape, and influence education and culture were explicitly linked to the expansion of british imperialism in canada. this presentation will provide a close reading of davin's eos: an epic of the dawn as an illustration of how intellectual work and education can be employed as an active tool of colonization. his writing anticipates current debates about who determines what is taught and studied, and is still relevant today.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
making it to the frontlines: are university students offering land acknowledgments in the classroom? a closer look at engagement with decolonization practices in a university setting
marcia mckay
child studies and social work
faculty of health, community and education
this study is aimed to examine the paradox of professional social work practice and personal urgency to answer the truth and reconciliation 94 calls to action, in relation to my experience as a postsecondary instructor and trauma-informed practitioner. my recent observations as a university instructor of post-secondary social work students have indicated that students appear hesitant and inconsistent with offering land acknowledgments on their first introductions in the classroom with their peers.
another aspect that will be considered with this phenomenon is the tensions that continue to exist between the truth and reconciliation commission, and the overhaul of educational systems to implement the 94 calls to action. This new way of approaching education has been challenging for systems as they continue to navigate the indigenous alliance with social work and implement change (acsw, 2019).
this study will further emphasize the call to action #65 from the truth and reconciliation commission states that “there is a need to advance the understanding of reconciliation.” this proposal will advance the understanding of reconciliation through the exploration of social work students in post secondary educational systems engagement with land acknowledgments.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
decolonizing "storytime"
nancy espetveidt
child studies and social work
faculty of health, community and education
i would like to present children's picturebooks that i have chosen to share. i enjoy problemetizing the linear story structure colonized minds have come to expect by presenting wordless picturebooks, books with circular story structure, and books with Indigenous authorship/artistry.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
a review of mru and awe visual gallery of Indigenous women project
amanda williams and richard erlendson
school of communication studies
faculty of business and communications studies
this presentation shares the unveiling of the Indigenous women in business visual exhibition that was celebrated last spring. in this project mount royal university's (mru) school of communication studies, wekh-alberta, and alberta women entrepreneurs partnered to have a senior class of mru journalism and digital media students create a visual gallery of Indigenous women in business. this project was designed to widen the broader public's exposure to the dynamic Indigenous women entrepreneurs who make up the alberta business world. the dynamics of the partnership will be shared as well as the visual gallery.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
Indigenous science and mathematics in gned
collette lemieux and nikita kahpeaysewat
bissett school of business | 4th-year bachelor of science — environmental science student
faculty of business and communications studies | faculty of science and technology
we will begin by discussing what brought us to the project and why we believe it is important. then we will describe the evolution of the project and where we are now. finally, we will discuss some of the challenges we've experienced and how we've overcome them (if possible). we will then invite a discussion.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
‘all my relations’: elders’ teachings grounding a decolonial bn program philosophy
andrea kennedy and grandmother doreen spence
school of nursing and midwifery
faculty of health, community and education
we will share the process of developing a decolonial nursing program philosophical framework. following cultural protocol, we asked two highly respected local Indigenous knowledge holders and retired nurses to serve as presiding elders for the bachelor of nursing (bn) curriculum redesign committee. select committee members engaged with the elders in a series of gatherings. elders gifted ‘all my relations’ as the unifying basis for their teachings of ‘the four realms’ and ‘ani to pisi — spiderweb’ as the new bn program philosophical framework: local Indigenous teachings provide the standpoint for respectfully engaging with interconnected multiple worldviews to advance equity and restore wellness in nursing education. collaboration with elders provides an invaluable opportunity for decolonization in nursing workplaces and learning spaces.
presentation material
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization
addressing racism from a kainai perspective
gabrielle lindstrom
humanities
faculty of arts
experiences of anti-Indigenous racism have a long history in blackfoot territories. utilizing the blackfoot language to conceptualize and articulate definitions of racism and what it means to be a fully relational, compassionate and respectful human being, kainai has undertaken research that advances an understanding of racism through a lens that is consistent with the lived experiences and lifeways of kainai peoples. this presentation will offer an overview of the research methodology and findings.
linda manyguns, associate vice-president, office of Indigenization and decolonization