Document Type

Report

Publication Date

6-2025

Keywords

Northern Salish Sea, Emerging issues, Tla’amin Nation, Reconciliation, Higher Education, Land-Based Learning, Relationship Building

Abstract

Increasingly, universities have been seen as sites for practicing decolonization work. Examples include the introduction of Land-based curricula, tribal relationship building, and the offering of critical Indigenous studies courses. However, universities remain spaces with deep colonial foundations. This paper summarizes a recent publication in Higher Education, by the same authors, offering a description of the challenges and insights gained through attempted decolonial reconcili-actiona work within this imperfect environment. We critically examine the conception, implementation, and lasting impact of a course offered at Western Washington University (WWU), located in Washington State on the ancestral territory of the Lummi and Nooksack peoples.

The “Socio-ecology and Reconcili-action in the Northern Salish Sea” course wove together Land-based learning and relationship-building to engage students in reconciliation. We worked specifically with the ɬaʔəmen (Tla’amin) Nation, located in British Columbia, and included classroom and virtual work in Bellingham and a field trip to the Nation’s traditional territory near qathet Regional District (so called Powell River). Two settler students and a settler instructor reflect on the course through a series of vignettes culminating in a list of learning commitments: to learn from a diversity of peoples, especially Indigenous community members; to learn with gratitude, respect, and reciprocity, and without fear of making mistakes; and to actively apply our knowledge to further reconciliation and decolonization. These commitments are offered as a starting point for other members of the higher education community who recognize their responsibility to advance reconciliation and decolonization.

Publication Title

Higher Education

Volume

89

Issue

2025

First Page

1081

Last Page

1102

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01262-6

Sponsorship/Conference/Institution

Salish Sea Institute

Comments

For full publication see: Keyes, T., McLane, L., and Stanger, N.R.G. (2024). Can students engage in meaningful reconcili-action from within a settler-colonial university system? Higher Education https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01262-6

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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