“Sometimes there’s space . . . and sometimes there’s just not”: (Un)learning from Indigenous students’ experiences of liminal decolonization and Indigenization

Abstract

Post-secondary institutions and the business schools within them have been inhospitable spaces for Indigenous peoples. Changing this pattern requires decolonization (dismantling of entrenched colonial approaches) and Indigenization (incorporating Indigenous-informed content), which are actions that schools increasingly purport to be enacting. These practices are likely to significantly impact Indigenous students. Yet, due to their continued marginalization, these students’ voices are rarely incorporated into the very discussions that concern them. We address this oversight through in-depth interviews with 18 Indigenous undergraduate students and recent alumni. Our conversations reveal distinct challenges that stem from liminal decolonization where students encounter disparities between words and deeds, as well as inconsistencies in how Indigenous ways of knowing and being are incorporated into classrooms and other spaces. They indicate the need to unlearn impersonal “robotic” relationships, as well as partial and misguided inclusion of Indigenous content. By centering students’ voices, we develop an integrative framework of responsive Indigenization with “personal regard” in relationships and “rhythmic inclusion” of Indigenous ways of knowing and being as its foundation. This framework also includes four “balancing points” that institutions and individuals must be prepared to persistently navigate as an inherent part of, rather than an obstacle to, decolonization and responsive Indigenization.