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Indigenous Welcoming Procedure
ʔəm̓i ce:p kʷətxʷiləm / i chexw tl’iḵ / welcome
Welcome to the Indigenous Welcoming Procedure here at SFU. This space is Indigenous designed and led to ensure that your journey through it is safe and welcoming. We created this space for you to claim who you are and what Indigenous community you belong to. This will allow us hold up you and your connection in a good way.
Indigenous Opportunities for Indigenous People
The Indigenous Welcoming Procedure (IWP) is a respectful step on the path of truth, reconciliation, Indigenization and decolonization at Simon Fraser University. It is an Indigenous-led framework implementing Indigenous citizenship and membership verification with documentation.
What is the Indigenous Welcoming Procedure?
The Indigenous Welcoming Procedure protects Indigenous students, faculty and staff from the impacts of fraudulent claims to Indigenous membership/citizenship, while honouring Indigenous Peoples’ inherent right to determine membership and citizenship in accordance with their own governance, customs, and traditions.
SFU affirms its commitment to safeguarding Indigenous-specific spaces, programs, awards, and opportunities, by ensuring that supports and opportunities intended for Indigenous members of the SFU community are not misdirected to those with fraudulent Indigenous membership/citizenship claims.
This procedure is not intended to adjudicate identity. Rather, its purpose is to provide a safe, relational, and culturally grounded process for Indigenous members of the SFU community to be welcomed, supported, and celebrated.
WHY DECLARE?
We recognize that self-declaration is a personal decision on the part of each individual.
Students
Declaring your Indigeneity helps you:
- Gain access to supports, such as Indigenous financial assistance;
- Connect with other Indigenous students;
- Take part in programs and services unique to Indigenous cultural and holistic worldviews.
Faculty and Staff
Declaring your Indigeneity helps you:
- Connect with other Indigenous employees;
- Strengthen interdisciplinary communities of practice;
- Access programs and services unique to Indigenous cultural and holistic worldviews.
Two pathways for declaration
Indigenous Welcoming Procedure is open all current and prospective students, faculty and staff who wish to declare Indigenous citizenship or membership.
PATHWAY 1
Voluntary and based in the principle of community
Pathway One allows faculty, staff and students to voluntarily share their connection to Indigenous community at any point in their SFU journey.
It is not meant for applucation for Indigenous-specific opportunities where there is material gain, rather this pathway is to invite participation in the Indigenous community such as the Indigenous Student Centre.
As part of the voluntary pathway one process, the applicant can opt into an expedited verification process for future supports to Pathway Two.
PATHWAY 2
Required for Indigenous-specific opportunities of material gain
Pathway Two is for students seeking access to Indigenous-specific Opportunities where there is material gain.
Examples of Indigenous-specific opportunities material gain include, but are not limited to scholarships, awards, bursaries, Indigenous specific positions, non-Indigenous specific positions, seats in Indigenous student programs, waiver codes, where there is priority support for Indigenous individuals (i.e housing) or access to Indigenous-specific campus services. Each of these require engagement with IWP for eligibility for such opportunities.
Guiding Principles
This process will be sensitive to the historical complexities that have shaped Indigenous identity across Turtle Island, and it takes a positive approach to support Indigenous applicants to tell their unique stories, in all their complexities and vibrancy. This procedure is guided by the following principles.
- Indigenous-led and Indigenous-informed.
- inclusive of Indigenous concepts of belonging and kinship that exist within Indigenous systems of knowledge(s) of many Nations.
- not about replicating the role of the state and its colonial frameworks.
- respectful of Indigenous Peoples and cultures, including: honoring the history, culture, and presence of Indigenous Peoples, welcoming and nurturing Indigenous students, and seeking opportunities for greater representation of Indigenous Peoples amongst faculty and staff.
- aligned with the "core" 4R principles: Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, & Responsibility identified in the work of V.J. Kirkness, and R. Barnhardt (2001) on First Nations and Higher Education: Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, Responsibility.
- respectful of Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS).
Frequently Asked Questions
Who reviews the declarations?
The Indigenous Welcoming Committee is made up of Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Keepers, faculty and staff. It is the body that confirms eligibility for Indigenous-specific supports.
What happens with my data?
The process respects Indigenous Data Sovereignty and the right of Indigenous Peoples to control information about themselves and their communities.
Still have questions?
You can write to the Indigenous Welcoming Procedure committee directly by contacting Angela Wolfe at angela_wolfe@sfu.ca.