This research focuses on documenting the efforts of the Waponahki people to design and pass legislated policy that effectively addresses racism and the process of colonization in school curriculum. The Waponahki, Indigenous to Maine and the Maritime Provinces, set precedent in both Canada and the United States during the late 1990s for the development of progressive educational policy that was implemented as legislated policy; two public laws and one state rule. Research on these policies, including the processes of their development, is significant because it provides an educational and social justice policy-making model. This work also contributes to the emerging discourse on Indigenous Research Methodologies as critical to the transformation of policy development theory and practice amongst Indigenous peoples. In Alberta, Canada, the Aboriginal student population is the fastest growing of any other race/ethnicity in the province (Alberta Learning Commission, 2005). However, Aboriginal students have the highest drop-out rates, and are least likely of any group to complete university (Frideres, 2005 & Statistics Canada, 2001). Experiences of racism in schools continue and are cited as a leading reason for Aboriginal student attrition, and the implementation of policy and practice that values Aboriginal worldviews is key to Aboriginal student success in school systems (Hampton & St. Denis 2004, Wotherspoon & Schissel, 2003). This research documents and analyzes the development of such policy from the lens of an Indigenous Waponahki researcher. The project is also unique because it specifically articulates a Waponahki epistemology and ontology as its foundational research methodology. Guided by the essence, practice, and principles of Waponahki basket weaving and creation story, the project examines two key pieces of legislation (public law) and one state rule that address racism and support language revitalization: in 2000, Maine Public Law Chapter 27, Title 1 MRSA 1102, more widely known as the Squaw Law; in 2001,Maine Public Law, Chapter 403, Title 20-A MRSA 4706, known as the Wabanaki Studies Law; and in 2005, the Native Language Endorsement Rule, Maine Department of Education, 05 071 CMR 115 Part II section 1.17, a state rule authorized by the state legislature. The study employs data collection methods that examine published documents, texts and individual interviews related to the three examples of legislated policy. Discussions address not only the challenges and opportunities of designing and implementation, but also speak to how these legislated policies function in practice as policies that work toward Waponahki survival and beyond. By discussing the development of these three specific examples as policies that evolved from the knowledge, traditions and colonial experiences of Waponahki people, this research describes and analyses how Waponahki ways of knowing (epistemology) and ways of being (ontology) inform policy-making processes in Maine. / Indigenous Peoples Education

Post secondary institutions are a product of, and teach colonial ontology, epistemology and axiology. Because of this, there is significant under-representation of Indigenous students who pursue post secondary education. Of the students who pursue post secondary education, many do not finish because the institution is an unwelcoming environment. This thesis examines how to decolonize the post secondary institution using a Ktunaxa perspective. Decolonization of the post secondary system is necessary to develop and support a more welcoming environment for Indigenous students. Decolonization is also an important factor in ensuring that the education Indigenous students receive is not only relevant to them, but is an accurate representation of who they are as people and in society. The researcher interviewed Ktunaxa students both past and present and then provided evidence for common themes that surfaced through the interview process. General conclusions indicate that decolonization needs to permeate the entire post secondary system from policies and procedures, to general attitudes, to curriculum and staffing. / Graduate

No description available.

While it is generally agreed that First Nations in Canada are facing a housing crisis in their communities, the Canadian public has largely misunderstood what the crisis of housing is, thus frustrating efforts to improve the situation. A re-conceptualization of the problem of on-reserve housing as a crisis of governance with roots in processes of colonialism (both historical and ongoing) offers the possibility of addressing the crisis and moving forward. This research seeks to situate housing as an important site of engagement for First Nations and settler society (as important in decolonization efforts as it was in colonization) and points to the importance of relationships both within Indigenous communities and with settler society in restoring governance and improving housing. Housing has been a contested site throughout the history of First Nations-settler relations, with colonial policies focusing on reshaping how First Nations lived. These policies have been consistently resisted by First Nations. This history of struggle provides the crucial context for understanding how and why housing has reached an impasse. This impasse is illustrated by examining federal housing policy, which appears to offer increased community control over housing but does so without addressing underlying governance and capacity issues. First Nations are becoming increasingly responsible for on-reserve housing without corresponding supports or redress for the history of colonialism that has created the crisis. Current approaches to solving housing problems on-reserve are then critically assessed, focusing on policy and legislative moves toward homeownership and privatization on-reserve. I argue that this approach circumscribes self-determination for First Nations in particular ways, reducing these claims to a set of market based options. Finally, several innovative community housing initiatives are examined, moving beyond the debate to privatize. Priorities identified are consistent across the examples: housing is at the service of the community, is affordable, builds local capacity, is self-sustaining, is culturally and environmentally appropriate, and the locus of authority remains in the community. The initiatives were achieved by cultivating relationships, both within First Nation communities and with settler society. In this thesis, I suggest the importance of housing for decolonization efforts for First Nation and settler alike. / Graduate / 0334 / 0740

The “colonial wall” is the analogy drawn between a visible, physical barrier designed to confine, control, and contain a nation and a psychological barrier designed to control, confine, and contain a nation by internalized colonialist subjugation or colonizer domination. This thesis answers the question, “How are colonial policies and ideologies internalized by Indigenous and Settler populations to maintain the relationship of domination and oppression in modern society?” The secondary questions explore how colonialism is perpetuated by both colonizer and colonized and ask if there are situations occurring in society today to indicate a correlation to the Indigenous Seven Prophecies and Eighth Fire Prophecy. Research constitutes a review of literature to explore the questions from thematic categories that emerged from the analysis: economics, epistemology, politics, and patriarchy. There are numerous literary contributions on the colonial phenomenon but few offered explanations about how it affected the psychology of a colonized individual or even how cognitive function is affiliated with acts of domination that affect the psyche of the colonizer. This thesis documents and offers emerging theories on how colonial policies and practices are taken up to influence the dyadic relationship between Settler peoples and Aboriginal populations in Canada today. / Graduate / 0740 / 0452 / 0631 / brenda_st_germain@shaw.ca

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [298]-325).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Münster, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references and register.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 46-48).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Münster, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references and register.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [54]-57).