Preface
In March 2016, the University of Calgary, under the leadership of the Office of the Provost, embarked on a journey toward the development of an Indigenous Strategy. This journey began with the creation of an Indigenous Task Force composed of a Steering Committee, an Elder Advisory Group, and a Working Group representing the diverse faculties and services of the university. Each group had documented Terms of Reference outlining key roles and responsibilities. However, realizing that this approach did not adequately reflect Indigenous perspectives, members of the Task Force worked with Traditional Knowledge Keepers to create a parallel process based on an Indigenous framework. This parallel path was called “Journey toward the Indigenous Strategy.” The Indigenous Strategy ii’ taa’poh’ to’p is grounded in cultural teachings shared by the Traditional Knowledge Keepers and/or Elders engaged in the development of the strategy who helped to guide and inform our collective journey.
Land Acknowledgement
The University of Calgary is located in the heart of southern Alberta, the traditional territories of the Peoples of Treaty 7, which include the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprising the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including the Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney First Nations). The City of Calgary is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta (Districts 5 and 6). The university is situated on land northwest of where the Bow River meets the Elbow River, a site traditionally known as Moh’kinstsis to the Blackfoot, Wîchîspa to the Stoney Nakoda, and Guts’ists’i to the Tsuut’ina. On this land and in this place, we strive to learn together, walk together, and grow together “in a good way.”
Opening Smudge
In honour of our parallel journey and the story of ii’ taa’poh’ to’p, we open this story space with a smudge as validation of our story circle, our journey together, and the process of collective truth telling. According to Traditional Knowledge Keeper Dr. Reg Crowshoe, a
Smudge is an introduction to a system; it constitutes our copyright. Smudge honours the land. Land is physical representation of our natural laws. Acknowledge that our society has governance and laws—circle includes all dialects. The circle is all inclusive and provides a relational framework of how to work together. When I go back to our Indigenous knowledge, the story of the smudge came from interaction of creation. . . . Smudge also creates a place of safety, a place and way of doing things in a good way.
About This Book
The Story of ii’ taa’poh’to’p is a narrative account of the development of an Indigenous Strategy at a large university in Canada, the University of Calgary. This book captures and shares many stories of our collective journey to develop the strategy as well as the lessons learned along the way. Foundationally, it is a story of the development of intercultural respect and understanding and of making good relatives. The strategy was developed at an important time in the history of Canada and the university, a time of truth and reconciliation and deep reflection. We wanted to write this book to ensure that the stories were captured and shared, for we believe that we took a unique approach to our journey, one that will have a lasting impact on our institution and great potential to help others with their journeys toward reconciliation.
Dru Marshall
The interaction of collective creation becomes knowledge. The purpose of writing this book was that we thought we needed to capture the knowledge and share our journey of creating the University of Calgary Indigenous Strategy. We have a responsibility to pass on our knowledge by sharing our story. If anyone wants to use the four-stage-journey method, there is due diligence—the need to work with the local Indigenous community and protocols thereof. When we brought the Elders together for our strategy, we had Elders from the Treaty 7 region and the urban centre. We called upon older “traditional” systems that provide a communal way of working together through the basic principles of circle, language, smudge, and story. When we come together in circle, the smudge and pipe are tools used to understand each other. Organizations must work with the local Elders or Traditional Knowledge Keepers in their community. We may have a method and a practice that can be interpreted; however, it needs to be adopted within a local cultural context.
Reg Crowshoe
This amazing story captures the emergence of a framework, dynamic processes, creative and innovative tensions, and ultimately thoughtful and respectful actions that honour parallel paths—Indigenous and non-Indigenous traditions. All have been waiting patiently, sometimes impatiently, to be awakened to begin the work of conciliation, realize reconciliation, and foster the promises embedded in the treaties and agreements among the Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) of these lands, educational institutions, the Crown, and Canada. ii’ taa’poh’ to’p is a gift to the University of Calgary and much more. The awakened spirit is paving a new path at the university and invites us to see the spaces within it with heightened senses and through new eyes—as intertribal and inclusive, clear and real, and ready for constructive, systemic, and healing changes. This journey has resulted in institutional practical wisdom, invaluable organizational knowledge, and a new and daring vision for those children not yet born, seven generations into the future.
Jacqueline Ottmann
Narrative Style
This book follows a collective storytelling framework. The essence of truth lies in collective experiences and stories told from multiple perspectives. It is through these collective experiences that understanding and relationships crystallize. In honour of Indigenous and non-Indigenous ways of sharing, this book reflects oral storytelling practices. The layout of the book includes important transitional stories as we move from one chapter to the next. We also introduce each chapter with four short stories that reflect the content of the chapter.
For Piikani Elder Dr. Reg Crowshoe, four stories are linked to a ceremonial framework and can be envisioned as “alignment stories, offered in ceremonies when a new part of the ceremony begins”:
The inclusion of four alignment stories at the beginning of each chapter is a core part of our circular journey. As lessons are shared and new knowledge is learned and built, the process is shared as a storied journey, moving through different levels of storied experience enriched by learned lessons and teachings. Each time understanding and practice are learned, it is time to go to another level, accompanied by another four stories that you take with you as teachings. In that way, the circle and its stories drive a lifelong cyclical or spiral learning process enriched and deepened by storied experiences of the people. In this light, it is also important to think about the nature of circles and the four stories as more than just a way of organizing knowledge. When these four stories are shared within the circle, the process reflects an oral narrative of creation. That is, it creates new knowledge in addition to sharing existing knowledge. And in that process there is a power, a jurisdiction, and a spirit. These are what give Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing an inalienable, equal standing with Western knowledge.
Crowshoe explains that, from a parallel lens, the four stories are analogous to a preface for each chapter and help to set the context for it. The offering of the four stories signals the next stages of the ceremony or, in this case, the progressive stages of the collective journey toward the development of ii’ taa’poh’ to’p. This storied format was also informed by Shawna Cunningham’s (2022) dissertation, which included the four alignment stories—based on teachings from Crowshoe—further enhanced by the addition of related creative prose, serving as transitional stories placed between each of the chapters.
This book offers important oral teachings that invite deep reflection. These teachings were fundamental to our transformational journey and learning process. We encourage you to read each teaching and reflect on it before moving on to the next chapter. Each of you will take different meanings from the lessons articulated in the oratories, but each interpretation will help you to understand the importance of and the processes underlying the development of an authentic Indigenous Strategy.
You will find a circular and thus repetitive approach to the book. Many Elders share certain stories repeatedly to emphasize a teaching or concept. The concepts fundamental to this story are realizing the importance of Indigenous knowledge systems, creating parallel paths, inclusion of Indigenous voices, relating storied experiences, and making time to develop respectful relational processes.