Candace Brunette-Debassige is a Mushkego Cree iskwew scholar with Cree and French lineage registered with Peetabeck First Nation (Treaty 9 Territory). She is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at Western University. Her research focuses on Indigenous and decolonial approaches to education.

In your book Tricky Grounds, you studied the experiences of Indigenous women in Canadian university administrations. What were your findings?

My book was born from my doctoral research, which I started in 2015. After the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, I was one of a few Indigenous women whom Canadian universities asked to lead Indigenization initiatives. I felt isolated in my administrative role without the proper Indigenous support and mentors. By 2017, I wanted to talk to other Indigenous women in administrative leadership. My study shed light on the challenges of 12 Indigenous women who pushed for institutional change.

Canadian universities positioned Indigenous women as models and representatives of their Indigenization efforts. Indigenous women became part of the solution. University administrations expected them to correct long-standing problems with institutional practices. The women found themselves in a paradoxical position. They were the representation of change within their institutions. Meanwhile, they worked to change a system that does not always align with Indigenous rights, ethics and ways of knowing.

Indigenization requires a lot of negotiation and trust-building. The word itself is contentious in certain circles. The women were often the isolated Indigenous voice in their universities. Many women felt tokenized. Indigenous communities are also complex and not monolithic. Yet, all eyes turned and looked to the women to speak on behalf of all Indigenous peoples. They had opportunities to influence change but also dealt with scrutiny in their leadership positions. Many felt marginalized in senior leadership contexts. Their agencies and abilities to affect change had severe limits.

Universities hired Indigenous women to lead Indigenization initiatives because their Indigeneity qualified them, in part, for the work. But people accused the women of bias because of their identity. An analysis of this paradox in their work showed its colonial, gendered and racial dimensions.

Tell us more about the gendered dimension of Indigenization.

On the one hand, universities ask Indigenous women to lead their Indigenization work. However, the dominant representation in senior university leadership continues to be white men. While there are complex reasons why Indigenous men are not going to universities at the same rates as Indigenous women and not getting into senior leadership, statistics show that three-quarters of Indigenous students in universities are Indigenous women. I find these phenomena fascinating.

We need more research to understand why the work of Indigenization and reconciliation tends to be placed on women and is thereby quite gendered. There is an emotional labour dimension to reconciliation work. Indigenization work delves into historical traumas and violence, which require a certain level of care to work across differences. Therefore, Indigenization work can be heavy and personal work for Indigenous women to carry. Senior university leaders do not always understand the cognitive and emotional toll that this kind of work takes on Indigenous women.

Several women have shared stories of burnout and taking leaves of absence. I acknowledge that the women in my book find themselves in privileged positions. They are the first to recognize that they are not simple victims and are in positions of power to affect change. But they also struggle daily with the colonial, racial and gender dimensions of power in their work in universities.

What do you think of the support universities provide to Indigenous women?

In some cases, Indigenization initiatives and leaders overseeing the work have associated large teams, comprehensive budgets and institutional partners across the university. Indigenous women I spoke to, however, did not always have these system supports. They often relied solely on their influence, not institutional authority. I find the precariousness of Indigenous initiatives office structures a crucial factor to consider. To make systemic changes, universities must more deeply embed and prioritize Indigenization initiatives.

They must recognize how entrenched whiteness and colonialism are in the post-secondary education system. Well-intentioned people grappling with Indigenization can do more harm than good. So, Indigenous people are mobilizing and finding power and unity within their networks and outside their institutions. This is how Indigenous women find support to drive systemic change and engage in conversations about change across different institutions.

What steps can academic staff associations take to Indigenize the academy?

Faculty associations should work with Indigenous scholars and offices of Indigenous initiatives to support policy reform. One policy priority is Indigenous  identity verification processes. Indigenous initiatives offices are often left to drive these challenging and complicated conversations. Indigenous communities have expressed overwhelming support for Indigenous identity verification policies and measures. So, academic staff associations should educate themselves on Indigenous communities’ needs, priorities and concerns. They should listen deeply to how institutions implicate themselves in ongoing colonial power.

Faculty associations must help create a safer space for Indigenous scholars in academic workplaces. As a scholar, I believe in the principal tenet of academic freedom. A unique quality of universities is that they are sites of research. We need to support Indigenous  scholars who might interrogate university processes and systems without fear of reprisal.

How was your book received by academic staff and administrative leaders?

The reception has been great. People have had positive things to say about feeling like their experiences were reflected in the book. The most validating thing for me is not the awards, publications and other conventional academic outputs. It is when I receive an email from an Indigenous woman saying: “I couldn’t put down the book, I stayed up late two nights in a row and finished it because I felt so seen and heard.” Indigenous peoples’ experiences matter and deserve to be accurately reflected in research.