The Dawson College First Peoples’ Initiative is a group of faculty, staff, and students working to explore ways of indigenizing the college. The group is open to anyone in the college community who wants to get involved in the indigenization of structures, instruction, and learning. Currently, the group is made up of a coordinator of Mohawk descent (Tiawenti:non Canadian); an academic advisor (Michele Pallett); a Journeys coordinator (Michelle Smith); a campus life and leadership officer (Billi Jo Poirier); a French teacher (Francesca Roy); an English teacher (Pauline Morel); and an assistant dean (Wolfgang Krotter).

Main objectives

The First Peoples’ Initiative seeks to:

  • ensure that Dawson is responding to the interests, experiences, goals, and concerns of Indigenous students
  • bring Indigenous history, culture, knowledge, and issues to the forefront in all aspects of college life
  • maintain a First Peoples’ Centre
  • promote Indigenous Studies at Dawson

To this end, the First Peoples team is working to develop an Indigenous Studies Certificate, which should be available to students in 2019. In the meantime, a variety of courses in Indigenous studies are available. They are grouped into three main categories related to First Peoples:

1. Courses that deal with Canada’s First Nations, Inuit, and Métis in part or all of the course (e.g., the Anthropology of Indigenous North America course)

2. Courses that deal with Indigenous peoples outside of Canada (e.g., the Introduction to Geography course)

3. Courses that deal with topics related to Indigenous culture or issues (e.g., the course on canoeing)

Journeys is another program that helps the college achieve its objectives. It is designed to provide First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students with a welcoming, holistic, supportive, and culturally relevant environment.

Journeys offers a series of general education credit courses that combine Indigenous knowledge, culture, traditions, and pedagogical approaches with the academic knowledge and study skills necessary for success at the postsecondary level.

The general education courses are taught by instructors who are culturally aware and who work closely with Indigenous communities to ensure content and approaches are culturally relevant.

The theme, content, and learning strategies of Journeys courses are related, fostering a tight-knit learning community that brings students, teachers, support staff, and community representatives together. This integrated approach to learning also includes academic, cultural, and spiritual support, in close partnership with communities.

The French language issue

Another First Peoples’ Initiative project shares the same objectives mentioned above, particularly in terms of academic success at the college level in Quebec. The “Contenus autochtones – Pour les cours de français langue seconde (FLS) au collégial” project aims to “promote the use of Aboriginal content in FSL classes at the college level by providing teachers with engaging learning materials and information to help them use these materials,” (Dawson College, 2018).

To this end, French-language teachers Francesca Roy and Claude Nicou have developed a website with Aboriginal content that teachers can adapt and use in the classroom. Resources are divided into four categories:

• Levels (progressing from levels 1 to 4)
• Types of material (plays, poems, novels, etc.)
• Topics (languages, territories, women, etc.)
• Other resources (activities, literary analysis, etc.)

The material is generally based on literature or other works by First Peoples of Quebec. The site contains informative documents on a variety of topics as well as tools to help teachers present and use the materials and topics in the classroom.

The importance of the First Peoples’ Centre

The First Peoples’ Centre offers a variety of services, such as academic, extracurricular, and cultural support. Students can come to get help and to find a peaceful and culturally safe environment where they can learn, study, socialize, and be part of a community. Cultural activities for students include potluck dinners, sharing circles, festivals, traditional art, and more.

An example of a cultural event held in September 2018, co-organized by the Dawson College First Peoples’ Centre.

In collaboration with Student Services, the Centre offers workshops and individual assistance with an emphasis on information literacy skills and basic writing. Students have access to a computer laboratory and a study area where they can work alone or in groups.

The Centre also works with elders from various communities to support learning in specific cultural contexts.