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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 [First Page] [88], (1) Lines: 0 t ——— 0.0pt PgV ——— Normal P PgEnds: T [88], (1) 5. warrior scholarship Seeing the University as a Ground of Contention Taiaiake Alfred What is “Indigenizing the academy?” To me, it means that we are working to change universities so that they become places where the values, principles, and modes of organization and behavior of our people are respected in, and hopefully even integrated into, the larger system of structures and processes that make up the university itself. In pursuing this objective, whether as students attempting to integrate traditional views and bring authentic community voices to our work, or as faculty members attempting to abide by a traditional ethic in the conduct of our relations in fulfilling our professional responsibilities, we as Indigenous people immediately come into confrontation with the fact that universities are intolerant of and resistant to any meaningful “Indigenizing.” It is not simply that universities are founded and function on premises that are different from those that underlie Indigenous cultures, which if it were true would imply a somewhat benign posture to our knowledge and ways of interacting with each other and the world. It is that they are adamantly and aggressively opposed to Indigenous ways. Our experiences in universities reflect the tensions and dynamics of our relationships as Indigenous peoples interacting with people and institutions in society as a whole: an existence of constant and pervasive struggle to resist assimilation to the values and culture of the larger society. In this, contrary to what is sometimes naively assumed by us and propagated by universities themselves, universities are not safe ground. In fact, they are not even so special or different in any meaningful way from other institutions; they are microcosms of the larger societal struggle. But they are the places where we as academics work—they are our sites of colonialism . And, they are our responsibility. Like all Indigenous people, if we are accountable to our nations and truly cognizant and respectful of our cultures, we have as a responsibility to do what we can where we warrior scholarship 89 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 [89], (2) Lines: 41 to 45 ——— 0.0pt PgVar ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [89], (2) are to ensure the survival of our culture and our nations. Being in the university, we as Indigenous academics have the responsibility to work to defeat the operation of colonialism within the university and to reorder academe. So,let’s get to work. If we are to Indigenize the university,we must first come to understand what it is that we are up against. I have used the term “colonialism,” but I sense that our common understanding of what that term means is lacking. We understand colonialism as the major historical evil that our people have had to face; and we understand it mainly in material terms,as political injustices,domination,dispossession of lands, or economic oppression. Some understandings of colonialism touch on some of the psychological or spiritual effects of all of the material loss, manifested in dysfunctional or self-destructive behaviors. But I believe that the true meaning of “colonialism” emerges from a consideration of how we as Indigenous peoples have lost the freedom to exist as Indigenous peoples in almost every single sphere of our existence. The thing that must be defeated, colonialism, is far beyond being merely an economic or political problem with psychological manifestations. I think of it like this instead: it is the fundamental denial of our freedom to be Indigenous in a meaningful way, and the unjust occupation of the physical , social, and political spaces we need in order to survive as Indigenous peoples. Let us see how far this definition of the problem takes us toward our goal of Indigenizing the university. Colonialism is not an historical era, nor is it a theory or merely a political and economic relationship. It is a total existence, a way of thinking about oneself and others always in terms of domination and submission that has come to form the...

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