Capacity building and supports for Indigenous students and researchers

On September 29, 2021, Mikaela D. Gabriel, at the time a postdoctoral fellow in U of T's Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health and a member of the then newly created Indigenous Research Network (IRN), delivered an online webinar on Indigenous education called “Gina’masuti: Reflections, research, and recommendations for Indigenous education in Canada.”  

By calling on “Gina’masuti,” the Mi’kmaq term for learning and education, Gabriel emphasized that to understand the barriers facing Indigenous youth in Western learning centers and provide supports for Indigenous students, we must create solutions that stem from Indigenous ways of knowing and being.  

For many Indigenous students, educational and career pathways, as well as success in those pathways, are deeply connected to the individual’s sense of purpose and connection to their community. To support Indigenous students and transform post-secondary education, in line with reconciliation aims, educators and educational institutions must reframe values and priorities in higher education.  

The webinar has been one of the many IRN-led and Indigenous-focused events held at U of T that aim to improve and increase research capacity and support for Indigenous students, staff, and researchers. Other events led by the IRN have included the data collection and data analysis workshops, Indigenous research ethics seminars, the writing workshop series, and a host of gatherings like Full Moon Ceremonies and Drum Circles that have brought together the Indigenous research community at U of T and its partners.  

These learning sessions and community events have all been a part of the IRN’s mission to drive reconciliation priorities at the institution and build and nurture an Indigenous research community that engages with ethical and beneficial research that serves to empower Indigenous peoples.

The launch of the IRN responds to the 34 Calls to Action set out in Answering the Call: Wecheehetowin Final Report of the Steering Committee for the University of Toronto Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 

    https://isi.utoronto.ca/story/capacity-building-and-supports-for-indigenous-students-and-researchers/