Opinion: Is Indigenous education in jeopardy at Laurentian University?

By Dr. Mary Ann Corbiere and Dr. Darrel Manitowabi

Major strides that have been made at Laurentian University in providing education on Indigenous people and offering Indigenous academic programming appear to be in real jeopardy due to Laurentian’s insolvency.

Thirty years’ worth of progress seems at risk of a serious setback. Since 1991, thanks to Ontario’s Aboriginal Education Strategy, numerous distance courses were created in Indigenous Studies and in Indigenous Social Work. The latter program was created in 1989 through collaboration between the Indigenous Studies Department of the University of Sudbury and Laurentian’s School of Social Work. Until then, Indigenous Studies – established in the 1970s – was the sole Indigenous-specific program in the Laurentian Federation. Indigenous community voices on the LU Native Education Council, active since 1991, have guided several other major developments at Laurentian. An Associate Vice-President position, in Academic and Indigenous Programs, was created and filled by a longstanding Indigenous faculty member of Laurentian. A graduate program, the Master of Indigenous Relations, grew out of the Indigenous Social Work program and admitted its inaugural cohort in 2014. The Associate VP position was instrumental in the expansion of Indigenous student services, and the hiring in 2011 of several new Indigenous faculty into diverse programs including history, sociology, and anthropology. 2017 saw the official opening of the beautiful Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre (ISLC) after an intensive fundraising campaign by Laurentian. Though scaled down due to prohibitive costs, the ISLC – originally envisioned as situated on the slope between the University of Sudbury and Laurentian’s Parker Building – adjoins Laurentian’s registration offices, thus giving Indigenous students ready access to culturally-appropriate support services. Such initiatives have borne out of Laurentian’s deep commitment to triculturalism, and its responsiveness to the Indigenous community. In 2017, the Indigenous-content course requirement for all B.A. students also came into effect. This indicates how seriously Laurentian has taken the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action that all Canadians be educated about the Indigenous facet of this country. The large enrolment increases that resulted in Indigenous Studies courses clearly have contributed to that education. Laurentian’s declaration of insolvency on February 1, 2021, jeopardizes all of this progress.

In his update on March 8, 2021, Laurentian President Robert Hache stated that in mid-April, the community “will start to see emerging clarity” concerning academic offerings and the federation agreement. As the university is restructured, he remarks, faculty, students, and federated universities, and Francophone and Indigenous perspectives will be heard. But will they be heeded? The poor support arts programs were receiving even before Laurentian declared insolvency belies his remarks. The various arts programs offer numerous Indigenous-content courses and thus are an important alternative to Indigenous Studies courses whose capacity has been exceeded. Though housed at the University of Sudbury, Indigenous Studies is equally vulnerable as the federated universities’ operational funding comes through tuition transfers from Laurentian. Indigenous education – in the sense of both Indigenous-specific programs and the broader Laurentian student population being educated about the First Peoples of Turtle Island – thus faces serious threats from two fronts: arts programs being severely cut back by Laurentian and the University of Sudbury being starved of its operational funds. The prospect that the progress that has been made on Indigenous education since Indigenous Studies was established over 40 years ago will be wiped out is deeply saddening for an institution that, in partnership with the University of Sudbury, is among those few universities in Canada with the longest history of serving the educational needs of Indigenous communities.

About the Authors:

Dr. Mary Ann Corbiere, Associate Professor, Indigenous Studies

Dr. Darrel Manitowabi, Hannah Chair in Indigenous Health & Indigenous Traditional Medicine, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and formerly Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Sudbury (2004-2012)