One of the most powerful things about your gift to the University is that it provides us with important, flexible funding from within our campus community to support emerging needs and grassroots initiatives. The Library’s Indigenous Research Guide is one powerful example of the responsive, on-the-ground impact that Circle donors make.
The project, started by graduate student Jaydum Hunt to advance Indigenous studies and research on campus, was developed in collaboration with Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and staff from the Library, the Graduate Student Association (GSA) and the Office of Research.
By highlighting Indigenous research, voices and ways of knowing, the research guide helps people discover Indigenous-related resources within the Library’s collection and learn how to respectfully and mindfully approach such research.
As campus partnership coordinator for the GSA and someone with an Indigenous background and research focus, Hunt came up with the idea for the project when she noticed a gap in the Library’s resources. Creating an Indigenous Research Guide was one way to draw attention to scholarship that has been marginalized, erased and ignored because of dominant Western practices.
The guide’s creators collaborated to compile a deep well of Indigenous research resources, in consultation with Indigenous leaders and researchers. The product of their efforts is an online tool that will continue to evolve and be reviewed regularly. Since Indigenous research follows an iterative approach with a feedback loop built into the process, the guide also includes a place for people to share their feedback. Going forward, it will continue to be shaped according to the expectations, needs and interests of the people who use it.
By funding important initiatives like this student-led project, your generosity as a Circle donor helps us address gaps in our learning resources and advance equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism at Waterloo. Thank you for your support.
