Indigenous Futures

From Indigenous Brilliance to Indigenous Innovation: Practice as Method in K–12 STEM Systems

Mervi Maarit Salo, University of Saskatchewan and University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway
 

This session builds on Indigenous STEM initiatives presented at the Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference in 2024 by examining how those projects have evolved over time and how they actively shape Indigenous futures through Indigenous brilliance emerging within K–12 education systems. The presentation reflects on what becomes possible when Indigenous innovation is understood not as curricular inclusion, but as a methodological orientation that influences how learning, expertise, and success are defined. Grounded in practice from an urban public school system, the session argues that Indigenous futures are constructed through present-day institutional choices: who is recognized as a knowledge holder, how inquiry unfolds, and what forms of learning are valued. Examples from collaborative STEM inquiry, land-connected learning in urban contexts, and professional learning designed alongside Indigenous knowledge keepers illustrate shifts in practice, including teachers moving from implementers to co-designers and students engaging as sense-makers rather than recipients of instruction. These examples provide focused conceptual framing supported by concrete illustrations from schools.

Land-based Pathways for Indigenous Youth in STEM: Exploring Actua's National InSTEM Program

Ethan Boyer

This presentation will provide an in-depth exploration of Actua’s National Indigenous Youth in STEM (InSTEM) program, a national network of educational outreach organizations dedicated to fostering systemic change in STEM education. As Canada’s largest STEM outreach network, Actua works in partnership with Network Member programs, Indigenous communities, post-secondary institutions, and localized education partners to empower youth to carry their cultural identities with them along their personal, academic and professional journeys.

Within this presentation, we will focus on the findings of Actua’s 2021 national discussion paper, “Indigenous Land-Based STEM Education.” We will focus on key insights gathered from educators and Knowledge Keepers from across Canada, specifically analyzing how Land-based education serves as a critical space in efforts surrounding education for reconciliation. Participants will learn how our findings advocate for a "Two-Eyed Seeing" approach, and how our approach fosters it.

This session will also specifically detail how our network's pedagogical framework applies the findings of the discussion paper into programming for Indigenous youth that centre Land-based pedagogical approaches, and Indigenous Knowledge in STEM. We will additionally discuss Actua's InSTEM model, which centres Land-based pedagogy within formally recognized, for-credit programs, allowing students to earn high school credits through culturally grounded experiences. Join us in critical discussions surrounding the importance of Land-based pedagogy, and how it is centred in our approach to STEM outreach.

Understanding Emotions as Pathway to Settler Accountability

Anaïs Pronovost-Morgan, Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability, UBC

Non-Indigenous Canadians are gradually gaining awareness of the ongoing harms of colonialism on Indigenous people, as well as their individual and collective responsibilities in working towards reconciliation (Lowman and Barker, 2015). While Indigenous scholars, activists, and community members are paving the way to Indigenous resurgence and decolonial futures, non-Indigenous people’s participation and solidarity is also needed to ensure lasting societal change. Reconciliation and decolonization require emotional, in addition to intellectual and action-based engagement at individual and national scales (Regan, 2010). This presentation focuses on the emotional work required from non-Indigenous Canadians to build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on responsibility and respect. Counterbalancing the Western tendency to over-research Indigenous communities (Smith, 2021), this presentation turns the gaze toward settler identity for pathways to accountability: How can non-Indigenous people support Indigenous resurgence and futurity? What are the emotions that settlers feel with regards to decolonization and how can educators work with them to promote learning and reconciliatory action?

To explore these questions, this presentation presents preliminary results from research conducted with the City of Vancouver. The project explored what non-Indigenous municipal employees feel about the implementation of the city-wide United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) Strategy (City of Vancouver, 2024). Drawing on scholarship about Canadian identity (Regan, 2010), decolonization (Tuck and Yang, 2012), and emotions (Slater, 2018), this project gathered data through arts- and dialogue-based methods involving a collage workshop (Yuen, 2016), a focus group discussion (Belzile and Öberg, 2012), and semi-structured interviews. Ultimately, this presentation invites non-Indigenous conference attendees to reflect on the emotions required for reconciliatory and decolonial action.

Modernizing Canada-US transboundary watershed management through the inclusion of Indigenous science, values and worldviews in the work of the International Joint Commission

Susan Chiblow, Commissioner

The International Joint Commission is an impartial, binational Canada-United States treaty organization that employs joint, science-based fact-finding as a foundation for building consensus and determining appropriate action to prevent or resolve transboundary water issues. The 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty, which created the IJC, made no mention of how Canada and the United States should consider the rights and interests of Indigenous Nations in their joint management of transboundary waters. In recent years, however, the IJC has modernized its approach to transboundary watershed governance by prioritizing Indigenous Collaboration in all aspects of its work. The IJC recognizes the rights and sovereignty of Indigenous Nations in transboundary watersheds, and appreciates that including Indigenous science and values in water management helps to build robust solutions to current and emerging issues in these shared waters. Key examples of IJC Indigenous Collaboration activities include: the historic study of water pollution in the Elk-Kootenai/y watershed in partnership with the Ktunaxa Nation; partnering with Indigenous Nations in transboundary watersheds on International Watersheds Initiative projects looking to restore key species such as wild rice and alewife; and working with the Indigenous Great Lakes Network on developing a Science Plan for the Great Lakes.

Accessing Health Services and Jordan’s Principle for First Nations Children with Disabilities in Saskatchewan

Abby R. Phillips and Terri Croteau

This session will go over the results of an exploratory study conducted by the RRUN (www.rrun.ca) research lab in October 2025 as well as an ongoing follow-up research project. The study in October was prompted by the disproportionally high rates of illness and disability experienced by First Nations children in Canada (Hahmann et al., 2019; Rothman, 2017). As well as the lack of research on First Nations families’ experiences of health services and Jordan’s Principle (Gerlach et al., 2020). Objective: This study sought to expand understandings of First Nations health experiences in Saskatchewan by exploring two research questions. First, which Western and cultural health services do First Nations caregivers use and value for their children with disability? Second, what are these caregivers’ experiences with and perceptions of Jordan’s Principle? Methods: Participants (n = 25) completed a brief paper survey, containing closed- and open-ended questions. The quantitative data was analyzed with descriptive statistics and comparison tests while the qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. Results: Participants accessed cultural health services at a significantly higher rate than Western health services, but helpfulness ratings did not significantly differ. Regarding Jordan’s Principle, participant feedback suggests a need for improved administrative processes (e.g., short waitlists) and funding to decrease the current burden that is placed on families when applying. Conclusions: Health disparity amongst Canada’s First Nations children should be obsolete. Reaching this goal will involve ensuring the value of cultural health services for First Nations people is not overlooked, addressing the burdensome application process and extreme waitlists plaguing Jordan’s Principle, and increasing ethical research on the lived experiences of this population.

Illuminating Indigenous Futures in Science: Culture, Community, and Identity through the Wawatay Project

Dr. Carrie Selin (Red River Métis), University of Manitoba, Wawatay Faculty of Science
 

Wawatay is an Indigenous-led Faculty of Science initiative that supports Indigenous science students from entry through graduation by embedding culture, community, and identity within science education. Named after the Anishinaabe word for the northern lights, Wawatay evokes guidance and illumination, reflecting pathways grounded in cultural strength, belonging, and holistic well-being.

Wawatay places Indigenous and Western ways of knowing in relationship through an approach that values multiple knowledge systems while fostering interdisciplinary learning (Bartlett et al., 2012). Students are supported through summer orientation, mentorship, research and experiential learning, land- and community-connected activities, and sustained relationships with Indigenous scholars, Elders, and campus supports. This holistic framework recognizes that success in science is shaped by belonging, cultural grounding, and relational accountability, alongside academic preparation. This presentation explores how Wawatay contributes to Indigenous futures in science by addressing structural inequities and advancing community-driven approaches aligned with institutional reconciliation priorities (University of Manitoba, 2024–2029 Strategic Plan). As an Indigenous-led model grounded in place and relationship, Wawatay offers transferable insights for institutions seeking equitable, ethical, and future-facing science education.

Collective Resistance: Reflections on Cultivating and Sustaining Parallel Paths

Karla Boluk, Associate Professor, RLS, UW; Ellie Joseph, Co-founder Two Row on the Grand, Six Nations; Jaquie Jamieson, Senior Manager Six Nations Tourism, Six Nations; Aicha Smith-Belegaba, Founder of Esha's Eats, Six Nations; Kaity Adams, Entrepreneur Adam's Family Ink; Jaymieson O'Neil, PhD Candidate RLS, UW; Mahshad Akhoundoghli, PhD Student, RLS, UW ; Afrah Shaik, MA Student, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, UW

Two Row Wampum Covenant Chain Treaty is the oldest treaty signed between the Dutch and Haudenosaunee in the 1600s laying out principles of relationship building (Coleman, Debicki & Freeman, 2025). Grounded in Haudenosaunee principles of peace, friendship, and respect, our work challenges colonial research practices (Tuhai Smith, 2012) marginalizing Indigenous voices and privileging Western knowledge systems. While academia has readily adopted the rhetoric of reconciliation and Indigenization, implementation remains uneven, simultaneously promising and discouraging. Meaningful decolonization and Indigenization require what words alone cannot achieve: genuine, sustained collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples (Lewis, 2021). We take up Hill and Coleman’s (2019) principles inspired by the Two Row guiding healthy research partnerships as both our theoretical and methodological guide. Our collective practices demonstrate our resistance to contemporary colonial practices.

Our panel reflects on how the Two Row Wampum Covenant Chain Treaty provides an essential framework for engaging in decolonial Indigenization (Gaudry & Lorenz, 2018) at the University of Waterloo and beyond. Our panel reflects on experiences over three and a half years of traveling parallel paths, examining how we have sustained collective resistance and deepened our decolonial community-university partnership supporting Indigenous Futures. We draw on paddling metaphors to reflect on our personal transformations, scholarly contributions, and challenges along the way.

We have learned what it means to paddle together while honouring our distinct vessels. We have portaged our partnership through institutional barriers, carrying it over rough terrain (grant and manuscript writing). We have paddled upstream against colonial research currents, sustaining collective resistance even when the flow pushed us toward extractive approaches. We have found our collaborative rhythm in collaborative work, resulting in a shared publication (Vacalopoulos et al., 2025) and five grant applications (three secured through SSHRC). And we have rested in eddies, celebrating wins like our international invited talk (Smith-Belghaba, Boluk, & Shaik, 2025) before launching back into the current. Throughout, we have honored the Two Row teachings.