Plan 2023-2028
Land Acknowledgment
Treaty Acknowledgment
Red Deer Polytechnic acknowledges that we learn and work on Treaty 7, Treaty 6 and Metis ancestral lands, the gathering place of many Indigenous peoples.
This is where we will strive to honour and transform our relationships with one another.
Red Deer Polytechnic recognizes that our campus is situated on Treaty 7 land, the traditional territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuut’ina and Stoney Nakoda peoples, and that the central Alberta region we serve falls under Treaty 6, traditional Métis, Cree and Saulteaux territory. We honour the First Peoples who have lived here since time immemorial, and we give thanks for the land where RDP sits. This is where we will strive to honour and transform our relationships with one another.
Red Deer Polytechnic Reconcili-Action Plan
Red Deer Polytechnic is committed to education as reconciliation through action.
02 – Land Acknowledgment 05 – Reconcili-Action 1: Open Hearts – Relationship Building
– Reconcili-Action 2: Open Doors – Accessible Education
– Reconcili-Action 3: Open Eyes – Our Role in Two-Eyed Seeing
– Reconcili-Action 4: Open Voices – Feedback for continuous improvement
– Contributors 15 – References
Open Hearts
We are intent on building meaningful reciprocal relationships between RDP and Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island, which involves resourcing engagement for long-term, long-lasting relationships.
Open Doors
We are committed to utilizing the RDP resources and network to create more pathways for Indigenous learners, which is about identifying and addressing barriers to post-secondary participation and learning.
Open Eyes
We honour and hold space for Indigenous Peoples, recognizing we are not observers of the relationship, but co-authors, participants, and students acting with critical intentionality.
Open Voices
We welcome discourse and the sharing of perspectives on our efforts to engage education and reconciliation as it is not just our path forward alone, which means we are invested in listening, growing and co-creating together.
Aaniin Âba Wathtech
Je aa haanché Oki Edláneťe Tânsi Háu Tawnshi Greetings
Reconcili-Action 1: Open Hearts – Relationship Building
We are intent on building meaningful, reciprocal relationships between RDP and Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island, which involves resourcing engagement for long-term, long-lasting relationships.
MEASURE
PLT participation in all-day visits with Indigenous leaders
1.1 RDP’s Polytechnic Leadership Team (PLT) will lead relationship building with Indigenous Peoples with equivalent effort and intention to other valued relationships, with a minimum commitment of one day per nation or group each academic year.
IMPACT: Centering relationships and respect, RDP invites and engages with Indigenous Peoples in the surrounding area to hear, respond and co-create reciprocal relationships.
2023/2024 FOCUS
• Sunchild First Nation
• O’Chiese First Nation
• Big Horn 144A reserve (Stoney Nakoda First Nation)
• Maskwacîs and Pigeon Lake communities:
° Louis Bull Tribe
° Samson Cree Nation
° Ermineskin Cree Nation
° Montana First Nation
• Métis Nation of Alberta
• Inuit communities
• Urban Aboriginal Voices Society
• Red Deer Native Friendship Centre
1.2 In collaboration with Indigenous Initiatives, Development and Partnerships will build capacity to facilitate RDP relationships with Indigenous nations, not as a gatekeeper, but as a hub for the institution’s external relations.
IMPACT: With humility and within the power of connection, RDP will journey alongside Indigenous Peoples, building trusting and continuous relationships.
MEASURE 2023/2024 FOCUS
Indigenous Relationship Navigator role designated in Development and Partnerships.
• Gap analysis of current capacity within External Relations
• Needs identified when introducing seven Indigenous nations and 100 Indigenous-owned corporations into Raiser’s Edge
• Job Information Questionnaire defined, approved
• Hiring processes complete
1.3 RDP will support Indigenous initiatives across the institution by including workload release hours for faculty and staff to engage in relationship building, aligned with an equitable relationship model.
IMPACT: Intentional engagement with Indigenous Peoples and cultures is who we are not just what we do. Through honoring the time and well-being of our institution community members, we are investing in creating ethical space for encounters and relationships.
1.4 With sensitivity for Indigenous protocols and cultural competency, RDP will, with respect, honour and coordinate the protocols and information regarding Indigenous partnerships and engagement including the internal coordination of who is connecting with whom, and which nations.
IMPACT: RDP is a committed ally, collaborator and celebrator of Indigenous culture, honouring our partners’ ways of knowing, being and doing.
1.5 RDP will adapt the existing partner/donor relationship-building precedent within Development and Partnerships to establish an ethical space in support of institutional relationships with Indigenous nations and individuals.
IMPACT: Indigenous relationships will be a priority for RDP.
RDP will conduct engagement with Indigenous nations to determine desired levels and outcomes of relationship-building activities and personalize planned visits to include more opportunities to serve through education.
IMPACT: RDP will act on what matters most, as shared by Indigenous Nations and groups.
RDP will celebrate the achievements of Indigenous students.
IMPACT: Student success is the guiding principle of RDP’s role in reconciliation.
Reconcili-Action 2: Open Doors – Accessible Education
We are committed to utilizing the RDP resources and network to create more pathways for Indigenous learners, which is about identifying and addressing barriers to post-secondary participation and learning.
2.1 RDP will move alongside Indigenous nations to define learning agreements – a mutually determined degree of academic engagement and support – with the seven regional Indigenous communities and five First Nations colleges.
IMPACT: Respectful, reciprocal relationships will become standard RDP approaches.
MEASURE 2023/2024 FOCUS
Learning Agreements, including transfer agreements, formalized
• O’Chiese First Nation
• Big Horn 144A reserve (Stoney Nakoda First Nation)
• Maskwacîs and Pigeon Lake communities:
° Louis Bull Tribe
° Samson Cree Nation
° Ermineskin Cree Nation
° Montana First Nation
• Métis Nation of Alberta
• Inuit communities
• Sunchild First Nation
• Maskwacîs Cultural College
• Old Sun Community College
• Red Crow Community College
• Yellowhead Tribal College
2.2 RDP will seek to understand the physical (i.e., digital equity, connectivity, reliable wifi, transportation, childcare, learning spaces), cultural (i.e., student supports, timelines), educational and financial barriers to post-secondary participation and work to increase Indigenous learner access and engagement.
IMPACT: More Indigenous learners register for and complete postsecondary studies.
2.3 To further equal access to quality post-secondary education for all learners, considering the effects of systemic barriers in the K-12 education system, RDP will offer fully funded registration for Indigenous students in academic upgrading courses and explore reserving seats for Indigenous learners in select programs.
IMPACT: More Indigenous learners access the courses required to enter and complete post-secondary studies.
2.4 RDP will expand scholarships, bursaries, and emergency funding sources for Indigenous learners.
IMPACT: More Indigenous learners will register for and complete postsecondary studies.
2.5 RDP will build Indigenous community on campus with affordable, accessible housing for Indigenous students.
IMPACT: More Indigenous learners will choose RDP for post-secondary as it is a space in which they belong and can be themselves, supported for academic success.
Indigenous Invitation to Collaborate
Tansi kitamiskatinawawa. Ninaskomon oma Kamamoyo-atoskatamah oma
Pimotahaywinkiskinamotowwin ohci. Oma meskanaw kawichito-yak tansisih-kesi Nisoteyha-ekwa kakanawapatamah Kakiya esi-tipastekwaw kiskinoma-tonah.
I greet you. I appreciate the opportunity to work together on this important journey of learning. The willingness and eagerness to partner by all. This path of engagement is us working together, how to synergize the importance of learning and to look at all parts as being interdependent to education.
(English translation of the Cree)
Reconcili-Action 3: Open Eyes – Our Role in Two-Eyed Seeing
We honour and hold space for Indigenous Peoples, recognizing we are not observers of the relationship, but co-authors, participants and students acting with critical intentionality.
3.1 RDP will invite Indigenous voices to represent traditional, community perspectives in institutional decision-making processes.
IMPACT: RDP will prioritize areas of greatest need.
3.2 With guidance from knowledge keepers and storytelling, RDP will define the intention, best practices, and proper institutional resources to engage Indigenous nations in a timely and appropriate way.
IMPACT: RDP will be a trusted partner in reconciliation.
3.3 RDP will explore the integration of Indigenous tools and resources into hiring practices and seek to increase the number of Indigenous faculty and staff.
IMPACT: Innovative integration of Indigenous Ways of Knowing.
3.4 RDP will implement a cultural competency training approach built on Teaching, Learning and Scholarship’s Indigenous education courses and practice in improving accessibility, relationships, and support to model allyship within the faculty, staff, and students of the Polytechnic.
IMPACT: RDP will be an informed partner in reconciliation.
Red Deer Polytechnic has made a commitment to Indigenous peoples, including:
• The recognition of Treaties
• Advancement of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
• Responsibility to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Through Indigenous Student Services and Initiatives at RDP, we collectively commit to action that will shape positive change.
3.5 RDP will create a resource to engage learners and industry partners on Indigenous perspectives and provide opportunities for students to learn from Elders and Knowledge Keepers, building relationships alongside the institution.
IMPACT: A network of real, authentic relationships grows through RDP.
3.6 RDP will uphold an ethical space for Indigenized research resulting in a recognition of internal bias and racial impacts; a commitment to uphold Indigenous ownership, control, access and possession of experiences; as well as an institutional definition of approved research artifacts to include Indigenous Ways of Knowing and acknowledgement of the land.
IMPACT: Respectful research built on relationship.
3.7 RDP will work with Indigenous nations to identify sensitive and informed ways to visually represent their distinct cultures on the Polytechnic’s campuses and compensate artists for commissioned art contributions.
IMPACT: RDP will be a champion of Indigenous cultural perspectives.
Reconcili-Action 4: Open Voices –Feedback for continuous improvement
We welcome discourse and the sharing of perspectives on our efforts to engage education and reconciliation as it is not just our path forward alone, which means we are invested in listening, growing and co-creating.
4.1 Seek ongoing connection with Indigenous nations and partners, reframing and reprioritizing Reconcili-Actions and decolonization when counsel is provided.
IMPACT: RDP will be a reliable, competent partner in reconciliation and decolonization.
4.2 Build a tool for consistent reflective practice in the performance enhancement process, exploring the co-creation of ethical space in individual practice to support faculty, staff, and leaders’ journeys of reconciliation and decolonization.
IMPACT: RDP will be a sincere and caring partner in personal reconciliation activities.
4.3 Implement an institutional Communication Plan regarding the Reconcili-Actions, inviting individualized application within Schools and Divisions.
IMPACT: RDP will model allyship through organizational reconciliation.
4.4 Seek feedback on the current Indigenous student experience, and update Reconcili-Actions based on needs.
IMPACT: RDP will be a trusted curator of education as reconciliation.
4.5 Create an anonymous intake for faculty and staff feedback on Indigenous initiatives related to the Reconcili-Action Plan.
IMPACT: Real feedback on the plan’s direction and implementation will be shared.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Special thanks to the consulting Indigenous people and First Nations who worked with us to identify key features of this strategy:
• RDP’s Indigenous students through Indigenous Initiatives
• Red Deer Native Friendship Society
• Sunchild First Nation
• Montana First Nation
• Ermineskin First Nation
• Big Horn 144A reserve (Stoney Nakoda First Nation)
• Shining Mountains Community Living Services
• Urban Aboriginal Voices Society
• Métis Local 492
Gratitude for the members of the RDP community and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Indigenous Working Group who, together, prepared this plan:
• Lloyd Desjarlais – Director, Indigenous Initiatives
• Teena Dickerson – Learning Designer, Centre of Teaching, Learning and Scholarship
• Cherie Cardinal – Accessibility Coordinator, Division of Student Success
• Pamela Neumann – Red Hot Science Outreach Coordinator/Instructor, Donald School of Business, Science and Computing / School of Arts and Education
• Constance Gallant – Alumni Annual Fund Officer, Philanthropy and Alumni Relations
• Melissa Haase – Instructor, School of Arts and Education
• Patricia Marshall – Indigenous Learning Designer and Scholar, Centre of Teaching, Learning and Scholarship
• Stephane Perreault – Instructor, School of Arts and Education
• Brenda Desjarlais – Indigenous Counsellor, Division of Student Success
• Katelyn Ruiz – Planning and Reporting Specialist, Institutional Planning
Deep appreciation for the Nursing 425 student researchers who completed the initial project as a foundation for this strategy.
• Chalan Sawatzky
• Allyson K. Sawchuk
REFERENCES:
1. The idea of “Reconcili-ACTION” is shaped by the distinct scholarship and advocacy of Chief Wilton Littlechild of the Maskwacis Cree Nation and Algonquin Elder Claudette Commanda.
2. “Two-Eyed Seeing” refers to “Etuaptmumk,” a Mi’kmaw word describing efforts to see the world through both Indigenous ways of knowing and the European lens.
3. “Ethical Spaces” is used in the way Willie Ermine speaks about how two societies with disparate worldviews can respectfully engage with each other.
Red Deer Polytechnic
100 College Boulevard | Box 5005
Red Deer | Alberta | Canada | T4N 5H5
Phone: 403.342.3400
Toll Free: 1.888.732.4630
Email: inquire@rdpolytech.ca
rdpolytech.ca/indigenous