A letter from Dr. Absolon
The Decolonizing Journeys project emerged out of the transformative sessions that participants were experiencing in the Decolonizing Education Certificate. Dr. Kathy Absolon launched this inaugural Certificate in 2017 and became a participant after facilitating the first two day training of Decolonizing Colonial History. The experience of stepping deeper into relationships within the circle was transformative for many who shared in the one-year series of sessions. The DEC sessions were facilitated by a number of stellar Indigenous facilitators and settler facilitators’ leading knowledge and dialogue circles. The experiences of decolonizing profoundly emerged with a desire to understand the process more and capture the “ah ha” moments and the turning points along the journey. Through this project we aim to capture, through circle work and digital stories, experiences of both facilitators and instructors of their “decolonizing journeys”. Our goal is to offer more understanding of the process of unpacking colonization at both personal and professional levels to better inform future projects, trainings, and the ongoing work of decolonization. As we grown in our understanding of this profound journey we will better be able to generate pathways toward engaging in truth and reconciliation that is grounded in authenticity, knowledge, understanding and action.
Decolonization is a verb calling us to action. To respond to that call, we must understand decolonizing as a journey. Both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action (62-65) and the recent National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada have outlined the critical importance of decolonizing and Indigenous knowledges in post-secondary education, but we know little about how this process will unfold. There is an emerging literature on shifts in settler consciousness and community-building with Indigenous peoples and a related literature that focuses on incorporating Indigenous knowledge content and pedagogy into education. However, this scholarship has not articulated the role and impact that Indigenous scholarship, methodologies, and mentorship (together known as 'Indigegogy') play in creating conditions for, and facilitating, journeys of decolonization. "Stories of Settler and Indigenous Educators on Decolonizing Journeys" centers Indigenous knowledges, practices, and philosophies to address this gap and better understand how Indigegogy disrupts colonial ignorance and shifts consciousness and actions.
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