Overview
We recognize that our teaching and research are rooted in Western thought and practice, which have unjustly excluded Indigenous ways of knowing. In our Faculty of Science, discussion and reflection, although nascent, are elucidating the powerful perspectives that Indigenous science could impart to both research and the curriculum. In this, we are guided by the Indigenous Strategy Directions report from the McMaster University Indigenous Education Council and McMaster Indigenous Research Institute.
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“The Faculty of Science is a critical point of intersection between reaffirming or disrupting historically negative experiences of Indigenous peoples within Western educational institutions. The Calls to Action outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission stress that, ‘educational institutions are key to reconciliation because of what they have taught, or failed to teach, over many generations… education must remedy the gaps in historical knowledge that perpetuate ignorance and racism’.
Along with the TRC Calls to Action, the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) can provide direction when striving to decolonize and indigenize Western educational policies and practices. Ultimately, the Mission is to recognize the ways Indigenous knowledges are suppressed or excluded from the Faculty of Science and serve the Indigenous community in a mutually respectful and rights-based approach, as Indigenous peoples have been limited by institutional and epistemic racism.”
-Brooke Fearns & Sage Hartmann
Learn more about how students have helped inform and collaborate on the Faculty of Science strategic plan
Initiatives
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National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
On Saturday, 30th September, 2023 we commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and Orange Shirt Day.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is will hosting Celestial Bear shows on September 27th and September 30th for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at the W. J. McCallion Planetarium. All funds from ticket sales will go to a local Indigenous non-profit organization.
The Department of Biology is hosting a seminar by Dr. Chelsea Gabel on Métis Digital Storytelling: Making the invisible visible. The talk will place at 4:00PM in HSC Rm 1A05 on Thursday Sept. 28. All are welcome.
There are a number of campus and community events organized in support of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is hosting free, online, daily lunch and learns (1:30pm EST) during the week of September 25th. Register and learn more here.
“Truth and Reconciliation begins with education”: A message from the President
Check out CBC Kids for children and youth-oriented resources!
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Art Installation By Natalie King Learn More About Natalie
The vision of the proposed art installation initiative is to further advance the Indigenous Education Council’s (IEC) Indigenous Education & Research Strategy, the Faculty of Science Indigenous Priorities & Initiatives Framework, and the TRC Calls to Action (Calls 8-14). Through this initiative, the Faculty of Science will demonstrate its commitment to transform the educational environment to better support Indigenous staff, faculty, and students.
We are grateful and excited to be working with Natalie King, a queer interdisciplinary Anishinaabe (Algonquin) artist, facilitator and member of Timiskaming First Nation. Natalie’s art will installed in the front entrance of the Burke Science Building in the new year.
Photograph by Samuel Engelking
Discussions on Indigenous Science
At the 2022 Spring Faculty of Science retreat, we heard from Dr. Jessica Hernandez, author of “Fresh Banana Leaves” and a Binnizá & Maya Ch’orti’ scholar and interdisciplinary scientist based in the Pacific Northwest. We also learnt from Sarah Howdle, PhD candidate, about the Prison Education Project led by Prof. Savage Bear, Director of the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute. The Prison Education Project increases access to post-secondary education for incarcerated Indigenous peoples, and includes the Walls to Bridges Program, which brings University courses into correctional settings.
We are also learning from, and partnering with student advocates like Brooke Fearns, an Anishinaabe Yr. V student in Human Behaviour Program and celebrating the success of alumni such as Alexander Young, a Métis, visual storyteller and graduate of the iSci program and Jordan Carrier, a Plains Cree Woman and prominent Hamilton resident and community organizer. Perspectives by Prof. Robert Cockcroft and Prof. Gita Ljubicic highlight the knowledge gained from Indigenous scholars and collaborators in fields ranging from Indigenous astronomy to community engaged research for northern sustainability.