Students host Indigenous advocacy roundtable with both academic and personal perspectives

Hosted by five students in Dr. Jenny Peterson’s Issues in International Conflict Management class, an Indigenous advocacy roundtable yesterday discussed the representation of Indigenous students in the AMS as well as the ongoing challenges of reconciliation across campus and Canada.

Intended to be a way to apply academic concepts in a practical setting, the event featured two speakers, economics professor Dr. Catharine Douglas and third-year mature student Rodney Little Mustache. A member of the Piikani Nation of the Niitsitapi Confederacy, Little Mustache ran for AMS President this year on a platform of increasing Indigenous engagement on campus and also previously advocated for creating an AMS Indigenous committee.

Organizers hoped that the speakers would create a dual perspective by drawing upon both academic and personal experiences.

“We were very eager to find people who actually are Indigenous and can actually speak on their experiences as well as academic people who can speak on their work,” said organizer Johanna Link, a fourth-year political science student on exchange from Germany.

“It’s important to see where we as academics can contribute to the discussion and actually do something ourselves.”

Douglas began the roundtable by discussing traditional Indigenous trade structures, noting that economics can be a powerful tool for identifying patterns of societal neglect.

“In economics ... we are asking ourselves why some societies are thriving and why some societies aren’t,” Douglas told The Ubyssey. “Here we have in our own country a long history of neglect of the situation of Indigenous people.”

She also highlighted the significant cultural contributions of Indigenous people to contemporary Canadian history, particularly Tsleil-Waututh Nation Chief Dan George’s Lament for Confederation.

Her talk was followed by a performance by Squamish and Kwakiutl dancer Rebecca Baker, who is also a UBC alumnus.

“We understand the issues we are trying to tackle are problematic and are very deep-set,” said organizer Vasu Jalan, a third-year international relations student. “But we want to look at progress, and celebrating this culture is something very positive that we want to add to this event.”

Little Mustache concluded the event by presenting a letter written to AMS President-elect Marium Hamid, VP External-elect Cristina Ilnitchi and VP Academic Max Holmes.

Entitled “The Year Ahead,” the letter contains what he called a reflection on “four years of talking to Indigenous students.” It outlines 13 points — among them are the establishment of an elected Indigenous Affairs VP Academic position, the declaration of 2020 as the year of Indigenous students and a renewed focus on Indigenous consultation and representation within student government services.

“For four years, I sat at debates about First Nations issues where First Nations people were not represented,” said Little Mustache. “That’s why I ran … for us to finally have our voices heard.”

One point suggests the creation of a Ubyssey Indigenous Affairs editor, but the AMS has no influence over the newspaper’s structure because they are independent from each other.

Little Mustache also shared his personal experiences as an Indigenous Two-Spirit person on campus and during a time he lived in the Downtown Eastside. He ended his speech by announcing that he would be “stepping back” from his leadership role in Indigenous advocacy.

“Today, I feel that this is your work now,” he said. “It’s this generation that’s going to have a hard time dealing with this change.”

Little Mustache later explained to The Ubyssey that his “stepping back” does not signal an end to his activism but an understanding that it will require collective action to realize Indigenous engagement and reconciliation on campus.

“I put it out there into the universe, it’s up to the universe to decide,” he said.

“It’s for the AMS and the Indigenous students to work on it together now. Because if they don’t, I see them failing at reconciliation.”

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