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Indigenous education program, there should be more ceremony. We should be able to smudge whenever we come into the building. We should have an elder that we can talk to whenever". While Indigenous focused programs were seen as beneficial, young people shared concerns about the colonial nature of the institutions in which they are held. One youth stated "an Indigenized academy would not charge people to learn" and felt conflicted about the privileging of institutionalized Indigenous knowledge that is not made accessible to all community members. Young people also noted that Indigenous pedagogies are not text based, and are usually taught orally. The structure of most classrooms which conflict with Indigenous pedagogical models that honour individual gifts and capacities in the collective growth of community knowledge. They identified that even in programs where Indigenous knowledge or subject matter is taught, the manner in which is taught is still based on colonial methodologies. "The way we get tested on Indigenous knowledge is still colonial" Need for Decolonizing Approaches "Is it even possible to decolonize some of these places? These were put into place so we can be colonized" Indigenous students felt that they are often compromising their cultural ways of knowing and being in order to be part of colonial institutions. We spoke at length about decolonization, Indigenization, and what a supportive environment may look like for them. Among the groups, there was a consensus that "before we Indigenize, we need to decolonize first". While the path forward to decolonize was not so clear, there was an understanding that increasing Indigenous presence or incorporating Indigenous knowledge is a step in the right direction but not enough to make these spaces safe for Indigenous communities to genuinely thrive. Many also felt that Indigenization is often superficial, taking the form of murals and Tipi structures rather than in authentic partnership with local Indigenous communities. There is often a lack of awareness and accountability of colonial harm that is ongoing and instead a focus on the positive steps the institutions are taking to increase Indigenous presence on campuses and in organization. There is risk in Indigenizing without decolonizing; it invites more Indigenous people into places that have not done work to remove harmful systems of colonial harm, placing further potential risk on a greater population. Future Pathways Summit Report 17

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