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Task Force Recommendation: An Office of Indigenous Initiatives

In September 2017, ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ announced the creation of the Office of Indigenous Initiatives (OII). The creation of the office came as a result of one of the recommendations from the Queen’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Task Force Final Report. The Office of Indigenous Initiatives facilitates and coordinates university-wide initiatives in support of the recommendations provided in the Yakwanastahentéha Aankenjigemi Extending the Rafters: Truth and Reconciliation Commission Task Force Final Report (PDF 4.1 MB).

"Reconciliation is not something that government can legislate into reality and it’s not something Indigenous people can force on the rest of Canada. Every person in Canada—every citizen, every immigrant, every refugee, and every visitor—is responsible for Reconciliation."

Senator Murray Sinclair
Former Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Canada (Indigenous Innovation, 2019)

According to Dr. Kim Anderson, reconciliation is about Land, Language and Kinship. This is particularly true for Indigenous Peoples, many of whom have been displaced from their homelands over history; those who have lost their languages due to residential schools and government policies and churches; and those who have become distanced from their traditional forms of kinship and relationships, also due to displacement and the residential schools system. Generations of people have been effected by the residential school system and are still finding their way back to their original teachings.

As we have come to understand it Reconciliation is primarily the work of Canadians, as Justice Sinclair stated. Resurgence is largely the work of Indigenous Peoples who work on reclaiming and reviving our languages, cultures; our ways of knowing and being. The juncture of the two is the work of decolonizing and Indigenizing – of unlearning and relearning and that is the work encouraged and supported by the Office of Indigenous Initiatives.

What does reconciliation mean?

Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of our community have different roles to play in the truth and reconciliation landscape.

Whereas non-Indigenous visitors may be seeking resources and guidance that support reconciliation efforts and activities from the OII website, to an Indigenous visitor, conversations around the concept of resurgence may be more important. But for both groups, dialogue around land, language and kinship, the themes will be important to outline and support.

Where and how these groups intersect in our community forms the basis for discussion and action around decolonization and (in the long-term) Indigenization – of our curriculum, of the campus culture, of our spaces, of our support services.

Representing. Reflecting. Welcoming. Creating. Learning.

Themes that guide the work of truth and reconciliation at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ also guide the Office of Indigenous Initiatives as it seeks to:

• Build reciprocal and respectful relationships with local Indigenous communities.
• Promote curricular enhancement and research excellence in the areas of Indigenous histories and contemporary issues, guiding and supporting faculties looking to incorporate Indigenous histories and perspectives into curriculum.
• Support researchers engaging with Indigenous peoples and communities through collaborations with School of Graduate Studies (SGS), Office of the VP Research (VPR), University Research Services (URS) and other portfolios and units that shape the campus research infrastructure.
• Work with Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre to streamline the coordination of Indigenous services and programs for students.
• Work with other faculty/academic stakeholders, such as colleagues in the Aboriginal Access to Engineering program (Applied science and Engineering), ATEP (Education), Health Sciences, Arts & Science, Law, and Business.
• Build an understanding, across the Queen’s community, of the histories and perspectives of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, with a particular focus on the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee, on whose traditional lands Queen’s University sits.