Indigenous Elders’ wisdom and dominionization in higher education: barriers and facilitators to decolonisation and reconciliation

Abstract

Decolonisation in higher education requires congruent social processes that support human rights and inclusive knowledge generation. While often discussed, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s. Calls to Action, and similar reports published over several decades, have yet to disrupt existing power structures and shift government or popular relations with Indigenous peoples. To explore why reconciliation seems to be idling, we sought local Indigenous Elders’ guidance, who in addition to offering support, advised a westernised research method combined with decolonised knowledge mobilisation to satisfy the ‘two worlds’ of academic expectations and Indigenous community needs. Subsequently, we undertook a grounded theory study with academics from a Canadian university. Interviews and surveys revealed the social process of dominionization, the entrenched ownership of expertise that maintains westernised academic privilege over decolonisation efforts. Before seeing these results, the Elders prayed together and shared observations presaging researchers’ findings. Elders expressed how their guidance is rarely treated as relevant. This paper provides insight to the social processes that obstruct and support decolonisation in the academy and begins to explore how social innovation through co-learning and meaningful consultation with Elders raises opportunities for positive disruption.