{"id":72611,"date":"2021-06-14T15:10:45","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T19:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=72611"},"modified":"2021-09-15T10:22:13","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T14:22:13","slug":"brock-researchers-to-work-with-indigenous-communities-to-name-spirit-bear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2021\/06\/brock-researchers-to-work-with-indigenous-communities-to-name-spirit-bear\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock researchers to work with Indigenous communities to name Spirit Bear"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE: Earlier this year, Brock University announced the creation of its first-ever\u00a0Indigenous Research Grant<\/a>. This is the first in a series of articles profiling the research of recipients under this internal award. To read more on the series, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

A new research project is underway to name Brock\u2019s Spirit Bear, meant to help further efforts of decolonization and reconciliation at the University.<\/p>\n

Funded by Brock\u2019s first-ever Indigenous Research Grant<\/a>, the project is led by Faculty of Education lecturer Stanley Henry, a PhD student from Trent University and community member from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.<\/p>\n

Henry is leading the naming of Brock\u2019s Spirit Bear with co-investigators Lyn Trudeau, a Brock Instructor in the Tecumseh Centre for Aboriginal Research and Education, and Richard Mitchell, a Professor in Brock\u2019s Department of Child and Youth Studies.<\/p>\n

Brock\u2019s Spirit Bear project began with an invitation from Cindy Blackstock<\/a>, the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society\u2019s\u00a0Executive Director and a renowned activist for Indigenous children\u2019s rights, during a 2020 colloquium hosted by Child and Youth\u00a0Studies graduate students<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As part of the Ambearrister program, host groups work with local Indigenous communities to organize the naming of their Spirit Bears.<\/p>\n

The research team will be following Haudenosaunee tradition and ways of knowing during Brock\u2019s Spirit Bear naming process, grounding the project in the culture of local Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a non-Indigenous faculty\u00a0member, my intention is to demonstrate there are many culturally respectful ways non-Indigenous faculty and students can address the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action, over a third of which concern Canadian educators,\u201d Mitchell said of the team\u2019s methodology.<\/p>\n

The research team will interview individuals who have helped to bring the Spirit Bear to Brock, collecting stories about the Spirit Bear and the implementation of decolonization and reconciliation at the University.<\/p>\n

The team will then analyze the research participants\u2019 stories with a Clan Mother from the local community who will gift the Spirit Bear with a Mohawk name.<\/p>\n

This process mimics the Haudenosaunee naming process where Clan Mothers would gift a name to a child based on stories collected from the child\u2019s journey to the physical world.<\/p>\n

Once a name has been gifted to the Spirit Bear, its name will be elevated during a community event that will be open to the Brock community. The event is expected to take place during the 2021-22 academic year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping the name itself will reverberate throughout the institution because that name carries with it the spirit of decolonization and reconciliation,\u201d said Henry.<\/p>\n

The naming process is just the beginning of the Spirit Bear\u2019s journey at Brock. As an Ambearrister, it will become part of the Brock community and promote work towards decolonization and reconciliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe presence of the Spirit Bear puts accountability on every person at Brock to see themselves as playing a role in that implementation of decolonization,\u201d Henry said. \u201cReconciliation and decolonization are part of Brock\u2019s Strategic Plan and engaging with Spirit Bear is one way all people are able to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research team hopes the Spirit Bear\u2019s story will help Brock students, staff and faculty to consider how they can respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada\u2019s Calls to Action.<\/p>\n

Spirit Bear\u2019s significance can be understood as a reminder of the ways Indigenous children have been targeted by Canada\u2019s most oppressive assimilationist policies such as the violent removal of children from their families to attend residential schools.<\/p>\n

“This research is important as it acknowledges both past harms because of residential schools as well as the impacts still present today,” Trudeau said.<\/p>\n

The residential school system has led to high rates of poverty, epidemics of mental health crises in many communities, and over-representation in foster care and the youth criminal justice systems. The remains of 215 Indigenous children were recently discovered<\/a> on the grounds of Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new research project is underway to name Brock\u2019s Spirit Bear, meant to help further efforts of decolonization and reconciliation at the University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":72612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9794,40,7,6833,1,5,38],"tags":[10417,98,10420,7547,10418,6778,9850,10416,10419],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72611"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72611"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74091,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72611\/revisions\/74091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}