NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Being an indigenous academic in Canada can be a frustrating experience, according to PhD candidate Crystal Fraser.
Inuvik-born Crystal Fraser cuts whitefish at her family's fish camp along the Mackenzie River, at Diighet'tr'aajil. Fraser, who is a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, recently went to social media to write about her experiences with racism in Canadian academia. - photo courtesy of Itai Katz |
While at the helm of @IndigenousXca, a Twitter account that gives indigenous Canadians a platform to share their stories and opinions with a wider audience, Fraser published a series of 10 tweets on the subject.
The account gets a new host every week and the Gwich'in PhD candidate, who was born in Inuvik, took on the job May 21 to 28.
"As a university-trained historian, I am immersed in a world of white privilege and work (with) colleagues who reproduce colonial sentiment," reads her first tweet of the essay.
Fraser is working towards a PhD in Canadian history at the University of Alberta.
Her dissertation, which has not yet been published, is titled, "Making them into nice white kids:" Residential institutions, education and indigenous resistance in the Inuvik Region, NWT 1950s to 1996.
She also has a bachelor of arts in European history and a master's degree in Canadian history.
While in pursuit of higher education, Fraser says she has experienced and witnessed indigenous marginalization and systemic racism in universities.
One example Fraser gave in her Twitter essay was from when she took her master's degree.
She had a professor who looked to her, the lone indigenous person in the class, to provide the "aboriginal perspective."
It was a lot of pressure, Fraser told News/North.
"There are over 600 First Nations and that does not include the wide variety of Inuit and Metis communities so I found that some kind of burden had been placed on me as an indigenous student that wasn't there for other students," she said.
She also remembers being told during an undergrad course that Alberta "has no aboriginal history."
"So we focused on white (people) that semester," Fraser tweeted.
The University of Alberta sits on Treaty 6 land.
Fraser's tweets prompted others to share their own experiences of racism and marginalization in academia.
Surprisingly, Fraser said, she didn't receive any backlash and in fact received a lot of positive feedback.
Change is going to happen when people start having the hard conversations and this was a step in that direction, she said.
However, Fraser was quick to add that not all indigenous people feel oppressed or burdened by racist discourse.
"By talking about these issues, it's not my intention to bring others down, but rather to hold people (and academics) accountable for what we think, do and say. To take a hard look at society and see how we can change it for the better. If anything, I think it's wonderful that so many indigenous people are successful in many different areas but that doesn't mean that we should stop talking about historical trauma or how we still live in a colonial country."
Fraser said she's had numerous discussions with academics and people outside academia where she's pushed them to reconsider or clarify an offensive statement they've made.
Often people don't realize they're being offensive, said Fraser.
"But I also think just not knowing isn't good enough. I'm not satisfied with that," she continued.
"I think as Canadians we have a responsibility to know what land you live on, if it's Treaty 6, if it's Treaty 8 and also the history of your surroundings. So are there reserves close by? Does this region have a history of residential schools?"
There is an even greater responsibility for academics because they are educators, she continued.
She hopes to see more indigenous people enter academia to elevate the conversation.
"I think we need these kinds of people to interrupt these kinds of conversations that are going on in isolation such as how to break into (indigenous) communities," said Fraser.
As an example, she recalled a recent Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) meeting on how to successfully apply for funding on indigenous research where a non-indigenous faculty member asked that question.
In this instance the conversation was quickly redirected but this attitude isn't uncommon, said Fraser.
She, on the other hand, took direction from her community and settled on residential schools as a topic because that's what people wanted.
She's traveled North three to four times a year for the past five years and held community meetings to get input.
When she started writing her dissertation, she made a trip to communities in the Beaufort Delta to find out if she was on the right track "and basically say, 'Have I got this right? The conclusions I came to in this chapter, what do you think about those?'
"And I really think that kind of approach needs to be more widespread in academia," she said.
Fraser understands it's expensive to travel to and do research in the North but believes if someone is committed they'll find a way.
"It's a matter of priority," she said.
Crystal Fraser's twitter essay
Shared on @IndigenousXca
1. As a university-trained historian, I am immersed in a world of white privilege and work w/ colleagues who reproduce colonial sentiment.
2. During undergrad: senior professor tells me that Alberta "has no aboriginal history." So we focused on white ppl that semester.
3. During MA: only Indigenous person in class and professor called on me each and every time to "get the Aboriginal perspective."
4. Recent SSHRC meeting, faculty member asks how to "break into" Indigenous communities when they don't want research in 1st place.
5. When someone thinks you're white & makes racist jokes. Then they apologize profusely. Yes, this happens in "higher" centres of learning.
6. Fact: almost every conference paper I write, I have to assume the majority of my audience is white & clueless about Indigenous ppl.
7. The fact that white historians write books like this one (#Idlenomore and the making of Canada by Ken Coates), making their careers & benefitting from Indigenous ppl.
8. I presented a paper at a REDress panel about indigenous marginalization at universities - lots of squirming in seats, some ppl left.
9. I have nowhere to go on campus where I can safely express my culture. New science/medicine buildings, no First Peoples' House.
10. 95% of time, Indigenous ppl are not thanked for welcoming us on their land. Sometimes only done when organizers know we'll be present.
Source: Twitter
