Partnering with Indigenous communities

Text on screen: [Universities Canada logo]

Text on screen: [In conversation with Ralph Nilsen President Vancouver Island University]

Text on screen: [Partnering with First Nations]

Ralph Nilsen, president, Vancouver Island University

What I’m pleased to see happen at our institution is the young people coming out of the communities bringing their language, bringing their tradition, bringing their history and their art. That art is where the laws are of that historical loss.  Coming in and expecting the university to provide a place for that dialogue to happen.

We’re now starting and initiating different institutes; different opportunities to make sure that a lot of the history, whether it be pre-Confederation history or indeed history back a couple of thousand years because it’s a part of the dialogue of our institution.  What gets enriched is not only these young people feel themselves owning the place but we’ve got the elders who we appoint as faculty members and they’re bringing their knowledge and willingly sharing it.  The kind of welcome that now is starting to develop; the kind of dialogue that’s starting to develop is extremely exciting.

Text on screen: [UniversitiesCanada. The voice of Canada’s Universities archives.univcan.ca]