The American Indian Science and Engineering Society at Michigan Technological University would like to issue a public statement in regard to the canceled event, Guidance for (Land) Acknowledgements within Ojibwa Homelands, that was to occur on November 30, 2023, at 5PM in the Walker Arts and Humanities Center. It is with great disappointment that we share with our friends, families, colleagues, and communities the lack of inclusion of us, Indigenous people and students, in this event and past events that discuss Indigenous-related issues and topics. Events like this one, allegedly designed to create an environment that fosters Indigenous inclusivity, oftentimes fail to bring Indigenous people and students to the table when we should be the ones included at every step of the process. Instead, these events are led by self-appointed non-Indigenous allies who take it upon themselves to present information that is not theirs to present.
This is an abbreviated timeline that provides a glimpse into the events of the past month. If you need more context, refer to the attached letter.
It is deeply unfortunate to inform you of the perpetual exclusion of Indigenous voices that occurs here within the ivory towers of this institution. Furthermore, we want it to be known that the few times Indigenous Peoples have been invited into events, it has led to them being tokenized–taken advantage of for their knowledge, abused, and extracted to the point of exhaustion. Our Indigenous knowledge–our sacred stories, teachings, and data–have been unethically stolen by non-Indigenous scholars. These were people whom we were made to feel that we could trust; yet, they continuously bastardize our sacred knowledges by teaching it to settler students without the approval or direct involvement of a community of Indigenous knowledge holders. In fact, non-Indigenous scholars who misappropriate Indigenous knowledge and cultural practices have allowed their classrooms and events to be spaces for others to misappropriate and behave unethically.
We, the Indigenous students of Michigan Technological University, are issuing this statement because we have an obligation to prevent further harm to Indigenous Peoples and our respective communities. The following information about the event coordinators can be found below–information that is both public knowledge and provided by the presenters. We invite the community to direct their questions and concerns to the event coordinators below:
Kendall Belopavlovich (they/them)
Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture Ph.D. Candidate
Institute for Policy, Ethics and Culture (IPEC) Graduate Research Assistant
[email protected]
Val Gagnon (she, her, kith, kin)
Director, University-Indigenous Community Partnerships, Great Lakes Research Center
Assistant Professor, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Humanities
[email protected]
Stefka Hristova (she/her)
Associate Professor of Digital Media, Humanities
Policy, Ethics, and Culture Tech Forward/Institute for Policy, Ethics, and Culture (IPEC) Director
Faculty in Communication, Culture, and Media
[email protected]
Cassandra Reed-VanDam (she/her)
MS Student, Applied Ecology
[email protected]
Erika Vye
Geosciences Research Scientist, Great Lakes Research Center
[email protected]
We did not wish to air our grievances in this manner, but we have elected to do so to prevent continued harm to Indigenous students and their respective communities. Michigan Tech and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community are partners; Michigan Tech is not a part of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
Furthermore, we invite the Michigan Technological University community and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community to have a serious discussion about the University-Indigenous Community Partnerships. This partnership, which has been used to extract culturally significant knowledge from the community for misuse and misappropriation by researchers, is worthy of being examined. This should not be allowed to continue. We implore the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community to examine if this partnership benefits both their community and the Michigan Tech campus community. It is imperative that we prevent further damage to our students and respective communities, especially if we want to build positive relationships between the university and our tribal communities. As our administrators, colleagues, and friends, we hold your thoughts with respect and the utmost regard, and we invite you to acknowledge our concerns and provide your support in anyway you see fit.
We look forward to hearing from you.