Let’s take a look at what Indigenous digital literacy in community-based learning looks like:

• Understanding and following protocols:
  • Land acknowledgement
  • Introductions
  • Open and closing sharing circles
• Collaboration—spending time with each other/emphasis on connection to the group
• Creating a sense of community/building relationships
• Placing Indigenous Traditional Knowledges at the centre of projects
• Including Indigenous ways of knowing and being in research projects, assignments, and instructor presentations
• Weaving the concept of interconnectivity into the course
• Valuing communal over individualistic
• Making room for Indigenous role models, Knowledge Keepers, Elders, and community members
• Transferring knowledge through story
• Developing capstone projects to show learning (vs. testing)
• Providing choice and flexibility in learning activities
• Using local resources and context
• Validating Indigenous Traditional Knowledges by placing them alongside Western knowledge as equal
• Establishing a relationship; business will follow
• Being flexible and open to input; your thoughts may not be final
• Engaging before starting a project to ensure you are working with informed consent
• Engaging often and with good intention
• Understand the history, culture, worldviews, and the challenges and strengths of each community you want to work with
• Respecting that your project needs are less important to the community leaders than the needs of their community members
• Respecting that community leaders take into consideration the Seven Generations Principle when making decisions on projects

Guiding principles for community collaboration

Remember these guiding principles in community-based learning for Indigenous digital literacy:

• Recognition of relationships with the land
• Respect for land claims, Treaties, and recognition of the self-determination of Indigenous nations
• Relationships built on trust
• Collaboration and shared decision-making
• Open communication
• Transparency and accountability
• Reciprocity and shared benefits and interests
• Respect for and openness to Indigenous Traditional Knowledges, culture and perspectives
• Adherence to Indigenous Governance models for data

Fundamental concepts

Remember these key fundamental concepts in community-based learning for Indigenous digital literacy:

• Free, prior, informed consent
• Openness
• Follow Communication Protocols
• Engage early and often
• Trust
• Honesty
• Be respectful and mindful of Indigenous Peoples, protocols, and priorities
• Partnership
• Build a trusting relationship first, and business will follow

How can we take all these tools and incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing into your course with limited knowledge of Indigenous cultures?

Through action:

• Involve Indigenous community members, Elders, faculty, and leaders.
• Determine the level of consultation required from Indigenous community.
• Work together to determine the consultation process.
• Develop knowledge of local and regional First Nations and other Indigenous groups whose language, traditions, and cultural practices emerge from the land.
• Understand that Indigenous Traditional Knowledges come from the collective and are passed down in the oral tradition. Therefore, we must acknowledge the Nation whose knowledge it comes from.

Learning to build relationships with Indigenous communities takes time. To begin action toward reconciliation, we suggest some questions to ask yourself:

• What do I realize that I don’t know?
• How can I contribute to change in my community or workplace?
• How can I teach or learn about Canada’s relationship with Indigenous Peoples?
• How can I build meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities?
• What world do I want our children to inherit? How can I make this happen?
• How do I engage with an Elder or Knowledge Keeper?