Wilfrid Laurier University and Six Nations Polytechnic (SNP) have a long history of collaboration.
Although the two schools have worked closely together for around 30 years, they recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to “strengthen academic ties to better serve Indigenous peoples in Ontario,” according to a news release.
It’s one of the ways Laurier is trying to use its “power and privilege as a Western institution” to “support, build and enhance the capacity of an Indigenous institute,” Darren Thomas, the school’s associate vice-president of Indigenous initiatives, said.
“We’re not responsible for some of the historic wrongs (that have) been done in Canada with Indigenous folks, but we are certainly in a position to restore and reconcile,” he said.
SNP is Haudenosaunee-governed and recognized by the province as a “third pillar” of post-secondary education, alongside colleges and universities, SNP president and CEO Rebecca Jamieson told The Spectator.
It celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2023.
In 2016, SNP became ministry-accredited to offer a bachelor of arts in Ogwehoweh (“Original People”) languages. It was the first university degree in Indigenous languages in Ontario — and perhaps the world, according to the SNP website.
The school also offers standalone trades programs in welding, machining and cooking — most of which are tuition-free for qualified applicants, dependent on government funding — and a STEM Academy for high school students.
All the programs are taught through an Indigenous lens, but are open to anyone who wants to learn there, Jamieson told The Spectator.
“And the feedback we get from the non-Indigenous students is that they love it, because that humanizes the learning more … because there’s the focus on humanity and relationships,” she said.
But because new programs can take years to be developed and accredited, if another college or university already has the accreditation and is open to partnering with SNP, it can help fill immediate gaps in the labour market.
For instance, SNP offers programs for in-demand careers like early-childhood education and social-service workers, which are delivered by teachers at SNP, but the accreditation comes from a partner college, like Mohawk or Niagara.
Another stream at SNP allows students to take a first year of courses at the Six Nations campus, and they can apply to transfer the credits and finish their studies at one of six consortium universities — including McMaster and Laurier.
For its part, Laurier’s Brantford campus offers its own Indigenous content, like a master of social work. It’s the first of its kind in Canada, blending Indigenous modalities of healing with contemporary social work, according to the school’s website.
The school continues to work to create a place for Indigenous students, staff and faculty, as well as innovative degree programs and partnerships with Indigenous organizations and communities.
“We’re looking at trying to start a research institute to support and enhance Indigenous community capacity,” because the population health data for Indigenous folks “remains poor,” Thomas said.
He’d like to see a faculty of law, a full degree in Indigenous studies, and a program that would mentor Indigenous students into graduate studies, “because there’s just so few Indigenous PhDs,” Thomas told The Spectator.
While future collaborations between Laurier and SNP are still “in a dream stage,” the MOU is the “first step” in agreeing to work together with a respect for each other’s autonomy, Thomas said.
