Indigenous students want own student union
Advocates want new group to counter ‘stale’ efforts at reconciliation on campus
It’s about being able to have a platform for our authentic Indigenous student voice to be heard.
Indigenous student leaders at the University of Saskatchewan want to establish an independent and autonomous students’ union they say will better meet the needs of First Nations, Metis and Inuit students on campus.
The Indigenous Students’ Council (ISC), which represents around 2,500 students, last week took aim at the university’s “stale” efforts toward reconciliation and urged its members to stop participating in them.
On Monday, the ISC’s president and representatives of three other student groups called on university administrators to recognize the proposed Indigenous Students’ Union (ISU), which they said will amplify Indigenous voices.
“It’s about being able to have a platform for our authentic Indigenous student voice to be heard,” ISC president Regan Ratt-Misponas told reporters Monday following a news conference at the Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre.
“Right now, under the current system that we’re operating in, we don’t have that opportunity to do so,” she said.
“So we don’t have the opportunity to truly participate in discussions of Indigenization and reconciliation.”
The university’s vice-provost of Indigenous engagement said she has had positive meetings with the ISC and other groups, adding the university supports student groups looking to formalize their governance structures and respects student autonomy.
“We are listening. We want to understand specific concerns and take steps toward positive change wherever possible,” Jackie Ottman, who spoke with reporters on Monday, wrote in a followup email.
Gabrielle Lee, who represents the Food Sovereignty Association, said the ISU would be an answer to discrimination and inequalities.
An Indigenous Graduate Students’ Council representative said it would bring together disparate groups.
“All of our students have the right to participate in these conversations, and that’s coming from a different structure,” Iloradanon Efimoff told reporters, adding without a students’ union those groups cannot communicate in a meaningful way.
Ratt-Misponas said while many of the details have yet to be worked out, Indigenous student leaders hope the ISU would be funded by fees paid by Indigenous students. It’s not clear if students who selfidentify as Indigenous would be able to join.
“We remain committed to Indigenization and reconciliation and we will continue to work with the Indigenous student body in any way we can,” University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union president David D’Eon said in a statement.
Ottman acknowledged there is “always room for improvement” as the institution works toward reconciliation, but said this represents an opportunity for the U of S — which rolled out its Indigenization mandate in 2015 — to be a leader.
“When a movement or institution is moving towards a particular objective or goal or vision, it’s not necessarily a straight line. There are moments within that process where you run into struggle,” Ottman said.
Lee acknowledged the proposal’s timing is not ideal, coming weeks after two white men were acquitted of murder in the deaths of two Indigenous people.
Gerald Stanley was acquitted in the death of Colten Boushie and Raymond Cormier was acquitted in the death of Tina Fontaine.
At the same time, she said, the aftermath of both verdicts — which included massive rallies in cities across the country and public debate about discrimination in the justice system — suggests Indigenous people want to contribute solutions.
“That is, I feel, going to come from giving Indigenous students a legitimate framework for reconciliation.”