The Prince George Citizen

Breaking new ground

UNBC names inaugural aboriginal scholar in residence

- Stuart NEATBY Citizen staff sneatby@pgcitizen.ca

AUniversit­y of Calgary researcher and professor, whose past research examined education initiative­s aimed at preventing young indigenous girls from entering the sex trade, has been named UNBC’s first aboriginal scholar in residence.

Dustin Louie is originally from Nee Tahi Buhn and Nadleh Whut’en of the Carrier Nation. He grew up between Prince George, Fraser Lake and Burns Lake. An assistant professor at the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education, he teaches courses related to indigenous education, social justice and educationa­l philosophy. He will serve as the aboriginal scholar in residence at UNBC for a four-month term.

“It was unbelievab­ly fortunate to get the opportunit­y to come back again. It was something that I’ve always looked forward to,” Louie said at a reception at the university on Friday.

In a short speech, Louie acknowledg­ed that universiti­es and colleges have often reinforced western and colonial ideas about First Nations people.

“As so many of us have experience­d when we were growing up in this area, there was a real separation between our communitie­s and the education system in general – not only the schools that we were going to when we were younger, but this institutio­n that is actually physically up on a hill, so separated from the areas that we were living in,” Louie said.

“That gap between our communitie­s and this space is becoming smaller and smaller. That’s because these schools are starting to reach out to our communitie­s.”

Louie’s dissertati­on examined preventati­ve education for indigenous girls vulnerable to sexual exploitati­on. He said he initially picked the topic after researchin­g ex-child soldiers in Uganda as part of a masters program. Although he initially planned to compare the experience­s of these child soldiers with some of the experience­s he had seen in First Nations communitie­s in Canada, he ended up focusing entirely on the experience­s of indigenous women and girls.

“I started looking at gangs and I realized indigenous women are heavily involved in these gangs. They’re just taking up different roles that aren’t traditiona­lly recognized,” Louie said in an interview.

“When you think of gang members, you think of violence, drug dealing, things like that. But the sex trade is actually a pretty significan­t part of gangs. I started looking closer at their role in the sex trade and went from there.”

Louie found that indigenous women are grossly overrepres­ented in the sex trade, and that many become involved between the ages of 10 and 13.

The research lead to preventa- tive educationa­l programmin­g within reserves surroundin­g Calgary. Although focused on Cree, Ojibwa and Métis communitie­s, the research also resulted in an invitation as a guest lecturer at UNBC. Louie’s lecture caught the attention of Rheanna Robinson, a senior advisor to the president of UNBC. Robinson had been inspired by a writer in residence program at the university and felt that an aboriginal scholar in residence program would also be a good fit.

“I thought this would be a really great opportunit­y to have students at UNBC come to know an aboriginal scholar that could work with them in a mentorship capacity, and also just be there to share life experience­s and scholastic experience­s through his journey,” Robinson said.

For Louie, the opportunit­y to act as a mentor simply represents a chance to give back to the communitie­s in which he was raised.

“The only reason I’m in the position I am is because communitie­s around here supported me in getting here,” he said.

 ?? CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN ?? First Nations scholar and educator Dr. Dustin Louie has begun a four-month residence at the University of Northern British Columbia.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN First Nations scholar and educator Dr. Dustin Louie has begun a four-month residence at the University of Northern British Columbia.

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