Successful international leadership will increasingly require deeper understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing, according to some leaders in New Zealand and Canada.
“What’s always been done, is not what is going to take us forward,” said Education New Zealand Associate Director of Engagement North America, Natalie Maramera Lulia (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Awa, Kuki Airani, Tahiti). “We must be transformative, not transactional, in our thinking and our actions. It’s increasingly common for International and Indigenous offices within post-secondaries to intentionally work together. The benefits are visible, not only within these institutions but throughout the communities in which they are located and serve, and I am here for it.”
Prior to her current role, Lulia worked in senior roles in New Zealand post-secondaries and tribal organisations and said she has really seen a shift over the last decade as understanding of Indigenous perspectives, particularly its importance and relevance to society in navigating the complexities of today’s world, has increased.
“Being based here in Washington D.C these last six months, I have noticed it’s what everyone wants to talk to me about, as soon as they learn I am from Aotearoa New Zealand. Interest has certainly grown, and we need to work hard collectively if we truly want to honour these relationships and perspectives. This is about legacy – what spaces, opportunities, and conversations we are creating now for the next generation of leaders of our world. I’m so excited about connections and collaborations being strengthened all over the world including here in North America and with our partners in Australia, including parts of Asia, Latin America and Europe.”
North Island College (NIC) is considered a leader in Canada for their work, and they are definitely noticing interest in their work.
North Island College (NIC), located on the traditional and unceded territories of the combined 35 First Nations of the Nuu-Chah-nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw and Coast Salish traditions, is receiving local and global recognition for their work in leading an effective Indigenous international education strategy. While their work is getting international recognition, Executive Director of the Office of Global Engagement (OGE), Mark Herringer believes it is simply about doing what is right for North Island College and if others choose to do the same, that is their choice.
“Is what we are doing going to be a trend?,” said Herringer. “That’s not a reason to do it. We are doing this with our communities and to us that’s good enough.”
At a time when International education is at a crossroads, and leaders of all kinds are stepping up to shape what comes next, Herringer and Lulia believe leadership in the future will increasingly look to the learnings of the past.
“The connection between Indigenous peoples and international relations goes back millennia. Māori and Pacific peoples for example, descend from voyaging greatness. These are the powerful transformative examples we are sharing with our babies and young people in Aotearoa New Zealand around Global Citizenship, International Education, and Indigenous Internationalisation,” said Lulia. “Reminding those who work in our sector that Global Citizenship, Education Abroad, International relations are not new concepts for indigenous peoples. To provide space for indigenous perspectives to come to the fore, benefits everyone. I see that post-secondary organisations are starting to understand this, so making it an institutional priority is growing.”
While Herringer is confident many other post-secondary institutes may make the connection between Indigenization and internationalization, he expects the routes each institute takes will be unique and, based upon his own experiences, will require a lot of listening and learning.
“For me, it has been a steep learning curve but a rich one because it has been in step with our Indigenous Education office,” said Herringer, adding he just came back from his first fully Indigenous focused international tour of New Zealand and Hawaii. “A big part of what I needed to do was change my way of doing things to a degree. I’m a goal oriented person, it takes a fair bit of effort for me to release control, and realize I’m supporting, not driving the process. Our plan has no end. Journeying Together is a forever plan for NIC. As we move along the path of our journey, what is around us changes so our process needs to adapt all the time. Year to year we are tracking what we are achieving, but it helps us to contextualize our work when we see significant change is happening because of our work with the Office of Indigenous Education (OIE) and their trust in working together with the OGE.”
North Island College’s Kelly Shopland, Executive Director of OIE, started speaking with Indigenous leaders, community leaders, internal stakeholders and international partners in 2020 to build the Working Together Indigenization plan which was established and launched as a co-strategic plan at NIC in June 2021. Once Working Together was in place, Herringer said it was a no brainer that OGE should proceed with a strategy that draws from and builds on the objectives of Working Together.
“The last question articulated by NIC’s Indigenous Education Facilitator, Sara Child as discussions started around development of Journeying Together was: ‘why wouldn’t we do this?,”. “Then we were on our journey together to develop one of the world’s first Indigenizing international education plans.”
The plan and some of its outcomes have since won recognition across Canada. In the last several years, the College has built Indigenous-focused partnerships with post-secondaries across Canada, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, and more recently Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia.
“This is the start of an ongoing process to develop opportunities that recognize and engage Indigenous students and communities with the world,” said Shopland, indicating that OGE and OIE have presented together at many conferences around the world during the past year and at NAFSA were approached by universities in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. “We have been sharing our experience and through that, others have reached out and asked to discuss ideas and opportunities.”
As a result of their Journeying Together strategy, and the attempt to become Indigenous serving, NIC has had a number of achievements including:
- Increased international student engagement in local Indigenous cultural, language, social, and academic opportunities on campuses and in communities.
- Increased faculty development opportunities locally through Indigenous-focused activities on the land; internationally in Brazil, Japan, Aotearoa New Zealand, Mexico, and Costa Rica; and through COIL training and delivery.
- Project support for an Indigenous Language Revitalization Field School in Hawaii and a COIL project in Costa Rica titled “Interculturality: Weaving Indigenous Pedagogies.”
- Budget support designated from the OGE to support the OIE to deliver aspects of Journeying Together.
- Financial support for environmental sustainability with Indigenous communities including Kelp Habitat Banking and the Nass Foods (Kelp) Project.
- Indigenous language revitalization field schools in Hawaii and New Zealand and indigenous focused field schools in Spain and Japan.
- Colleges and Institutes Canada funded project: Indigenous CO[I]IL/Virtual Exchange Special Topics Framework.
Herringer said that though the process of internationalization has in many cases become associated primarily with the revenue generated through the recruitment of international students, this Indigenizing international education process is about transforming how we do international education at NIC.
In the coming days, NIC will be bringing together Canadian and international Indigenous partner institutions on Vancouver Island for NIC’s ” Indigenous Serving Special Topics Framework – Spring Gathering” to begin comparing our institutional and community experiences on our shared journey weaving a different future for education.
“Our vision of weaving Indigenization and internationalization is rooted in NICs collective commitment to become a truly Indigenous serving institution, towards a future reimagined for the well-being of this generation and those yet to come,” said Shopland.
