Open Arms, Open Hearts, Open Minds -- Welcomed Once Again

Abstract

Within this particular issue of American Indian Quarterly, I expect that there will be stories that speak about incidences of racism, intolerance, exclusion, and ignorance as experienced by Native scholars within academia. My experiences as a non-Native student in a graduate program in Native studies are reflective of my experiences within Native communities. The story that I have to share is one that speaks almost entirely about welcoming, acceptance, inclusion, and support. The challenges that I have faced, to this point in time, have for the most part arisen inside myself. My choice to pursue a PhD in Native studies brought the underlying issue-What is my place, my role, in the discipline of Native studies?-to the surface once again. I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Native Studies at Trent University. My return to student life began in 2001, after more than a decade had passed since the completion of my master's degree. My decision to become part of this particular program was based on three factors. First of all, it is at this time the only doctoral program in Canada in the discipline of Native studies. Second, my learning experiences as an undergraduate within this same department more than two decades earlier had continued to be valuable in my personal and professional life. Finally, and most importantly, this particular program respects Native ways of knowing as reflected in traditional and contemporary perspectives. Though this is a relatively new program-when I started it was beginning its third year of operation-it is part of one of the longest-standing Native studies departments in North America. The majority of faculty and staff within the department are Native people. Within the doctoral program the ratio of Native to non-Native students is roughly two to one.