Seeing whiteness as property through Métis teachers’ K-12 stories of racism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Collaboration among Indigenous Peoples and the Saskatchewan government in Canada has led to Indigenous K-12 education progress concerning First Nations and Métis peoples, the Indigenous populations whose traditional territories exist within Saskatchewan. Acknowledging such advancements, this paper is concerned with how white identified students continue to graduate with higher completion and achievement rates than Métis and First Nations students. Critical race theory (CRT) can assist with understanding how racialised statistics persist in spite of decades of government administered Indigenous education initiatives and mandates. Contributing to anti-racist informed Indigenous education scholarship, this study applies aspects of CRT scholar Cheryl Harris’s whiteness as property theory to a qualitative critical race methodological analysis of 13 Métis teachers’ K-12. stories of racism. When viewed from a CRT lens, the findings suggest Métis teachers’ experiences with racism in K-12 schools can contribute to our understanding of how to ensure democratic and racially just practices.