A little bit of context
For decades, Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island, Inuit Nunangat and the Métis Homeland have shared knowledge, personal experiences and cultural ways of living to raise awareness about the abusive and oppressive relationship between the colonial state and the rightful stewards of this land. In the beginning, efforts went largely unnoticed. Recently, as more and more devastating facts surfaced, many non-Indigenous people began reflecting about their role as settlers and asking themselves what they could do.
It is with this context in mind and in this spirit that the Decolonial Toolbox was born.
The Decolonial Toolbox offers the general public an Educational Pathway to understand historical and contemporary Indigenous realities. The pathway gathers carefully-selected resources produced by Indigenous peoples and organizations that are accessible and promote Indigenous expertise.
The objective of the Pathway is to gradually provide resources and stimulate reflection to understand the complexity of decolonizing and how to incorporate changes in everyday life. These stepping stones will guide readers as they embark on personal journeys toward decolonization and meaningful allyship.
How it can be used
The Educational Pathway can be used to train staff or welcome new employees. It can also be used to accompany an individual on a learning journey or a group that wants to form a learning circle to discuss the material they are reading.
With a more independent learning process, the responsibility is transferred to learners and reduces the burden of education and emotional labour that Indigenous peoples carry. It also decreases the over solicitation of Indigenous organizations.
By creating this tool, we hope to de-center and unlearn the colonial narratives that non-Indigenous people have learnt, and to encourage reflection on the role of settlers
Meet the creators
Learn more about the creators and their approach by watching the video below, which was produced during the pre-launch of Educational Pathway.
For comments and questions, you can contact communications@reseaumtlnetwork.com
The Decolonial Toolbox is the result of a multi-year collaboration between Concordia University’s Office of Community Engagement, Mikana and the Montreal Indigenous Community NETWORK.
