Title: Indigenous People do not owe us anything: Indigeneity, Positionality, and Ethical Spaces in Academia 

Description: Academia has profited from promoting European/settler ways of knowing while actively denying the existence and validity of Indigenous epistemologies, science, and philosophies. These structures were not built to be inclusive spaces, they have always been and remain a place of privilege where a few Indigenous knowledge holders, movers, and shakers manage to break through. Our failings in these structures begin with the messaging of being an inclusive space while maintaining steadfast in the undeniable status quo based on western perspectives and knowledges. These perspectives are steeped in academic institutions (Kendall, 2002) and we maintain these colonial structures by participating without speaking up to ask where the Indigenous voices are in these walls. This presentation will be a dialogue on the tools and courage required to fully transform academia into safe and inclusive spaces. Ethical Space, cultural safety, two-eyed seeing, positionality, and exploring the utility of ignorance and discomfort will be discussed.