 We are called the Urban Indigenous Education Center, formerly known as the Aboriginal Education Center. We are a central department within the TDSB and we offer a wide range of services for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students and families. We are also committed to ensuring Indigenous students have success and support them throughout the TDSB in their education as well as their personal lives with wraparound supports. We strive to create more culturally safe, inclusive, and trauma-informed learning environments that enrich the education of all students as Indigenous education is for all, by promoting centering Indigenous perspectives and by providing support and guidance to staff who work with Indigenous students. And we have a number of areas that we work through the board throughout and that is professional learning for all staff, community engagement, centering Indigenous student voice, as well as partnerships both internally and externally with other community organizations. Our programming is quite extensive and we also do research and development. We also vet resources and are involved in the Ministry of Education initiatives through curriculum development as well as curriculum resource development. And a lot of our work is informed by the Urban Aboriginal Education Project, which was a project that the Ministry of Education funded to three urban boards, including the Toronto District School Board, looking at Indigenous education within the TDSB. And from that, a report was developed called Decolonizing our Schools Aboriginal Education in the Toronto District School Board. And this was done by Dr. Susan Dion through the partnership with York University. Dr. Susan Dion is an Indigenous professor and researcher. This does inform our work as we continue to move forward. We also work very closely with the Aboriginal Community Advisory Committee. We have an Indigenous Steering Council as well as a Council of Elders that we work very closely with. In terms of governance, we are working towards a parallel system of governance that fulfills the TRC, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. With regard to the TRC calls to action, I'd like to further reiterate that the TRC has 10 principles of reconciliation, and the 94 calls to action, and the 46 articles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, that this is really the instrument of reconciliation. And so the first principle of reconciliation confirms that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is the framework for reconciliation for all sectors of Canadian society, including education. The other nine principles serve as guides to assist in repairing the damaged relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. The calls to action are an appeal to mobilize all levels of government organizations as well as individuals to make concrete changes in society. They list specific actions to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a framework for the establishment and maintenance of mutually respectful relationships. It represents the minimum standard of the survival and dignity and well-being of Indigenous peoples, and we hope to go beyond the minimum standard, obviously. And our hope is that having all these documents together will enhance knowledge and understanding that lays the groundwork for reconciliation. With regard to the Urban Indigenous Education Center, we do provide student support as everything that we do undergirds student achievement and well-being. Right now, we are committed to having staff development for all 37,000 employees. We have a staff of 16 people, and they include the teaching and learning, as well as community liaisons and student success teachers and social workers, Indigenous social workers, and child and youth counselors. We provide leadership in fostering Indigenous education in the development and implementation of culturally relevant and culturally safe programs and services, and we work collaboratively with both internal and external partners to position the board as a leader in urban Indigenous education. Internal learning is for all staff, is designed to ensure that authentic First Nations Métis and Inuit perspectives are a part of all classrooms and schools benefiting both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Our community engagements are vibrant and represent diverse Indigenous communities, as Toronto has the highest population of Indigenous peoples in all of Ontario combined. We are very unique within the urban construct, as we are incredibly diverse. The Aboriginal Education Center, the Urban Indigenous Education Center, works very closely with community organizations, Indigenous community organizations, and we sit on many advisory boards to enhance Indigenous education throughout the GTA, strengthening relationships based on reciprocity and respect and responsibility. We do hold a number of community events throughout the GTA that brings community members together in celebration of indigeneity and our achievements and accomplishments and contributions. Through this, we are able to identify and address educational issues and our concerns that may impact our communities and families. We also liaise with external partners, including the City of Toronto, the Ministry of Education, colleges and universities, and appropriate community agencies to collectively broaden the impact of Indigenous education and programs and initiatives. Okay, thank you, Tanya. What in your opinion makes it an example of excellence in Indigenous education? Indigenous education, it's important to centre the voices of Indigenous peoples in terms of leadership in the path of reconciliation, to enact the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada calls to action. In Ontario, there is mandatory curriculum around Action 62 and 63 and to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a framework for reconciliation, understanding that we are still very much within a colonial construct, within systems of public education, and thereby we need to be able to identify the barriers that continue to marginalise, harm and silence Indigenous peoples and dismantle the barriers that oppress Indigenous peoples, whether it's recruitment and hiring and mobility within the organisation and have a very strong protocol around accountability and transparency as well as working with and learning from Indigenous peoples, being led by Indigenous peoples, because all of the decisions that are being made have huge impacts within our communities that support Indigenous student success and wellbeing and achievement. So in continuing with that particular question in looking at what contributes to the efficacy of Indigenous education, I would like to also say that it is important that Indigenous knowledge is centred and what is the contribution of Indigenous knowledge, how can that be used in reconciliation through policymaking, I think is critical in terms of moving forward and enacting Indigenous practices and principles within respectful engagement and protocols. So consulting and collaborating with Indigenous peoples with free, prior and informed consent to use the statement, nothing about us without us, also when we're talking about research and data collection and adhering to the principles of OCAP, ownership, control, access and possession with regard to that and really focusing on restorative practices and practices that not only restore but are about reparation when we further the discussion around reconciliation and we need Indigenous student leadership, we also need Indigenous trustees, we need Indigenous peoples in higher levels within public education at the superintendent level, at the executive superintendent level. We need to be able to mobilize Indigenous peoples into those structures of governance as they exist now and also to an adopt an approach to Indigenous education that puts Indigenous student and well-being at the center and provide those opportunities for Indigenous student leadership and all of this affirms and respects and promotes Indigenous peoples and Indigenous knowledge and also to recognize and affirm treaty rights, Indigenous rights and the revitalization of Indigenous languages that also support the development and implementation of Indigenous knowledges and looking at innovations in education, looking at Indigenous education within the 21st century and re-envisioning ourselves as a part of that conversation moving forward and also commit to and ensure measures of effectively dealing with discrimination and racism and looking at and creating the context for culturally safe and trauma-informed schools through professional learning and continued dialogue and to provide opportunities for that professional learning that includes the impact of colonization both historically embedded and also contemporarily practiced as the colonial project still continues on through various areas including looking at First Nations communities, for example, food safety and security, environmental racism, really centering UNDRIP in terms of working with Indigenous peoples with free and informed consent and also looking at the child welfare system in Canada and other areas where Indigenous peoples are largely represented in in our jails and institutions but also not to position Indigenous peoples as the other or the poor pitiful other and that really focuses on a damaged centered construct because we're still here and honoring Indigenous survivants and strength, our accomplishments, our achievements and how non-Indigenous people can learn from Indigenous peoples as the way forward centering Indigenous knowledge and thinking about sustainability and the environment that those systems come into play which they are already in some different contexts and to continue to build respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples rooted in reciprocity and participate in the decolonizing and indigenizing of our public school systems and to embed Indigenous education in all areas including the board action plans, the school improvement plans and to really look at how Indigenous education is positioned differently from the discourse of equity. There are intersections however looking at nation to nation building looking at that relationship and not embedding Indigenous education within a multicultural construct because Indigenous peoples are the first peoples of Canada and we were never involved in Confederation. However we've been legislated you know through the Indian Act and looking at those amendments etc there's a lot of work to do ahead and we call upon all people both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in systems of public education to redress the harm that has been done and to move forward in a good way. How do you measure the success of your program? We measure the success of the program and you know not necessarily using dominant and Western ways of measuring would really be based on the four Rs as identified by Verna Kirkness who's an Indigenous scholar who talks about respect, reciprocity and relevance and responsibility that we are working in a good way in relationship with non-Indigenous peoples to really support the needs of Indigenous peoples articulated by Indigenous peoples and Indigenous education led by Indigenous people for Indigenous peoples and understanding that relationship that is also a part of the two-row Wampum the Gasuenta Wampum that really clearly articulates to that relationship in terms of creating ethical space so that's more organic in terms of are those relationships working well are they based on mutual trust and reciprocity and in terms of measuring success is really I would say community engagement seeing Indigenous peoples involvement in decision making and coming out to community events are ways of seeing that the work of the Urban Indigenous Education Center is working well that we do see an increase for example in attendance that we are getting the resources that we need to set Indigenous students up for success and really addressing and positioning Indigenous education in terms of challenging the biases and the power and the privilege of the people working in education and understanding the impact of colonization I think are very key in terms of creating the potential for spaces of transformation I would also say that an increase in recruitment hiring and retention and mobility of Indigenous peoples within systems of public schooling particularly within the TDSB are definitely indicators of of success as well as seeing more participants Indigenous peoples involved in the Aboriginal Community Advisory Committee the support of trustees the support of the senior team the support from the director to really see and articulate the needs to elevate and amplify the voices of Indigenous leaders in education and Indigenous parents and students an increase in programming that supports Indigenous students needs for example land-based learning opportunities for students looking at different pathways funding for students in terms of carrying forward into those pathways whether they choose colleges or universities or the workplace that there is a plethora of choice and options for Indigenous peoples the 21st century is changing quite a bit and we're looking at you know the technology and global competencies that we are fully engaged involved within those conversations as well from your perspective what is Indigenous education Indigenous education is an education that centres Indigenous knowledge Indigenous knowledge is Indigenous voice First Nations Métis in Iuit looking at Indigenous ways of knowing and being and that it is articulated by Indigenous peoples to me that is what Indigenous education is it's an education that considers the whole being the mind the heart the body and the emotion and also centres Indigenous ways of knowing and being and that works within principles and constructs of the importance of elders Indigenous education ultimately supports the well-being of the self the family the community the land the spirits and the ancestors it is about a holistic education it is reflexive reflective experiential and relational relationship is paramount focused on connectedness on reciprocal relationships and a sense of place it involves a multi-generational construct looking at infancy to to elders it is cyclical it also involves generational roles and responsibilities and also it recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge and it embeds memory and histories and stories of Indigenous peoples by Indigenous peoples it involves patience and time and is about centering identity and addresses the harm that has been done through the legacy of residential schools and the colonial construct of the public education system as it stands now and it involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and is only shared with permission and or certain situations Indigenous education also involves the oral tradition it understands the significance of balance and the interaction with community understanding that everything is interrelated everything is interconnected everything is alive and everything has a spirit and that we continue to learn from the elders as we continue to unlearn to relearn to learn and center Indigenous perspectives there's also the importance of silence and the importance of listening in terms of ethical listening and respecting Indigenous protocol and the group process and the role of family and community and making all of these connections to the land and the importance of storytelling within that narrative what is your vision for Indigenous education over the next 10 years well over the next 10 years we'd like to see a lot of creativity and innovation and we are evolving into an urban Indigenous education that is like a community hub a center for Indigenous thought Indigenous practices etc and that that will be rooted in Indigenous teachings reflecting the diversity of First Nations Métis and Inuit peoples and community as well as being a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students both Indigenous and non-Indigenous across the Toronto District School Board we'd like to see increased partnerships with community agencies as well as post-secondary institutes in terms of the revitalization of Indigenous languages we really would like to see that program grow across the TDSB as well as offering other Indigenous languages and offering more Anishinaabe Mohan programs for students and that this intent is combined with other various Indigenous initiatives undertaken by the Board in this central urban location reflecting Indigenous pedagogy Indigenous ways of knowing and being and to center Indigenous voices and the broader community in creating a learning environment which will be designed to foster Indigenous knowledges, values and cultures and the intent will be to welcome all into the Indigenous context we want to see an education that is worthy of children Indigenous children and all children looking at also seven generations forward and the new Urban Indigenous Education Center will welcome all students from K to 12 who seek a unique learning environment grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing and being where students are supported to be confident critical thinkers and engaged learners and you know to provide high quality education in the highest expectations of success for every student as defined by Indigenous peoples and support Indigenous students in realizing their full potential through the transition to post-secondary education to see the Urban Indigenous Education Center grow and how it will contribute to the growth of knowledge in the Urban Indigenous context and also be dedicated to increasing cultural capacity across the board through the implementation of inclusive curriculum enhanced by professional learning and innovative and creative practices in promising practices in Indigenous education that we continue to support and actively engage participation by Indigenous parents and members of the diverse Indigenous communities and that it is welcoming to the community or communities and also responsive to the community's needs partnership with Indigenous service providers, post-secondary institutions and arts and culture are a priority as well as looking at all subject areas across the curriculum. We would like to see a building that honors these ideas that are informed by Indigenous knowledges, an environment that is about healing and about celebrating who we are as Indigenous peoples, a building with lots of light made from sustainable materials that centers Indigenous ways of knowing being, lots of indoor outdoor space, a place for elders, a place for early childhood education and a place where our foods, our traditional ways of knowing and being and Indigenous foods are a part of the construct, a place of healing and a place of celebration. What information, materials, resources do you need to achieve that vision? So aside from funding we need to see legislative change in this country that honors the TRC and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. So that legislative change will also promote support from the various ministries, not only the Ministry of Education but all ministries that have influence and authority in terms of Indigenous education working together to provide the best education possible for Indigenous students and create welcoming spaces in Canada to uphold the dignity of Indigenous peoples.