Image credit: CFJC Today/Anthony Corea

By Marty Hastings

IN THE CLASSROOM

TRU international students reflect on course that immerses them in Indigenous traditions

Jun 19, 2025 | 4:41 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kusum first found it uncomfortable to sit in a circle and quietly listen to classmates speak, a common practise in Privileging Indigenous Oral Traditions and Storywork in International Indigenous Research, the Thompson Rivers University course taught by associate professor Mukwa Musayett (Shelly Johnson).

A student from India, Kusum said the class includes pupils from countries at odds with her country, so the setting was uneasy, but the circle has helped change her perspective.

“Listening patiently to everyone gives me a new way of thinking,” Kusum said. “When I learned through Indigenous people, I learned no borders can separate us. We are all one. We should respect each other.”

Added Ali Alizadeh of Iran: “That circle is quite holy, being able to listen to other people. Whatever background you have come from, it makes no difference. Whenever you are in that circle, you are equal to other people and that is just lovely.”

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Musayett, the institution’s Canada research chair in Indigenizing higher education, said the six-week TRU Master of Education course included lessons from Indigenous peoples on healing and restorative practices.

“These students have been in Canada for a very short period of time and they came to the classroom having heard stereotypes about Indigenous people… but they really didn’t know very much about issues that shape Indigenous peoples’ lives in Canada,” Musayett said. “Not Canada’s policies, not the residential schools, not the many, many ways of surveilling Indigenous people in this country. And they were looking for a way to learn to teach differently than they’ve been taught in their home countries.”

Students picked up introductory Secwepemctsin from Secwepemc language teacher Marie Sandy, learned songs and built traditional Indigenous drums under the tutelage of elder Norman Retasket, a residential school survivor who lives in Bonaparte First Nation near Cache Creek.

They participated in an on-the-land, sage-picking ceremony — the haul was delivered to Indigenous programs operating in the downtown eastside of Vancouver — with Tk’emlups te Secwepemc elder Colleen Seymour and joined her for a potluck meal at her home.

Students researched the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and the In Plain Sight report, which addresses racism and discrimination in health care in B.C.

Hemanth Kailashan of India said he was struck by the inequality he studied and sees parallels in the caste system in his home country.

“All those people fighting for their rights and to be equal in front of the law, how they are fighting… We have to look forward so that we can help each other,” he said. “Because in this world or in this life, there is nothing more than that. We are not going to take anything from this life.”

Bushra Sarah of Bangladesh said the class was eye opening.

“I am here in Canada for the last five months,” she said. “I never cried before because I was kind of emotionally numb. When you move to a new country, a lot of things are going on in your life. And the professor made us cry because we shared one another’s emotion. And when, anyone shares an emotional story, you also get emotional.”

Many of the students are expected to return home and teach in elementary schools and high schools.

“Sitting in a circle learning from elders, intergenerational learning… when they walk out of here, they’re going to go places and speak to people that I’m never going to have access to,” Musayett said. “And I hope that they take what they’ve learned, the principles of respect and reciprocity, of being in relationship with Indigenous people that you want to do meaningful research with. They’ll talk about that with others. That’s what I hope.”