TRI at AC

At Algonquin College, we recognize that we live and work on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people, and that we welcome learners from all across Turtle Island. We are committed to respecting that heritage and making Indigenous values part of how the College operates.

Throughout the planning journey, we incorporated Indigenous knowledge and storytelling to help ground and focus our work. We adopted the approach of Two-Eyed Seeing, a research method developed by Albert Marshall, a Mi’kmaq Elder, and researchers at Cape Breton University. With this approach, we examine the world around us with both Western and Indigenous perspectives. Just as when we see with two eyes at once, we discover more depth and detail by incorporating an Indigenous approach. According to Elder Marshall, the Indigenous perspective “is about life: what you do, what kind of responsibilities you have, how you should live while on Earth … i.e., a guiding principle that covers all aspects of our lives: social, economic, environmental, etc. The advantage of Two-Eyed Seeing is that you are always fine tuning your mind into different places at once, you are always looking for another perspective and better way of doing things.”

We need to continue to integrate Indigenous practices throughout our work. Rather than having a single goal related to Truth and Reconciliation or Indigeneity, we must be committed to adapting our processes and practices to honour and reflect Indigenous ways of knowing. We need to extend the Two-Eyed Seeing approach into all that we do.