I have been shortlisted 5 times for positions in Canada/US in my career. Each posting was either designated as an Indigenous position or strongly encouraged Indigenous applicants. Of four campus visits, only ONE faculty member on ONE official committee was Indigenous.

Think about that.

On the last campus visit, I told the chair, in amazement: ‘this was the first time no settler scholars were mean to me in a campus visit’.

It took until I was a tenured professor, member of the Royal Society College of New Scholars, a fellow at Yale, and cited over 1400 times before white scholars could treat me with uniform dignity in a hiring situation. Imagine what happens to Indigenous candidates across Canada.

I encourage settler scholars in universities across the country to look to Indigenous Studies for guidance on how to do better at this. There are programs doing it well!