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As part of the College's Strategic Plan and other strategic directions (, , , and ), AV���� created the Indigenization Task Force to foster input and direction towards our Indigenization planning and activities. The Indigenization Task Force consists of faculty and staff from various departments and all campuses.

The Indigenization plan aims to engage and enhance our ties with our Indigenous community members; strengthen the physical, cultural and spiritual spaces at OC; increase Indigenous knowledge and culture within our curriculum, as well as identify potential changes to College policies, structure and processes.

Indigenization at AV���� involves rejecting past colonizing patterns of homogenization, exclusion and erasure of Indigenous peoples’ knowledge, languages, identities as well as cultural and educational aspirations. Accordingly, where and when possible, Indigenous ways of being and doing, as well as methodologies that lend themselves to bringing Indigenous knowledge to the fore, will guide the Indigenization planning process.

A key tenet of this planning process is to form and strengthen respectful and inclusive knowledge relationships that will converge with the College's Strategic Plan, helping to create meaningful, inclusive projects and programming that look to the future. Accordingly, the College looks to foster meaningful relationships across departments, for projects, programs and courses with specific Indigenous content, especially Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc.

This enhanced knowledge base, presence on campus and diversity will extend outward to welcome and acknowledge all Indigenous students, staff and faculty, while also ensuring that everyone who is connected to AV���� is aware of the languages, knowledge and ways of the Indigenous peoples.

AV���� is striving to be a place where all students, staff, faculty and visitors can recognize and appreciate the history and the ongoing contribution that Indigenous knowledge and relationships make to our institution, to Canada and to the communities around us.

Indigenization will foster a greater understanding of how we can contribute to ensuring that the College becomes a place where Indigenous knowledge, ways of teaching and learning, and responsibility to the land and environment are learned, celebrated and respected.

At this point, the AV���� Indigenization planning process is in its engagement phase and looks to respectfully and inclusively engage Indigenous communities and organizations to meet their educational needs and aspirations. This Indigenization journey begins with meaningful relationships with the Indigenous people in whose homeland each campus is situated.

Accordingly, starting with our discussions with Syilx Okanagan and Secwepemc communities, extending out into a comprehensive list of internal and external groups, what we hope to achieve is a deeper understanding of our role as a College within the web of people, animals and the natural world. The actions that we will take will contribute to our relationships within our community of learners and will help establish a stronger and more inclusive extended family network.

We have taken some steps forward already as we continue to work with and learn from Indigenous communities and we will now be looking at what other concepts we need to understand and what actions we can take to develop a larger strategic plan. To do this, we will engage further with Indigenous communities, students, staff, faculty, leadership and all of our partners in education.

During the upcoming phases of the AV���� Indigenization plan there will be meetings and community gatherings to discuss the needs of Indigenous communities. These meetings and community gatherings will help shape the direction that AV���� Indigenization will take.

AV����al institutions have been predicated on knowledge production and reproduction in a way that has been exclusive, and in many ways destructive to Indigenous peoples. AV���� respectfully recognizes that our Indigenization planning process is primarily a summary of thoughts and perspectives to date.  Ultimately, it is intended to be a starting place for further dialogue and engagement as we expand and elaborate. We anticipate that as our knowledge and understanding grows as an institution, so too will relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty, staff, students, and community members. In short, AV���� can be a site where Indigenous knowledge, languages and cultures are respected, alive and dynamic.

 Learn more about the engagement update

The three people in the canoe are symbolic of the three AV���� campuses that exist on the traditional and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan people. These three campuses, Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon, are connected by Okanagan Lake. The canoe family illustrates the collaboration and connection of faculty, staff and students at all campuses, paddling together on an educational journey. The three eagles are a Secwepemc design, representative of the Salmon Arm campus residing on the traditional and unceded territory of the Secwepemc nation. The three eagles carry a special significance as eagles, and their feathers, are honoured and revered with the utmost respect. Eagles are also considered messengers, bridging a sacred and spiritual connection to the Creator.

For all AV���� convocation ceremonies, students and employees with Indigenous ancestry may choose to wear their traditional Indigenous regalia, in lieu of a gown and hood. Traditional regalia refers to the traditional and sacred clothing, accessories and pieces worn or carried by Indigenous peoples during various ceremonies, such as powwows, celebrations and pan-national gatherings. As regalia are personal and sacred outfits, it is appropriate to approach and inquire, however, please refrain from touching without consent.