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Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a Step Towards Educational DecolonizationIn October of 2019, after months of work by on and off-campus constituents, the City of Keene and the Keene State College Senate formally recognized Indigenous People’s Day for the first time in their respective histories. While momentous, it is the beginning of a more robust discourse on decolonization, pedagogy, and our environment. Colonialism has shaped our culture from expansion to extraction to education. This workshop will confront the memory of colonialism taught in schools, and the Eurocentric modes of thought that work to erase the identities and knowledge of Indigenous nations. It is imperative that we critique the role of colonialism in education in an effort to create more equitable and sustainable learning and living environments. Participants should expect to explore questions and critiques that continue the meaning of this holiday past a single day and into our requisite knowledge and social ecology.
