Jessie King

UNBC, Canada

Title: Indigeneity, Culture and Gender in Academia: Re-Righting (writing) the Narrative

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Biography

Jessie King, Hadiksm Gaax is Gitxaa?a and Git Lax M’oon on her Mother’s side and English/Irish on her Father’s side. She is an Indigenous academic working in Northern British Columbia Canada raising two young children on the territories of Lheidli T’enneh. Working in both the fields of health and academia, her passion is truth telling, deconstruction coloniality, and nurturing self-reflexivity in others. Deeply rooted in the land, Jessie spends most of her time studying plant medicines and learning the language of her ancestors.

Abstract

As an Indigenous female university professor I present an interrogation of colonial spaces in academia. Kimberle Crenshaw first termed the concept Intersectionality and from there a space has been opened to critically reflect on the real-life implications that come with possessing multiple identities that cause one to be at risk for marginalization, invisibilization, and even violence. Coming from a matrilineal society wherein we follow our Mothers, many Indigenous Nations who identify as matrilineal societies value the women of their communities to the extent that not only is identity traced through the mother but so is leadership, wealth, and legacy. Colonization brought about opposing forces that placed the value in society upon men and ownership of wife and children. This colonial mentality of ownership, male-dominance, and oftentimes misogyny impacted community’s generations ago to the extent that Indigenous women remain engaged in an uphill battle for recognition and respect. Recognition and respect in academic spaces comes at a cost of wellbeing for Indigenous women and has been indicated in several texts to be a lingering legacy of colonial patriarchy. You will hear personal accounts from my time in academic spaces and insights into how these barriers are not only being challenged but done so unapologetically by the many Indigenous women who paved the way into academia. Concluding this presentation will be opportunities to reflect on our role in Decolonization and Indigenization as women in our respective fields to fully understand how coloniality has shaped our gendered experience.