Dr. Candace Brunette-Debassige - Undoing the Silence

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Dr. Candace Brunette-Debassige is a Mushkego Cree iskwew scholar originally from Peetabeck Treaty 9 Territory. She is an Assistant Professor in Critical Policy, Equity, and Leadership Studies in the Faculty of Education at Western University. Her research centers on advancing the liberatory needs of Indigenous Peoples in Euro-Western colonial educational spaces. Beyond her scholarship, Candace brings extensive leadership experience in Indigenous education at the K-12 and postsecondary levels. She was the first Indigenous Education Advisor for the Thames Valley District School Board from 2009-2012, and was the Director of Indigenous Student Services at Western from 2012-2017. At Western, she also served as Acting Vice-Provost/Associate Vice President for the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, and Special Advisor to the Provost, from 2018 to 2021.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode 

• Documentary - Inendi 
• Podcast - Unreserved 
• Book - Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education in Canada
• Report - Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Quotes From This Episode

• "There were many, many indigenous peoples that were forced to attend residential schools in our country for over 150 years. So it's generations, generations, and generations of people within particular families and communities were forced legislatively forced to attend these schools."
• "My grandmother was apprehended by the Royal Mounted Police (RCMP)... she was physically removed from her home at the age of seven. She was forced to attend this school, which was an Anglican school; in her situation, she was prohibited from speaking Cree. And she was taught that to be Cree, to be indigenous, was backward. It was savage, it was uncivilized...the purpose of residential schools was assimilating indigenous peoples into the dominant society."
• "When you point out the problem, you become the problem."
•  "In my work, I have to lead with subjectivity. That's what brings me credibility when I'm working with the indigenous community. The first thing people are going to ask me is, 'Who are you? Where do you come from?' And, and then I have to develop that relationship. And that relationship is developed through sharing our stories and coming from our experiences."

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals with a keen interest in the study, practice, and teaching of leadership. 

Connect with Scott Allen

• Website

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