Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) Library has launched an Indigenous Oral Stories Series to expand student opportunities to learn from Indigenous Elders.
KPU Elder in Residence Lekeyten, of the Kwantlen First Nation, provided stories and songs to start the series. In the first three videos, Lekeyten shares teachings among the cedar trees at KPU Surrey, shares memories of the phase two opening of KPU Surrey, and shares stories of a transformation stone — also known as a transformer stone — at KPU Langley.
Dr. Lee Beavington, an interdisciplinary instructor and learning strategist, says the recordings naturally tie in with classroom instruction, noting Lekeyten’s stories come directly from the land where students are learning.
“There’s so much rich learning that can potentially happen beyond the standard read from a textbook,” he says. “This opens a whole other set of possibilities in terms of the power of oral storytelling, the power of hearing from a local Elder and place-based learning. There are ties to so many different disciplines in terms of what Lekeyten is speaking to.”
The Indigenous Oral Stories Series is part of KPU Library’s χʷəχʷéy̓əm Indigenous Collection, which emphasizes the importance of Indigenous Peoples telling their own stories.
Rachel Chong, Indigenous Initiatives Librarian at KPU, hopes to expand the collection to include recordings from the land at KPU Richmond and KPU Tech.
“The stories are available online to encourage instructors to include alternative formats and more Indigenous voices in their teaching curriculum. The stories take an interdisciplinary approach, to maximize classroom use,” says Chong, who is Métis on her maternal grandfather’s side from Red River Manitoba.
Among the recordings is “Surrey Phase II Remembered,” in which Lekeyten shares stories of the opening ceremony at KPU Surrey, the healing stick he finished carving just in time for the occasion and his own journey at KPU.
“We’re going to entrust the university to look after (these recordings) for me and my family,” says Lekeyten, Elder in Residence at KPU since 2015. “It’s an important message that I want to start to bring to all students, all those who instruct and all those who are going to keep it here in a good way.”
Funded by the University Diversity and Equity Committee at KPU, the first collection of videos was created in collaboration with KPU instructor and videographer Dr. Gordon Cobb.
KPU prioritizes being a supportive and comfortable place for connecting with and learning from Indigenous Peoples and their respective ways of knowing, as part of its commitment to decolonization, Indigenization, and truth and reconciliation.
The university has specialist support available for Indigenous students. The Indigenous Hub provides details the Indigenous resources available at KPU and Indigenization at KPU Library has more information about the χʷəχʷéy̓əm Indigenous Collection.
To support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act of B.C., KPU created a release form that ensures ownership of the stories remains with the Indigenous Peoples sharing them.