Tâpwewin Symposium renews student's sense of purpose

Held over three days in June at UVic and the Songhees Wellness Centre, the Tâpwewin Symposium brought together Indigenous scholars, students, Elders, community leaders, and allies from across the country. Here, School of Nursing PhD student Victoria Dick shares her reflections.

By Victoria Dick

As an Indigenous graduate student, I expected the Tâpwewin Symposium to be emotional and inspiring. The theme, confronting Indigenous-specific racism in the academy, spoke to the tensions I navigate daily. I came prepared to listen and hold space for the heaviness, focused on capturing the presentations for report writing. The truths spoken to a room full of beautiful people, raw and unflinching, were received with good energy and care. The audio files and transcripts I sat with in quiet reflection for weeks afterward continue to inspire, invigorate, and shape my pathway forward in good ways.

I was honoured to witness these truths while sitting alongside Elders Barb, Faye, and Terry, whose faces radiated pride, care, and love as we listened. They have long walked between worlds; community and institutions, ceremony and curriculum. This space of continual negotiation is familiar to me, where teachings from home meet systems often not ready or willing to receive them. Where relational accountability is compressed to fit institutional expectations. Where languages and actions of care differ.

Tâpwewin was one of the few spaces where these tensions weren’t just named, they were felt and seen. Speakers didn’t just identify harms; they offered ways to resist them. They reminded us that walking between worlds is a skill, a responsibility, and a gift from our Elders. They spoke of weaving our own protocols and knowledges with academic demands, without losing our identities in either.

"The brilliance has always been here"

Sharing space with these brilliant minds was an honour. The love in the room was palpable. Kinship, felt in quiet nods, shared laughter, and grief, grounded us collectively. It felt like we were part of something much larger, a vision rooted in history, truth-telling, reciprocity, and embodied imperatives. This work is about more than surviving the academy, it’s about re-envisioning and re-shaping it so future Indigenous scholars can thrive.

Amanda LaVallee, an assistant professor in Social Work, and Raven Sinclair, a retired professor and chair and director from the Gitwin Qaumata Miyopimâtisiwin Foundation, led the project with fierce dedication and love. Their leadership shaped every part of the symposium. They worked tirelessly in the months, days, and hours leading up to the gathering, welcoming students and Elders into their collective.

Their relationship modeled lived reciprocity, Raven stepping into co-leadership and Amanda flourishing in her leadership role, both lifting others in academic spaces. Their Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-funded project, rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing, created a space to honour Indigenous scholars, call out harmful systems, and share strategies for surviving and transforming the academy.

Tâpwewin speakers offer wisdom

University of Victoria’s Vice-President, Indigenous, Robina Thomas, shared a teaching from Elder Dr. Skip Dick: wear a “shield” each day, earrings, a bracelet, or a pendant, as spiritual protection. It reminded me that our work is not just intellectual, it’s spiritual, and it needs to remain both. Protecting ourselves is part of protecting our communities. Anti-racism educator Cheryl Ward offered one of my favourite quotes: “I am standing on the shoulders of greatness,” honouring the brilliant Indigenous scholars who came before and continue to light the path.

Author and retired lawyer Jean Teillet reminded us that Indigenous identity is not theoretical, it’s relational, political, and inherited. “I am giving you seven generations of my family line… and I was quite literally born on the banks of the river,” she said. Her words echoed teachings from matriarchs who taught me that identity carries responsibility.

Verna St. Denis, a University of Saskatchewan professor emerita, called for structural reform. “Education itself remains a colonial and racialized institution,” she said. She urged anti-racist training, Indigenous-led mentorship, transparent peer review, and funding models that honour relational research. "Indigenous excellence is both a corrective and a transformative force for collective liberation. The brilliance has always been here,” she said. These words felt comforting and connective, we are each continuations in this work.

David Newhouse, an Indigenous Studies professor from Trent University, offered a vision for transformation. "We’ve come into the heart of the beast, and we’re trying to change it," he said. He spoke of extending the rafters of the academy, not by adding Indigenous content to colonial frameworks, but by building new spaces rooted in Indigenous languages, protocols, and worldviews.

His words helped me see my own research as part of that shift, where nursing and Indigenous communities can work together within institutional spaces. And continuing to have profound hope that I and other scholars can now stand on the shoulders of three generations of brilliant Indigenous academics.

 

Renewed sense of purpose

One of the most powerful aspects of the symposium was its interdisciplinary nature. As a nurse, I listened to Indigenous educators, social workers, lawyers, and researchers, each offering their own lens and commitment to community. These collaborations allow us to weave knowledge systems, challenge siloed thinking, and build holistic approaches to Indigenous health, wellness, sovereignty, and education.

These are systemic issues, deeply embedded in the structures we move through daily. They must be confronted on all fronts. And as I listened to speaker after speaker, I was reminded that our communities have always cared for one another collectively. That kind of care, rooted in kinship, ceremony, and accountability, is embodied and ancestral. It sustained us long before institutions existed, and it’s what we must return to if we’re serious about transformation, as Verna, David, Jean, and others shared so wisely.

I left the symposium carrying teachings, questions, and a renewed sense of purpose. Indigenous brilliance is not rare; it was everywhere in the room.

Support is not optional; it is our shared responsibility. Doing things the right way means honouring those who came before and making space for those yet to come. I walk forward in my research held by the brilliance and love of matriarchs, mentors, and friends who continue to light my pathway. 

Victoria Dick is a PhD student in the School of Nursing. Photos by Shiloah Alese.