Indigenous Nation-Building

Program	Expected Length	Project and/or thesis	Course based
Graduate certificate in Indigenous Nation-Building	6 months minimum (full-time)

Jointly offered by the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) and Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS), the Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Nation-Building provides students with an in-depth understanding of the traditional and modern governance approaches Indigenous nations are taking as they assert self-determination and self-governance. The impact of Canadian settler colonialism on Indigenous nationhood and how Indigenous peoples have resisted will also be examined.

The program addresses three overarching questions:

1. What is governance from an Indigenous perspective?
2. Why is Canadian society-which includes both settler and Indigenous peoplesin this contemporary situation of settler-colonial inequity?
3. How do students work with Indigenous communities to understand their particular nation and circumstance and assist with moving forward from this contemporary situation of settler-colonial inequity?

This certificate program will help you strengthen your knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of policy development and implementation, governance, and self-determination within Indigenous governments and communities. Specifically, you will be encouraged and trained to listen to and learn from a nation's culture, language, history, and the Old Ones, Elders, or Knowledge Keepers/Guardians who guide the community. You will also learn how to facilitate or help implement the specific concepts and approaches to self-determination informed by a nation.

The Indigenous Nation-Building certificate is designed to meet the needs of Indigenous leaders and practicing public administrators, policy analysts, and non-profit administrators who wish to enhance their conceptual and technical skills in the fields of public administration or public policy, as related to Indigenous peoples and communities. It also prepares graduate students to be managers, leaders and innovators in First Nations, Métis and Inuit governments and other organizations that work with Indigenous governments, with a particular focus on Saskatchewan Indigenous nations and communities. This includes those who wish to increase their skills in the increasingly competitive fields of Indigenous government, Indigenous governance, Indigenous nation-building, and policy and program development related to Indigenous peoples.

NOTICE: This certificate includes a combination of in-person and online courses, and will allow students the opportunity to work together on a community governance project. If you live outside Regina or Saskatoon, please contact us about options that may be available to you.

The Indigenous Nation-Building Certificate will be accepting students for a January 2023 start date.

Are you interested in learning more about the program? Please provide the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School with your name and contact information, and they will contact you directly once they have a few program information sessions scheduled.

Learning Objectives

The curriculum objectives are organized thematically into three groups: Decolonization, Indigenization, and Reconciliation

Decolonization

During the program, you will gain insight on:

• How concepts and applications of governance differ between Indigenous nations and the Canadian state.
• The colonial, neo-colonial, and decolonial aspects of contemporary Canadian policy and public administration.
• The impact of colonization and patriarchy on Indigenous nationhood and membership.
• How the Canadian state, past and present, attempts and succeeds at eroding Indigenous nationhood.

From the teachings, you will be able to analyze, through an investigation of the formation of the Canadian nation-state, the legitimacy of the Canadian state. You will also be able to demonstrate how Indigenous nations, past and present, resist Canadian settler colonialism through self-determination and the rebuilding of nationhood.

Indigenization

During the program, students will gain insight on:

• The premise and implications of honourable Treaty governance and Treaty federalism in Canada.
• Various forms of Indigenous leadership within different community structures while simultaneously recognizing the diversity of Indigenous nations.

From the teachings, you will be able to critically analyze and articulate how Indigenous nations define self-determination and whether these can or cannot exist alongside the Canadian state, making specific conceptualizations of knowledge (such as, but limited to, those nations in Saskatchewan: Dene, nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, Nakoda, Métis, and Michif ). You will also be able to assess potential benefits, costs, and ethical considerations of various approaches to community and economic development in Indigenous communities, and develop the tools and techniques required to contribute to nation-building based on a particular nation or community's needs.

Reconciliation

During the program, students will gain insight on:

• How to bridge Indigenous knowledge with settler-based policy approaches, including public policy development, program evolution, and legislation, to support Indigenous nationhood.
• The history of Indigenous Peoples' rights movements in Canada, as they pertain to the Treaties, the Constitution Act, 1982 s.35, and the ongoing and emerging rights discourses in the Canadian courts.

From the teachings, you will be able to draw parallels between Indigenous Peoples' rights in Canada and rights recognized in the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). You will also be able to constructively and respectfully communicate complex issues around colonization and Indigenous governance with diverse audiences.

Graduate Certificate (G.Cert.)

• Language Proficiency Requirements: Proof of English proficiency may be required for international applicants and for applicants whose first language is not English. A minimum overall TOEFL score of 86 is required with a minimum score of 20 in each area, or a minimum overall IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum score of 6.0 in each area, or another approved test as outlined in the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Academic Policies.
• a four-year honours degree, or equivalent, from a recognized college or university in an academic discipline relevant to the proposed field of study
• a cumulative weighted average of at least a 70% (U of S grade system equivalent) in the last two years of study (i.e. 60 credit units)

Applicants who do not meet the standard admission requirements may wish to apply using the non-standard application process. Successful applicants likely will have:

• Recognized completion of at least one year (18 CUs) of higher education
• A break of at least five years from formal higher education
• At least ten years of work experience and at least five years of management experience.

In addition to completing the usual application package (e.g., CV, letters of reference, letter of intent), applicants must submit a letter indicating that they wish to be considered under the non-standard application process and why they wish to be considered under this process. Applicants must also submit evidence that they possess the following skills and expertise:

• Ability to undertake effective critical thinking (e.g., to critically examine arguments, to critically examine data and the conclusions drawn from it)
• Ability to collect and analyze data (whether qualitative or quantitative), and to connect the results of the analysis to broader concepts and idea
• Ability to communicate effectively in both an oral and a written form

To provide evidence that they possess the above skills, applicants should draw from recent work where they demonstrated competency in the three areas. The evidence should include concrete outputs (e.g., writing samples, reports), as well as explanations of their relevance and importance. The evidence package should be three to four pages in length.

Applicants must also provide a list of the positions they have held and indicate the extent to which they have acquired and relied on the three core competencies outlined in the MPA program - analysis and use of evidence, politics and democracy, and policy delivery.

Applicants applying under the non-standard application process would generally not be required to take additional undergraduate courses beyond those they have already taken. The reason is that there is no basic theory or knowledge that is required for public policy; instead, if applicants can demonstrate that they have the skills.

Application deadlines

Applications to Graduate Certificate program are accepted on an ongoing basis and are reviewed in the order in which they are completed. Therefore, it is to your advantage to submit a completed application as early as possible, as enrollment is limited. The admission process is competitive and late application submissions may be at a disadvantage.

Entry is possible in any semester (September/Fall, January/Winter, and May/Spring).

There are three intakes to this program each year:

Spring Term (beginning in May)
January 1: Application deadline for international students
March 1: Application deadline for domestic students

Fall Term (beginning in September)
May 1: Application deadline for international students
July 1: Application deadline for domestic students

Winter Term (beginning in January)
September 1: Application deadline for international students
November 1: Application deadline for domestic students

To meet these deadlines, ALL components of your application must be received by the dates above. Applications that are incomplete will not be reviewed nor will they be deferred to future terms.