In Our Voices: Sheridan’s Indigenous Community and Allies

In Our Voices: Sheridan’s Indigenous Community and Allies is an arts-based research project conducted in collaboration with the Centre for Indigenous Learning and Support at Sheridan College. The research was initially funded by a Sheridan College SRCA growth grant and then additional funding for the project was received from the Faculty of Applied Health and Community Studies, The Centre for Inclusive Communities, and the Centre for Indigenous Learning and Support at Sheridan College.

This study received ethics approval from the Sheridan Research Ethics Board in May 2018. Data collection began in September 2018 and was completed in March 2019. This research was carried out in two phases. The first phase consisted of data collected through video interviews with key stakeholders and an online survey on what it means to be an ally to Indigenous people. The key stakeholders were selected based on consultations with the Centre for Indigenous Learning and Support. Participants included key decision makers at Sheridan College as well a representation of faculty, administrators and staff across the institution. A total of 23 individuals participated in the video interviews over three days in September 2018. Simultaneous to the video interviews, an online survey was launched in September 2019 to elicit the perceptions of the larger Sheridan body on what it means to be an ally to Indigenous people. A total of 179 individuals at Sheridan College participated in the survey. Participants included 120 faculty members, 42 staff and 23 administrators from across Sheridan.

The second phase of the study aimed at capturing the voices and life experiences of Indigenous community members at Sheridan through in-depth video interviews. The participants for this phase of the study were six Indigenous Community Members connected to Sheridan College. The participants were selected based on the recommendation from the Centre for Indigenous Learning and Support, their connection to Sheridan College as either staff, alumni or guest speakers, their Indigenous identity and their willingness to speak on video about their life's accomplishments, the obstacles they had faced and how they had overcome them. Participants were also asked about what they saw as the role of effective allies to Indigenous people and about their understanding of an Indigenous worldviews.