A letter from your Academic Aunties

“Dear, dearest Indigenous students and early career academics….”

Dr. Dominique David-Chavez and colleagues, largely from the IndigeLab Network, recently published a letter addressed to Indigenous students and early career academics that unpacks the struggles, successes, and lessons learned in creating Indigenous spaces within academic institutions.

Authors note in the article, “We’ve adopted the overarching title of Academic Aunties… because an Academic Auntie is more than a mentor; it is someone who will … keep you accountable by calling you into good relations, and who will do their best to protect you from harm….”

As described by co-author Dr. Lydia Jennings from the Sovereign Soils Lab, “In this letter to Indigenous scholars, twenty Indigenous academics take up their roles as Aunties to answer the question: how do you navigate the power structures of academic institutions to build a career as an Indigenous academic? The letter re-frames common barriers and tensions experienced by Indigenous scholars as locations for creative solutions, community building, and joy while acknowledging the importance and weight of being a vessel for change. Topics include responsibility to community, tokenism, value-based research, imposter syndrome, mentorship, accessibility, refusal, citational practices, advisors, committee work, and the sacredness of research practices.”

🖤 Your Academic Aunties