Indigenous-Settler Solidarity in the Emergence of Alternative Postsecondary Institutions

• In Event: 64.011 - Cross-Cutting Session 1. The Significance of Culture, Context, and Ways of Knowing From Pre-K Through Higher Education

Abstract

By considering non-governmental intercultural education initiatives, this paper investigates how alternative higher education institutions can emerge from a framework of Indigenous-settler solidarity. In answering the research question, I look at a case study of the Universidad de la Tierra (Unitierra) in Oaxaca, Mexico. Indigenous and non-Indigenous non-state actors collaborated with Indigenous communities to create Unitierra. The institution provides learning opportunities for local students, by connecting them with local professionals and workers. To analyze this example, I use Latin American education concepts that inform the development of this institution, including Indigenous knowledge and autonomy and Indigenous leadership. Finally, I conclude that Indigenous-settler solidarity should be situated in educational resurgence outside of state terms.

Author

• Magdalena Martinez, University of Toronto