A First Nations University business major says it is tough being an indigenous student at most university campuses, but is aiming to change that by taking part in a national student summit in Toronto.
Larissa Wahooseyan will be at the Racialized and Indigenous Students’ Experience Summit of the Canadian Federation of Students this weekend. The summit will discuss how to create a safe, inclusive and comfortable environment for minorities and indigenous students on campus.
Wahpooseyan is in her fourth year of business administration at the First Nations University (FNUniv) in Regina and is considering getting a Master’s degree. She is from the Kawacatoose First Nation and is the first aboriginal Saskatchewan chair for the Canadian Federation of Students.
She is comfortable at the FNUniv but says she is out of her comfort zone at the U of R despite its efforts to indigenize.
“It is tough to have our voices heard,” she says. “I feel a lot of the times when we speak out we are being silenced and a lot of the indigenous students don’t feel comfortable going out of their comfort zone like the aboriginal student centre or the First Nations University.”
Wahposeyan says she is not alone, and that more needs to be done to accommodate and welcome indigenous students. She says it takes an incredible effort to make it to University if you are aboriginal and it is even tougher to stay unless you feel welcome and your input is wanted.
“A lot of them don’t feel like this is where they should be and I want that to change. I want them to stay here, I want them to learn, I want First Nations people to be educated and have the same opportunity I have had,” she says.
Wahpooseyan says it is also important for aboriginal students to get involved by taking part in the decision-making process.
She says fellow non-aboriginal students, professors, and aboriginal students must work together to build a more comfortable learning environment for Indigenous students and other minorities.