Bishop’s University First Nations and Inuit students to travel to Japan – An opportunity to learn across Indigenous cultures

Bishop’s International Office and the Indigenous Student Support Centre (ISSC) at Bishop’s University, prepare for their first trip with eight First Nations and Inuit students as part of the Global Skills Opportunity (GSO) grant, to learn with and about Indigenous cultures in Japan.

The Japan project entitled “Communicating Across Cultures: Building Intercultural Competencies and Lasting Partnerships in Japan” will allow the students to travel to Japan for three weeks starting on May 6, 2023. In collaboration with Hokkaido University’s Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies, the National Ainu Museum and Ainu communities in Nibutani and Shiraoi, students will attend seminars and engage in meaningful dialogue with Elders and community members and take part in land-based and community activities.  Scheduled activities include embroidery, learning to make a mukkuri (Ainu jaw harp instrument), Ainu language and cooking classes, Ainu dancing, fishing, and hiking.  Bishop’s students will also share their cultures by giving beading, throat singing, and medicine wheel workshops, and sharing more about their home communities and cultures.  The group will also spend one week in the old imperial capital of Japan, Kyoto.  Japanese students and Professors from Doshisha University and Sagano High School will host the group for tea ceremony, classroom intercultural exchanges, temple visits and forest walks.  Experiences will foster a greater understanding of Japanese and Ainu history, lands, and cultures.

In preparation for the trip, the eight students from Bishop’s University were enrolled in the 6-credit course UNI 299 Nation to Nation: Building Intercultural Competencies in Local and International Indigenous Contexts. The course aimed to create awareness about both Japanese/Ainu culture and to develop a sense of community amongst the group, learning about each other’s backgrounds and cultures, and further developing interpersonal and intercultural communication skills. Discussions also served to prepare for travel safety for the three weeks long journey.  Vicky Boldo, Special Advisor Indigenous Student Support, Shawna Chatterton-Jerome, Coordinator of Indigenous Coordinator of Indigenous Student Support Services Relations, Annick Corbeil, Manager of International, Indigenous and Intercultural Relations and Dr. Genner Llanes Ortiz, Canada Research Chair in Digital Indigeneities, were co-instructors for the course.

Students taking part in this program are from various Nations:  Kanien:keha’ka, Anishinaabeg, Ojibway, Eeyou and Inuk.

The Consulate of Japan in Montreal, the Embassy of Canada and the Quebec Delegation in Tokyo have all helped facilitate conversations and build bridges with partners in Japan.

The Federal government’s new Global Skill Opportunity program is expected to enable more than 16,000 Canadian college and undergraduate-level university students to acquire the global skills employers want and the Canadian economy needs.

The $95 million GSO program is a component of the Government of Canada’s International Education Strategy and is funded by Employment and Social Development Canada. Administered jointly by Colleges and Institutes Canada and Universities Canada, the program has been designed to allow participating colleges, universities and institutes to customize projects to their students’ needs. The grant received for the Japan program totals $274,000.

While open to all Canadian postsecondary students, the program targets groups for whom such experiences have traditionally been less accessible – specifically Indigenous students, students from low-income backgrounds and those living with disabilities. It also aims to diversify destination countries where Canadian students pursue international learning.

“The selected students tell us that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them, and something they never imagined being able to experience.  They may be learning as much about themselves and each other’s nations as they are about Japanese and Ainu cultures.  Our Japanese and Ainu hosts also share that this is a rare opportunity for them to learn about the similarities and differences in our respective histories and cultures.  We hope this project will send a strong message to First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth as well as Ainu youth, that everything is possible, and a world of opportunities await them”, says Annick Corbeil.

Bishop’s Japan GSO program is among the 124 such programs offered through 56 Universities across Canada.

The participation in the GSO program demonstrates Bishop’s University’s commitment to offering an outstanding learning experience, strongly focused on the need of its diverse and inclusive community.

“This program is also another step on the path to decolonizing international education,” adds Corbeil.

Photo taken in November 2022 at Biratori Ainu Crafts and Heritage Center Urespa in preparation for the first trip to Japan with a group of Bishop’s University First Nations, Metis and Inuit students in Spring 2023.

Left to right: Dr. Stine Linden-Andersen, Master Carver Shigehiro Takano, Vicky Boldo, Annick Corbeil, Urespa Director Sadanori Arai

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MEDIA REQUESTS:

Sonia Patenaude
Manager of communications
Bishop’s University
819-342-2587
sonia.patenaude@ubishops.ca