Grandparents of ii’ taa’poh’to’p write collaborative book on creation of strategy

The history of the University of Calgary’s Indigenous Strategy, ii’ taa’poh’to’p, has been told in a new book by a group of people with a unique perspective on its creation.

On June 18, the Office of Indigenous Engagement hosted a book launch for The Story of ii’ taa’poh’to’p, written collectively by the Grandparents of ii’ taa’poh’to’p.

More than 70 people attended the event where four of the five collective authors gathered to share their experiences in writing the book and participate in a book signing.

The co-authors are Elder Dr. Reg Crowshoe, Hon. LLD’01; Dr. Shawna Cunningham, EdD’23; Dr. Dru Marshall, PhD; Dr. Jackie Sieppert, BSW’87, MSW’91, PhD; and Dr. Jacqueline Ottmann, Bed’89, PhD.

Book takes a new approach to citation 

Crediting the work to Grandparents of ii’ taa’poh’to’p honours the collaborative writing process and collective voice, ensuring a more-inclusive way of doing where individual voices are not erased by Western citation methods.

The authors spoke on this choice during the launch, with Sieppert saying he hoped readers might take a second to think about this unique approach when citing the book and see how this collective authorship challenges colonial views.

The book’s inside front cover has a cultural symbol of the smudge, which stands in parallel to the Western symbol for copyright. The smudge symbolizes regional Indigenous practices for purification, truthing, protection and validation.

A long journey to develop the strategy

The book itself delves into how ii’ taa’poh’to’p came to be and the lengthy journey and transformative process it took to create the strategy. The authors commented on the complexities and challenges they encountered and overcame as part of the developmental journey.

They also noted how it took significantly longer to create the Indigenous Strategy, as opposed to other UCalgary institutional strategies being created at the time. The authors, who were also co-chairs during its development, found it was important for the university to slow down, step out of its typical colonial structure and mindset, and step into a more open mindset to allow for Indigenous voices, knowledge systems and ways of doing to help inform the strategy and the journey itself.

This mindful and inclusive approach was important in order for the university to “get it right.”

A resource for future Indigenous strategies

Marshall, who was provost when ii’ taa’poh’to’p was being developed, says she hopes the book will be a valuable resource for other institutions and organizations looking to develop Indigenous strategies.

“As a collective of authors, we wanted to be sure we captured the story of ii’ taa’poh’to’p in an authentic way, one that reflected the parallel path that we had taken to develop the strategy,” says Marshall. “We believe that we have done that — and we hope that the book is seen as another important contribution to Reconciliation in Canada.

“The book will stand as an historical record of how the Indigenous Strategy at the University of Calgary was developed — and we hope the lessons we learned will help inform others on their reconciliation journeys.”

Cunningham, director of ii' taa'poh'to'p, adds: “The journey towards the development of an Indigenous strategy for the University of Calgary was a profound transformational experience for all of those who participated and had the great honour to work with and learn from Indigenous community members, knowledge keepers and ceremonial Elders.”

The book was published by UCalgary Press. To order your own copy and learn more on how ii' taa'poh'to'p came to be, visit the website.