Theorizing and implementing meaningful Indigenization: Wikipedia as an opportunity for course-based digital advocacy

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article is inspired by long-standing calls to address issues of anti-Indigenous racism and colonialism within higher education. There is a growing trend among universities around the globe to commit to principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), including discussions about how to Indigenize the academy. While EDI and Indigenization goals are laudable, they are often critiqued as superficial policies that fail to disrupt the status quo of everyday racism and colonialism embedded within academic institutions. In response, we contend that scholars must carefully think through the concept of Indigenization guided by critical Indigenous theories to ensure meaningful application over performative inaction. Critical Indigenous theory grounds our analysis and reflections of using Wikipedia in the higher education classroom. We illustrate how Wikipedia can be used in the classroom as a site of digital advocacy to foster meaningful and sustainable change that aligns with the tenets of critical Indigenous theories, such as Indigenous storywork, resisting damage, and resurgence-based decolonial Indigenization. Our contribution showcases how implementing Wikipedia is one pedagogical strategy that can be implemented to challenge the status quo of knowledge production within and beyond academia.