*3.1. Course Description*

As mentioned in the introduction, the course was offered on zoom in the spring of 2021 and focused on the interface between Euro-American knowledge systems and Indige-

nous knowledge systems (IKS). It was designed for students interested in learning about cross-cultural theories of knowledge and practice and serving in cross-cultural contexts in areas such as education, conservation and environmental sustainability. The learning outcomes included the following: explore the ways in which Indigenous knowledge systems have been adapted to meet contemporary imperatives by Indigenous peoples around the world; begin to see Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies as unique bodies of knowledge; understand the living and open-ended nature of Indigenous knowledge systems; understand the rights of Indigenous peoples to their knowledge and heritage; understand Indigenous peoples' resilience, resurgence and revitalization; gain an appreciation for Indigenous and decolonizing research in conservation and education; and consider the ethical dimensions of working with Indigenous peoples surrounding intellectual property rights and appropriation.

Topics included IKS and worldviews; land-based pedagogies; knowledge and cultural appropriation; Indigenous and decolonizing research methodologies; and resilience, resurgence and revitalization. The last topic was informed by Simpson's call [10] encouraging students and instructors:

"to think about how our Ancestors have resisted the processes of colonization, colonialism, and assimilation in the past. This injects the learning process with power and hope, with the recognition that our peoples have worked hard to protect our Traditional Territories, cultures, and knowledge in the past, and it counters the stereotype that Aboriginal Peoples were simply helpless victims in these horrific processes. It assists students and instructors in recognizing their responsibilities to the coming generations and allows students to develop the skills they need to engage in effective resistance strategies once they graduate." [10] (p. 19)

Table 1 gives an overview of the topics and sample materials we read, listened to and watched and examples of webinars we attended.


**Table 1.** Course Content: Topics and Materials.

There were four assignments for course participants taking the course for two credits: class participation; personal and community knowledge systems, which had three parts personal knowledge system; community knowledge, which required course participants to have zoom conversations with 2–3 local people in their community to learn where the knowledge they use comes from, using the data from the conversations participants were to create a product (could take any form such as artwork, a poster, a video, or paper) to summarize what they learned from the community conversations and their personal knowledge system; a group project on facilitating a lesson on IKS of a particular place to an audience of their choice; media assignment, which required course participants to find a topic addressing the broader theme of "Indigenous Knowledge" in the media (e.g., magazines, newspapers, YouTube, internet stories, Podcasts, TV or movie clips, blogs), and analyze how the IK concept is discussed and consider whether this is consistent (or not) with class materials and discussions. Participants taking the course for three credits had an extra assignment that focused on creating an ethical protocol to conduct research in an Indigenous or local community.

We had a variety of classroom activities. Two consistent ones included a land acknowledgment of a particular community and sharing of the learning from everyone's "sit spot" activity. We acknowledged the problematic nature of land acknowledgments, which tend to focus on only "reading a script"; we tried to educate ourselves by learning the history (past and present) of the Indigenous peoples of the places we were acknowledging and also discussed ways of building authentic relationships with them. The idea of including a "sit spot" in our learning was inspired by the Abenaki Elder who shared his wisdom on "learning from the land."
