Exploring self-determined urban Indigenous adult education in an Indigenous organization

Abstract

Urban Indigenous communities in Canada are sites of dynamic knowledge transfer among Indigenous people who build community together both from within similar cultural frameworks and across difference. These “inter-national” urban Indigenous communities face distinct challenges and opportunities for implementing Indigenous knowledge transfer processes. This article examines the mechanisms through which knowledge transfer occurs at the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres, a large urban Indigenous organization in Toronto, Ontario. The researchers used interviews and focus groups to explore strategies for knowledge transfer among Elders, Knowledge Keepers, leaders, and staff. We argue that urban Indigenous communities transfer knowledge through processes that are sensitized to the diverse inter-national nature of these environments while at the same time oriented toward achieving the continuity of a common knowledge base. Thinking about these processes and their underlying goals through an educational lens helps broaden understandings of where Indigenous education occurs to include professional workplaces.