Tales from the Real World: Call to Action to Engage in Critical Indigenous Leadership Activism and Allyship

In response to the evolving landscape of leadership today, particularly as it relates to social- and racial-justice-related work within mainstream organizations, it is important to fully equip all leaders (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) with the knowledge, skills, and approaches necessary to effectively disrupt inequality and inequity and initiate transformative change. The scope of the work and the action required to address interpersonal, structural, and systemic anti-Indigenous racism and discrimination is significant, and as articulated by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (2008) and the report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada (2015), it must be guided and led by Indigenous people. Accordingly, a critical need exists for Indigenous leaders who can effectively disrupt power dynamics, push back against dominant institutions and ongoing colonialism (Coulthard, 2008; Ermine, 2007; Turner, 2006), and whose leadership is informed by Indigenous values, knowledges, and ways of being (V. J. Johnson, 1997; Kenny & Fraser, 2008; Varley, 2016). To foster this type of critical leadership, Indigenous leaders require ongoing Indigenous-specific leadership development, and non-Indigenous educators can play an important role through allyship.