Native American Heritage Fund grant creates GVSU pilot program to embed Indigenous knowledge into courses

Grand Valley will create and embed Anishinaabe teachings into several undergraduate courses, following a $63,500 grant from the Native American Heritage Fund.

The pilot program will begin in the winter 2025 semester and include bringing in community Indigenous knowledge keepers to collaborate and co-teach with Grand Valley faculty members who lead these courses. 

Belinda Bardwell, assistant director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and others involved in writing the grant said the Enji-maawnjiding Project, which means “Place of Gathering,” extends well beyond these courses. 

"This goes a long way in creating a safe campus for our Native students," said Bardwell, who also serves as advisor to the Mno’Chigewin Native Student Success Program. "Through co-taught, Two-Eyed Seeing courses, all students will benefit from learning about Native teachings and culture. It benefits everybody, and that's the Anishinaabe way."

The Two-Eyed Seeing approach uses one eye to understand the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and the other to understand Western knowledge, then melds those perspectives together for mutual benefit.

Bardwell serves as a co-principal investigator for the project with Dawn Rutecki, assistant professor of interdisciplinary studies, and Steven Dorland, assistant professor of anthropology. Dorland incorporated the Two-Eyed Seeing method into an archaeological field school last year after collaborating with Native partners. 

Money from the Native American Heritage Fund grant will support hiring a part-time project coordinator, training for faculty and creating and supporting a community of Indigenous knowledge keepers.

Mark Schaub, dean of the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies, said while the work for the grant will be housed within the college, support for the project is spread throughout Grand Valley and includes University Libraries, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center, and others.

"We are honored that the Native American Heritage Fund has entrusted Grand Valley and Brooks College with this work," Schaub said. "There is a commitment across campus to uplift Indigenous knowledge and to shift conversations in the classroom to better understand Native culture."