“It’s one thing to have the teachings. It’s quite another thing to know what the teachings mean and how they instruct and inform us in our reality today. We have to learn the teachings. We have to know our beliefs and our way of life so well that when we pass them on to our children, they will know how to live…if we have done that well and if we really know our way and our way of teaching, we will hear the truth of the teachings in our children and in our young people” (Jim Dumont, 2002)

“I love this statement by Ojibwe scholar and teacher, Jim Dumont. I referred to his work on Indigenous intelligence in one of my early publications, and I continue to hold his words close. He reminds us to take on the responsibility of remembering and recovering our knowledges and passing them on to others. This is no easy ask—so much has been destroyed and disrupted, compromised and altered, hidden and silenced. For Indigenous peoples, there are then multiple learning contexts and capacities, which take different priorities at different times.”

— Elizabeth Sumida Huaman

Among the 370 million Indigenous peoples in 90 countries worldwide, there are diverse environmental, cultural, political, social, and linguistic strengths and struggles. In the U.S. alone, there are over 570 federally-recognized Indigenous entities working to sustain their sovereignty, and in Peru, our rich yet exploited ecosystems are home to 55 Indigenous groups speaking 47 Indigenous languages and who face a number of concerns, including extractive industry and environmental contamination.

As Indigenous peoples address the oppressions produced by coloniality—in areas from governance to education to environmental justice—we are categorized as “statistically insignificant,” further marginalizing us from critical conversations, including global initiatives, like internationalization, which typically functions based on uneven priorities and exchanges.

In my capacity as a professor, at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, my work deepens what education means in relation to development, policy, and Indigenous and minoritized communities. I teach courses on intercultural education, international education, international development and education, Indigenous education, and Indigenous research methods, and I also lead the initiative on Comparative Indigenous Education—building partnerships with Indigenous peoples and Indigenous-serving institutions worldwide.