{"id":876,"date":"2021-07-02T00:13:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T08:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/?p=876"},"modified":"2021-08-17T13:10:32","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T21:10:32","slug":"faculty-spotlight-rachel-chong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/faculty-spotlight-rachel-chong\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty Spotlight: Rachel Chong"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Taanishi kiiyawow. As Rachel Chong greets me in Michif, the native tongue of her people, she smiles brightly. \u201cI\u2019m in no way an expert, but I\u2019ve been trying to learn the traditional language of my ancestors recently. I\u2019m still very new at this.\u201d Crediting her newfound skill to St. Albert Further Education<\/a>, where she recently enrolled in an introductory course to connect with her M\u00e9tis heritage, learning Michif is just one of the many ways Rachel is reacquainting with her family\u2019s past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Descended from Alexander Wilkie, father-in-law to the prominent M\u00e9tis leader, Gabriel Dumont, Rachel\u2019s family originally hails from St. Boniface, Manitoba, but moved to the West Coast in the mid-60s to escape the rampant prejudism there at the time. \u201cWhen searching for employment, my grandfather [Maurice Bousquet] would show up to an interview and [the employer] would see him and say, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re not French; You\u2019re Indigenous,\u2019 and suddenly they\u2019d have 101 reasons for why they couldn\u2019t hire him. He had heard things were better on the West Coast and so, here we are three generations later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born and raised in the Lower Mainland, Rachel and her family reside on the traditional territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, St\u00f3:l\u014d, Stz\u2019uminus, WS\u00c1NE\u0106, and Tsawwassen First Nations, in what is now known as Delta, BC. \u201cDelta is a unique landmass in that we\u2019re pretty much situated near all bogland, which is a combination of water and spongy moss. Robin Wall Kimmerer [in her book, Gathering Moss] compares bogs to Water Drums, which is a sacred Indigenous instrument. She describes them as the drums of the land and a way for us to communicate to each other and to the spirit world, which I thought was really beautiful.\u201d As much as she loves where she lives, Rachel takes a moment to pause and reflect. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting being Indigenous, but not Indigenous to the land you\u2019re living on. While I may be considered Indigenous to Canada, \u2018Canada\u2019 is a colonial construct, so as an Indigenous person, I really am on other people\u2019s territories and must be respectful and mindful of that.\u201d To do so, Rachel acknowledges the land through a territorial honouring. \u201cIt really is a way to honour the people who\u2019ve been here before us, who have historically been stewards of the land and resources we\u2019re all benefitting from today, and who continue to fight to protect the environment.\u201d Rachel points to the recent headlines regarding Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island, where Premier John Horgan announced earlier this month that BC would defer old-growth forestry for two years<\/a> after a social media uproar brought light to the dire situation. \u201cThat [movement] was primarily led by Indigenous Peoples, who now have rights as part of the BC legislation to continue to protect the land we share. So we have to remember that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Not knowing what she wanted to do after graduating high school, Rachel turned to the Communications program at SFU. \u201cThe plan was to go into marketing for nonprofit organizations, but when I started doing co-op work terms, I decided that profession wasn\u2019t for me.\u201d It was then, that Rachel enrolled in the Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) program at UBC, which combined her love of reading with a part of herself she wasn\u2019t full acquainted with yet. \u201cThe MLIS program was where I first started learning about Indigenous Histories and my first real taste of Indigenous practices in librarianship. I chose UBC because it was the only program in the country with a First Nations\u2019 Curriculum Concentration (FNCC). What really attracted me to [the program] was the impact I saw [in my day job working in public libraries] that librarians were having with community members. There\u2019s a real need for people to continue learning beyond the formal school structure, so that was something that really spoke to me.\u201d While studying at UBC, Rachel focused on Indigenous picture books, particularly M\u00e9tis representation within children\u2019s literature. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t a whole lot out there in terms of representation. Nowadays, there is so much content being published, especially from the Gabriel Dumont Institute<\/a>, so we\u2019re starting to see things like fiddling, jigging, and bannock-making appearing more and more in books than ever before.\u201d Today, Rachel is part of a local steering committee that vets literary content to ensure it is being told through authentic Indigenous lenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her role as the Indigenous Engagement and Subject Liaison Librarian (in addition to being the
Anthropology Subject Liaison Librarian) at KPU, Rachel regularly runs workshops for KPU faculty and instructional staff to better increase Indigenous visibility throughout the institution. Her most popular workshop, Indigenous Resources for Virtual Classrooms<\/a>, touches on such special topics as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission\u2019s 94 Calls to Action<\/a> and how to broach the subject of land treaties, and provides respectful resources that instructors can incorporate into their curriculum. Not to mention, Rachel\u2019s workshop fills up faster than any other Teaching & Learning offering to date. \u201cI\u2019m really proud of that one because it introduces instructors to resources they may not have even known about until now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the only Indigenous Librarian at KPU, and the first person to be in this role, a part of Rachel\u2019s job is to constantly rethink the wheel and identify areas within the university to raise awareness. \u201cI try to do everything I can. Aside from running workshops, I\u2019ve launched an 8-part Indigenous Information Literacy video series<\/a>, revamped our Indigenous Studies Library Guide<\/a>, soft-launched a PressBook on Indigenous Information Literacy<\/a>, and am currently working with Linda Woodcock in Cataloguing to add local subject terms to Indigenous authors\u2019 books in KPU\u2019s library.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of what she loves about working at KPU, Rachel mentions community. \u201cSteve Cardwell has done a fabulous job in gathering people together who have a real interest in Indigenous content. It\u2019s been really nice to get so many diverse perspectives during the Indigenous Advisory Committee meetings \u2013 from the Kwantlen, Semiahmoo, and Katzie First Nations, as well as urban groups like the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society<\/a> \u2013 that you wouldn\u2019t normally get to hear or learn from.\u201d Though community building has taken a hit since the onset of the pandemic, Rachel says those connections and relationships have continued on despite setbacks. \u201cMeeting people online is a strange thing. It\u2019s not the same experience as being in person, but since shifting virtually, a significant number of faculty have reached out to me since there\u2019s much more flexibility now to meet on Zoom or have a quick conversation through Microsoft Teams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we broached the topic of how KPU should continue to promote Indigenization within the greater community, Rachel\u2019s eyes light up. \u201cI\u2019d like to see us continuing to hire more Indigenous Peoples. There are so many different cultures and backgrounds across the country and the more diverse representation for all Indigenous Peoples, the better. You know, we\u2019re not a monoculture. Even within Indigenous Nations, there\u2019s a lot of diversity there, and to emphasize just how different we all are, and to bring those different perspectives to the table, really goes to show how inclusive KPU is and can be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked how she\u2019s been keeping busy during the pandemic, Rachel shares that virtual nature walks on Instagram and a passion for beading circles have helped. \u201cI love beading,\u201d Rachel says, displaying a stunning pair of handcrafted earrings she made that tells the story of a sun setting over the ocean. \u201cI\u2019d love to eventually run some fundraisers in memory of the 215 children found on the grounds of the Kamloops Residential School. And other projects, too. The fact that even after COVID, First Nations across Canada still don\u2019t have access to clean water is just appalling. If I can do anything to contribute, even if it\u2019s just beadwork and awareness, every bit helps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking toward the future, Rachel believes that community-building and inclusion can go the distance. \u201cI\u2019d really like to create an Indigenous space in the Library someday. Now, what that looks like, I\u2019m not sure, but I\u2019d want to be as authentic as possible and consult local Indigenous Elders in order for it to best serve the greater KPU community. I think there is a real opportunity there to feature Indigenous authors from across North America and beyond and incorporate collaborative art work from Indigenous KPU students and just really make it a space where people can gather and tell stories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the short time that I spoke with Rachel, it is clear that her influence extends far outside the reaches of KPU\u2019s Library. While advocating for the voices of all Indigenous Peoples to be heard, Rachel reminds us why Indigenization in higher education is so important in reconnecting with the land, in honouring those who walked before us, and in creating deep and meaningful connections to those we work and interact with. In doing so, we lay the groundwork for future generations where inclusivity and relationship building go hand-in-hand with KPU and the greater community beyond its five campuses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taanishi kiiyawow. As Rachel Chong greets me in Michif, the native tongue of her people, she smiles brightly. \u201cI\u2019m in no way an expert, but I\u2019ve been trying to learn the traditional language of my ancestors recently. I\u2019m still very new at this.\u201d Crediting her newfound skill to St. Albert Further Education, where she recently…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":652,"featured_media":879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","iawp_total_views":39,"footnotes":""},"categories":[218,217,216,219],"tags":[69,227,53,221,222,223,130,220,224,60,225,226],"class_list":["post-876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","category-indigenization","category-indigenous","category-library","tag-faculty","tag-first-nations","tag-indigenization","tag-indigenous","tag-indigenous-month","tag-indigenous-resources","tag-learning","tag-library","tag-resources","tag-teaching","tag-virtual","tag-virtual-classroom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/652"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":880,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions\/880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}