Writer, filmmaker and associate professor Tasha Hubbard is a co-creator and instructor of a new online course aimed at countering harmful misconceptions about Indigenous peoples in Canada. (Photo: Supplied)
When one of Janice Hurlburt's friends posted on social media about a carved "totem" pole she'd received as a birthday gift from a non-Indigenous artist, Hurlburt was quick to message her.
"I suggested to her that she could call it a sculpture, just not use the word 'totem,' because it's specific to a cultural practice, and it's sacred."
Hurlburt's gentle heads-up to her friend was one small way she learned how to be a settler ally to Indigenous people, after taking NS 161: Countering Stereotypes of Indigenous Peoples. The new University of Alberta course digs into and challenges prejudices and misconceptions harboured by society.
"It's made me more aware of the different stereotypes out there and the harm they do," says Hurlburt, a retiree who enrolled to learn more about Indigenous issues.
"The course has opened my eyes, opened my heart and given me a greater respect and appreciation for the Indigenous peoples of this land and what they have to deal with on a day-to-day basis."
