From inclusion to decolonization: settler faculty agency across contrasting approaches to Indigenization

In the context of growing institutional commitments to decolonization and Indigenization, this article explores the complex, structurally mediated forms of agency through which settler, predominantly white faculty engage in that type of curricular reform. Drawing on participatory action research in a Canadian university that has formally pledged to Indigenize its academic programs, the study identifies multiple orientations to Indigenization and analyzes how these intersect with distinct forms of academic agency. The findings highlight the limitations of individual moral commitment in the absence of structural supports, such as collaborative departmental teaching cultures and institutional recognition of decolonization labor. Conceptually, the article argues that epistemic friction and pedagogical uncertainty are not barriers to be resolved, but constitutive features of engagement in decolonization initiatives. The study contributes to the literature by reframing settler faculty work not as a matter of awareness, but of navigating contested terrains within institutions still shaped by colonial legacies.