By Rachel Cooper (’89)

In December 2019, Lara Hartman (’21) concluded her TEDx talk at a Maple League of Universities conference by saying, “If we’re serious about change, and we want to transform together, we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” Lara, an Indigenous woman from the Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation in Northern British Columbia, graduated from Acadia with a BAH in Politics. She has now finished coursework for her MA in Political Science from the University of Victoria and is writing her thesis. In her TEDx talk, she spoke of the 7th Generation Principle, an Iroquois philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. She pointed out that the intergenerational traumas created by residential schools are still in their early generations. The last residential schools in Canada closed in 1996; Lara was born in 1999. She called on the four Maple League of Universities – Acadia, Bishop’s, Mount Allison, and St. Francis Xavier – to take specific actions. These included flying Indigenous flags to celebrate the unceded territories on which the universities are located; having Indigenous advisors, counsellors and elders in residence; having an Indigenous Student Centre; holding annual Sisters in Spirit Vigils; and hiring Indigenous scholars.

Connected to home

Now back home in Fraser Lake, BC, Lara is looking for work with an Indigenous focus while she completes her MA. “I always had a strong connection with my home community and my family,” she says. “As much as I loved living in Nova Scotia for four years and then in Victoria, nothing was quite the same as home. For right now, it's the place I need to be. I have connections to the community, and I can coach sports here.” She has coached soccer for mixed boys and girls aged 13 to 15 as well as senior boys’ volleyball. She has also done team managing and assisting with coaching for senior boys’ basketball. Even so, coming home required some adjustment. “When I got back, I didn't fit into the place I had left. I had grown as a person. I had learned so much. So I needed to give myself the grace to realize that I'm not the same person I was when I left in 2017 and to make a new space for myself here.”

Grateful and encouraged

During her time at Acadia, Lara experienced highs and lows. “I will always be grateful for Acadia and Wolfville and the people I met there,” she says. “My experiences with people were the biggest parts of my four years. I really liked getting to experience different things, especially in first and second years when you're all in it together, learning how to be a university student and all absolutely terrified,” she says with a laugh. But she also experienced racism and microaggressions. “During discussions, I would often be asked to speak on the Indigenous approach to the subject at hand,” she says. “Over time, as I learned more and decolonized myself and my ways of thinking even as an Indigenous person, I realized that that's not okay. I am a First Nations woman from Nak’azdli Whut’en in British Columbia. I can't speak for people living in Mi’kma’ki or the Inuit or anyone else because we've all had different life experiences. And I became stronger and was more willing to say no, I'm not here for that.” She is quick to add that there were people from Acadia in her corner supporting her and giving her advice. She is also encouraged by the steps Acadia is taking to Indigenize and decolonize (see sidebar).