McMaster University has announced its plans to introduce guidelines and a process to verify Indigenous ancestry. The new process will launch in two phases: Phase one, launching in June, will be for Indigenous student scholarships, awards, and bursaries; phase two will launch in the upcoming academic year for staff and faculty recruitment. The process was developed around the idea that membership in an Indigenous community can only be determined by Indigenous communities. It is built on four core principles: kindness, truth and truthfulness, kinship and good relations, and having a good mind. “We worked to ensure the process is as sensitive to students’ perspectives as possible,” said McMaster Indigenous Student Services Director Chrissy Doolittle.
