Artemis identifies as a Métis educator. “Camosun is the fourth post-secondary institution I’ve worked for and the one I’ve been at the longest. I started with the Community, Family, and Child Studies (CFCS) department in 2015, teaching a social justice course, which is one of my passions.” Eventually, Artemis became a fulltime continuing faculty member, then a new opportunity opened when Faye Martin, the Indigenous Support Coordinator, for what was then the School of Health and Human Services (HHS), retired. “I was asked to apply for her position, and I first said no because I was so inspired by Faye and was not sure I could offer what she had brought to the role. But I was asked again, by someone I respect, so I asked them to tell me why they thought I could do the job and what they would want me to do. Then a co-worked told me ‘You don’t have to be Faye; you just have to be you.’ I sat with all of those thoughts and prayed on it and then decided to apply.” Looking back, Artemis told me she is grateful she took on that role because it’s been an opportunity to pursue some institutional change. “Part of my role was to identify and reduce systemic barriers for Indigenous students, which, of course, reduces them for all students. That’s not easy work, but I enjoyed being able to do that.” Artemis says that one of the reasons she came to Camosun and has stayed here, is that the college has been a bit farther ahead of other institutions in terms of Indigenization. “The other part that’s great about being at Camosun is that most people who work here share similar values to me as well as the values posted on our website. And that collective passion for education is important to me.”
I asked Artemis what she enjoys most about working with students, both in teaching and in the Indigenous Support Coordinator role. “One thing that’s important to me is being able to support folks experiencing marginalization to feel empowered and to actualize their goals. That’s foundational for community colleges – they’re built on an empowerment model. They’re built on accessibility, inclusion, diversity, which is important to me. Part of the magic for me happens when I work with folks who experience barriers to success in their education, and I walk with them from where they start, to where they finish, whatever success looks like for them. It doesn’t necessarily mean they get a credential, but it might mean they’ve accomplished something that’s been really meaningful for them. I love when a student says to me, I never thought I could pass a college course, but I got an A.” Then there are what Artemis calls ‘popcorn moments.’ “That’s when I’m offering a new concept to a group of students, and they move from not knowing what I’m talking about to the moment where they shift and the lights go on. And when that happens, in my ears, I hear a sound like popcorn popping.” Finally, Artemis also loves that in her Indigeous Support Coordinator role she worked with many people from across the college.
Another aspect of working at the college Artemis enjoys is the opportunity for creativity. “Creativity in terms of how I teach, the materials I use, the kinds of assessments I use. Even the way I think about curriculum development, which is another one of my passions.” Creativity to Artemis also means looking at accessibility for students, for example, options for assessment. “I try to have at least one assignment in each course I teach, where students can either show me their learning in writing, or they can show me their learning through an expressive form of creativity that they choose. I’ve had songs written in my classes, poems, photo essays, paintings.” Artemis believes that this opportunity to be creative has a positive impact on how students bring themselves to class. “They’re also great to mark, and I also need to be creative in how I mark to be fair to the different forms of assessment, but this is one of the ways we can decolonize the colonial education framework that we work in.”
As well, Artemis says, “I think there are moments in assessment where it’s important to check each individual student’s capacity and awareness and learning, but there are also times where we can do group assessment. Students don’t love group projects, but particularly in my program’s field of work, group learning is so important because they need to learn how to work on teams.” Artemis has been exploring some ways to encourage teamwork. “Right before COVID, I gave a quiz, only worth maybe 10% of the grade, where students worked in groups at tables. I placed each student in their groups, being thoughtful about the range of capacities in each group, including capacities for the knowledge and capacities for art.” This particular test used to be multiple choice and short answer, but Artemis converted it into a group art project. “The whole class was assigned the same question, as a summation of what they learned in the course, specifically around supporting communities. I spread art supplies all over the room, and students choose what kind they wanted to use. They could write, if they wanted to use words, but they could also paint, draw, use pipe cleaners. And it was really beautiful to see their work. And what I saw in those groups was what I had hoped for: that the ones who still needed to learn these important concepts learned it through this group assessment activity.” Artemis told me that not only was it the first time an entire class left a test with big smiles on their faces, but she also saw people shine in different ways through their gifts. “They all contributed to the end result, and I could see how each of them shared their gift in the final outcomes. They all did great work and their grades for that assignment ranged from B’s to A’s, but the big wins were bringing creativity into assessment and making sure everyone left the course with what they needed.” Artemis also mentioned that she is herself an artist, and is currently studying expressive arts therapy, “combining my background in social work – human support, supporting people and communities – with art. And in the process of studying with art therapy educators, I’m learning how to bring art to education.”
Hearing this, I was reminded of the story Diane shared about the Self-Care Café, and I asked Artemis about her reflections on that work. “I’ve seen an incredible benefit for students and employees who stop by for the wellness that comes with that connection and the experience of having an opportunity to breathe for a minute. We need that space to recharge. The Café is now shifting to being led by students, who are excited because they’ve experienced it and know how beneficial it is. I also love to see that they do different arts and crafts, and that there are always lots of choices to do a little of this or a little of that or neither or both; offering choices is part of a trauma-informed approach.”
The importance of giving people space to breathe resonated with me and I asked Artemis if she had more thoughts about that. “As instructors, we are aware of the level of mental health challenges young people are experiencing, not surprising given the world that they’ve inherited, and I think the old way of doing education contributes to these challenges. There are so many opportunities for us to do things in a way that supports their wellness, including considering how many assignments we give them. One of the first courses I taught had 18 assignments. We are getting better at assessing learning outcomes more efficiently which contributes to student wellness.” Artemis also has a colleague who brings play into the learning space. “She has a gift to take a really dry subject that’s difficult to comprehend and turn it into play, so the students are laughing and having fun. I love that we can engage in learning with students in new, creative, and effective ways.”
While at of the time of writing this story, the position of Indigenous Support Coordinator in HHS had been eliminated, Artemis is hopeful that the work will continue through the Centre for Indigenous Education & Community Connections. In that role as Indigenous Support Coordinator, Artemis supported Indigenous applicants into HHS programs. “I was often their first contact for information on upgrading, etc., but I also helped them with confirming their Indigenous identity with the college. This is a sensitive area to work in and one we wish we didn’t have to do, because confirming identity can be difficult, because colonization has strategically found ways to disconnect people from who they are, from their families, from their lands, and from their nations.” Artemis also supported Indigenous students in HHS programs, the biggest group being in nursing. “There are 25 seats set aside for Indigenous students in the three nursing programs to increase the number of nurses who could support their own communities, other Indigenous communities, and communities in general.” Artemis emphasized that there is a great need for more Indigenous employees in all health and human services, so there are 12.5% of all seats across all HHS [now Health Sciences and Human Services – HSHS] programs set aside for Indigenous students. And since by fall 2025 HSHS will have 21 programs, there will be over 100 Indigenous students in HSHS. “I offer support for those students once they’re in the programs, and they can come to me with whatever they need. I either connect them with someone who offers that in the college or I support them myself. We will navigate experiences of racism, sometimes in classroom and sometimes that happens in community learning settings. I do my best to support them through the experience and help them respond in the way that they can feel heard.” Artemis also looks at the bigger picture. “If this is happening in the classroom, is there a way we can make changes to prevent that from happening in the future? That might be through employee education, classroom guidelines that students agree to, etc.” Another part of the work involves helping with curriculum development, exploring Indigenizing and decolonizing ways of teaching in the classroom, as well as examining how student supports can sometimes unintentionally do harm. “We’ve been looking at forms and processes and approaches, sometimes creating new ones, and sometimes talking through things as a team. It’s a big learning curve for some people, and our job as educators is to listen and take responsibility for engaging in learning outside of those conversations. Sometimes people think that students should be the one to explain what they need in terms of Indigenizing or decolonizing, but that’s not their job – we need to do that for each other.” And as a result of the realization that we needed to focus more on Indigenization and decolonizing as a college, Natasha Parrish and Artemis started the Anti-Racism and Decolonization Action Committee at the college. “That’s been really a great experience, not only because it brings like-minded folks together to support each other, to learn from each other, to inspire each other, but also because we’ve engaged in projects that have made some difference in the college.”
Finally, as the Indigenous Support Coordinator, Artemis offered learning circles focused on the program area of the class she was visiting. “Learning circles are Indigenous pedagogy, or Indigegogy. They are opportunities for everybody, me, the instructor, and all the students to sit together, learn with each other, and share with each other. We usually start by introducing ourselves in a cultural way, which includes one’s family’s cultural or ethnic identity. Everyone takes turns speaking and everyone listens so that instead of sharing from our minds, we’re invited to share from our hearts. After introductions, we’ll have some sharing about a topic as it relates to the students’ field of study, for example colonization, the Indian Act, trauma-informed approaches to working with people, diversity, and Indigenous identities. And because I work in health sciences and human services, we often talk about healing and wellness and medicines as well.” Artemis is hoping she can still engage in learning circles in HSHS even as she moves back to a teaching role.
I asked Artemis what memories she could share from her years at Camosun. “There are so many like the Pit cooks and the Orange Shirt Day ceremonies. Every year in September, there’s a new student welcome for Indigenous students that includes an uplifting ceremony. The Indigenous student awards is also an uplifting and amazing experience. Also, anytime I get to sit in a classroom with an Old One (Elder) and all the experiences we have on the land with the knowledge keepers and the old ones – those are really good moments.”
As our conversation came to an end, I asked Artemis what advice she might have for new faculty coming to Camosun. “Know that there’s more room for creativity and doing things differently than you might imagine. And if you can find a mentor, that really helps, especially with unraveling the mystery of Scheduled Development. Having boundaries is critically important, and it’s okay to say no to some things, even though that can be hard when you’re on probation. Find ways to connect and build relationships with people even outside of your department and school. And remember that the Indigenous student centers of Eyēʔ Sqȃ’lewen are open spaces, and people are always welcome to come and connect with Indigenous students and employees at the college.”
Artemis had some final thoughts for us all to consider. “First, we’ve done some really good work around Indigenization and decolonization at the college, but we need to go beyond course content. I would like to see us working to Indigenize and decolonize our policies and procedures, departments, leadership, governance, all of it. And finally, if you have passion for something and you see a need for it, there’s so much opportunity for anyone at the college to shine in their own leadership – to start something, create something, connect with like-minded people, to just do it. We often think there are far more limitations on what we can do than there actually are, and in fact, the sky’s the limit.”