![[Becker]](http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/images/2003/0924becker.gif)
One of nine children in a Labrador Métis family, she left her village of
600 residents at the age of 17 to get married, and it wasn't until years
later that she thought about school again.
by Barbara Elve
Like many native students, Jean Becker -- UW's first Aboriginal counsellor -- took a circuitous path to higher education.
One of nine children in a Labrador Métis family, she left her village of
600 residents at the age of 17 to get married, and it wasn't until years
later that she thought about school again.
When Becker returned to the classroom, she found that "many of the Aboriginal people getting higher education were like me -- not coming out of high school, mostly women and mostly mature students."
While native students face numerous barriers to postsecondary education, "the big part of it is the psychological leap -- believing you can do it," she explains. "I flunked out of high school at Grade 9; when I started getting good marks in university, I was flabbergasted."
When Becker arrived at Waterloo last winter to take the post of Aboriginal counsellor, there were no records of how many native students were enrolled at Waterloo. At that time, there were some 60 status Indians whose tuition was being paid by their bands, and probably at least as many non-status natives also studying here.
Becker is discovering more native students at UW by making her service known, and with funding from the Ontario ministry of education, she extends assistance to "anyone who is Aboriginal."
From her office at St. Paul's United College, Becker works with the UW Aboriginal Student Association, providing a meeting place and facilitating plans for Aboriginal Awareness Day, Aboriginal Solidarity Day and other social and cultural events.
She's amazed to discover that most of the native students she's encountered "have never known another Aboriginal student at UW. There are students who go through four years and are astounded to learn there are other Aboriginal students on campus.
"They come to Waterloo from all over the country," she adds, "from Labrador to Whitehorse to B.C. With more than 20,000 students at UW, you just get lost." And it adds to the stress of being a student if "you never see anyone who looks like you or has had your kind of experiences."
For native students coming to university for the first time in an unfamiliar city, "there are layers of culture shock. Some students do very well and don't need our services, but they can still gain by having Aboriginal connections."
Part of her job is to create opportunities for those connections. As well, her mandate includes:
Links with community agencies are critical, says Becker, because they give students somewhere to go to feel supported, to meet with elders, to act as role models for the next generation. As well, Aboriginal students away from home can participate in cultural activities and ceremonies with people in the community and even find job connections.
"There's a feeling of support and acknowledgment -- especially for students from far away, from isolated communities in the north -- that gives you a groundedness and strength you don't have otherwise."
Locally, native students can participate in cultural events such as drum circles and seasonal feasts at the Weejeendimin Native Resource Centre in Kitchener. The agency also serves as a social network and information centre.
At Anishnabeg Outreach in Kitchener, employment training and career planning is offered to native university students, one of whom found a summer job in UW's human resources department through the agency. Such services "need to be specific for Aboriginal people," says Becker. "They tend to look for help with Aboriginal agencies and don't always feel they'll be well served by non-Aboriginal services. They're often looking for employment in Aboriginal settings with Aboriginal people." With mainstream employment services, she adds, "they may feel they're not going to be understood when they talk about their goals and aspirations -- that they will be looked down on or ignored."
But the quality of the climate for native students on campus is important, too, and Becker hopes to help build bridges by promoting Aboriginal culture so that non-Aboriginal students "can learn about it, appreciate it and create a place for it in the institution."
The reality, she explains, is "racism is alive and well in Canada, and Aboriginal people encounter it all the time."
Last winter, an Aboriginal student told Becker about a professor who described natives as "savages" in class. The student was upset, but afraid to approach the professor "because of the power imbalance, for fear of getting a bad mark or failing."
Becker suggested the student have "a conversation" with the professor and explain the impact the statement had on her. The result: "The professor didn't minimize the issue, he took her seriously, got to know her and ended up apologizing in front of the class."
"People have such stereotypes -- the noble savage, the vicious savage, or the drunken Indian -- in their heads, and sometimes they slip out," says Becker. "Not just bad people; good people have them, too. Unless something happens to make us examine our underlying belief systems, we don't.
"Aboriginal students hear those things loud and clear when they're said. A student may end up swallowing this; it's like carrying around a pack full of garbage."
Becker had her own experience to draw on when advising the student.
"I knew what it would be like if she didn't do anything." While Becker was prepared to act as a facilitator at the meeting between the student and prof, "the student opted to handle it on her own after reviewing potential scenarios.
"I don't believe there are any issues that can't be handled with a conversation if both parties are committed. And going over the head of a person is not helpful in terms of finding a resolution.
"Good people say things they wish they hadn't," she laughs. "I wouldn't want to be held accountable for everything I've said in my life."
The incident, she notes, "shows why I'm needed here, why I can play a useful role."
Becker has met with university officials to begin development of formal recruitment strategies. "We're way behind other universities," she says, many of which have Aboriginal recruiter positions.
"I would like to see more Aboriginal students gain access to UW programs," she says. A first step has been an agreement since 1993 between UW and Six Nations Polytechnic at the reserve in Ohsweken. UW instructors teach a number of courses -- along with staff from four other universities -- in a first-year general arts program. After successful completion of that program, native students can pursue their second-year studies at one of the participating universities.
Becker will be acting as a liaison between UW and the polytechnic, and will be teaching a course at UW this fall, as well. Native Studies 370, Issues in Contemporary Native Communities in Canada, will bring to campus prominent Aboriginal speakers who will address such topics as "Healing Through the Arts," "Overview of the Burnt Church Conflict," and "Residential Schools and Healing."
A highlight will be a visit from Roberta Jamieson, the first Aboriginal woman in Canada to obtain a law degree, and the first woman to be elected chief of the Six Nations. She will speak on November 6 on "The Governance Act and Relations Between Aboriginal Peoples and the Canadian State."
The talks will be held on Thursday evenings at 8 p.m. in MacKirdy Hall, St. Paul's College, and are open to all.
As for the future, Becker would like to see a Native Students Centre at UW, "similar to those at the University of Toronto and Queen's University," offering counselling and recruitment services, hosting visiting elders and elders-in-residence, and providing more opportunities for native students to participate in cultural activities, as well as tutoring and mentoring programs.
"I don't regard it as an issue of privilege or special treatment," says Becker, "just what we need to succeed. People need to be able to see themselves doing something; they can't fulfill anything without a vision."