When: Wednesdays, March 26, April 2, 9 and 16 (1-4:00 pm ET)
Where: Zoom Meeting (camera and audio enabled)
Cost: $100 for the series of 4 sessions

Please note, all participants will receive a confirmation email from TicketTailor with a link to join the meetings on Zoom. All registrants will be provided with a link to the recording and the presentation slides following each session.

The DEFNP workshop series will offer tailored programming designed to match ENGOs on their decolonial (un)learning journeys. In Spring 2025, members of the ENGO sector will be able to choose one of three workshop tracks: Introduction to Decolonization in the ENGO Sector, Advanced Decolonial Theory and Application, or For Indigenous Ears Only - A Space for Reflection and Action. Each series consists of four three-hour sessions.‍

Collectively, Decolonizing ENGO-First Nation Partnerships fosters:

• Awareness of settler colonialism and the ways it potentially harnesses civil society;Understanding about how Canadian law such as the Indian Act and the Income Tax Act has suppressed Indigenous governance systems;
• Awareness that Indigenous peoples have unique inherent political and legal systems, with which ENGOs may want to form partnerships;
• A better understanding about how to navigate partnerships with Indigenous communities that promote decolonial environmentalism;
• A stronger sense about how to identify and explain individual and organization social locations (i.e. positionalities) as part of ethical partnership development;
• Promoting the resurgence of Indigenous self-determination in the Canadian ENGO sector.‍

Advanced Decolonial Theory and Application

This workshop series is designed for ENGO representatives who have experience with session topics and are ready to take chances by participating in potentially uncomfortable conversations to expose the root issues at play. These spaces are designed with safety of participants in mind with the goal of exposing the potential reproduction of colonial thinking/doing within the ENGO sector. Sessions will be conversational while making use of lecture-style teaching.

Session 1: Diagnosing Settler Colonialism in the Enviro Sector

Participants will be asked to share ways in which they have diagnosed and traced power in social justice movements and/or in the ENGO sector. This workshop will make space for discomfort as part of promoting decolonization.

Session 2: Inherent Indigenous Governance

A mix of advanced and introductory theory, this workshop delves into legal and political pluralism, naming the fact that Indigenous nations have their own sources of political authority that they can (and do) draw on when addressing environmental issues.

Session 3: The Nonprofit Industrial Complex

ENGO participants are introduced to theories and examples describing the Nonprofit Industrial Complex and the “Shadow State.” Purpose is to show how settler colonialism structures civil society.

Session 4: Decolonizing ENGO-First Nation Partnerships

This workshop delves deep into how ENGOs can partner with Indigenous nations beyond the Nonprofit Industrial Complex while promoting deference to inherent Indigenous political leaders.

Our Presenter:

Dr. Damien Lee is a member of Fort William First Nation and holds a PhD in Indigenous Studies from the University of Manitoba, and a Master of Arts in Indigenous Governance from the University of Victoria. Dr. Lee has extensive experience facilitating/teaching adult-focused education at the post-secondary level and co-leads Gimiwan Research and Consulting. Gimiwan serves mainly Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led organizations by providing research and workshop services based in decolonial ethics and Indigenous worldviews.

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