UBC Vancouver has awarded 32 honorary degrees to Indigenous people.
The number of Indigenous recipients of these awards was questioned by one Twitter user following news that UBC would review John O’Grady’s honorary degree after the discovery of 215 Indigenous children’s remains at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
This number is small considering the hundreds of honorary degrees that have been awarded since the 1920s, but the group of 32 includes many significant names.
The first Indigenous recipient was Haida sculptor and activist Bill Reid in 1976. Some of Reid’s most recognized sculptures are on display in locations such as Vancouver International Airport and the Canadian embassy in Washington DC. Other notable recipients include Syilx Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, a powerful activist for Indigenous and environmental rights, as well as UBC Chancellor and former BC Lieutenant Governor Steven Point.
30 of the 32 recipients have been commemorated with a photo and a short description of their accomplishments in the UBC Indigenous Portal’s Honour of One flipbook. The book was first created in the early 2000s to build on a photography exhibit commemorating honourees at the Elders’ Lounge in the First Nations Longhouse.
“Every time there was a new [recipient], there was a new photo added to the initial exhibit,” said Research and Communications Officer for the First Nations House of Learning Kevin Ward. “It got to the point that there was no more room on the walls for new additions to this exhibit.”
The two Indigenous recipients in 2021, Snuneymuxw and Cowichan First Nations Elder Roberta Price and Tahltan First Nation member Garry Merkel, have not yet been added, but will be soon.
Despite the seemingly small number of Indigenous honorary degree recipients, UBC has done a good job of honouring prominent Indigenous figures, according to Dr. Margaret Moss, director of the First Nations House of Learning.
Moss, a member of the North Dakota Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Sioux Nations, has previously worked at multiple prominent US universities and said that UBC has far more Indigenous honourees than any of her previous schools.
“In my time at those various universities, I don’t remember there being one Indigenous recipient of an honorary doctorate,” said Moss. “From my perspective, coming here, seeing this book, going to the Elders’ Lounge … I was pretty amazed.”
Moss has been at UBC since late 2018, and has observed five new recipients in her two-and-a-half year tenure thus far.
Ultimately, both Moss and Ward feel that there is a place for honorary degrees in helping with reconciliation, particularly as non-Indigenous Canadians continue to grapple with the violent reality of their country’s colonial past.
“These degrees and future acknowledgements are about reflecting the improvements that Canadian society has made over time,” said Ward. “Each individual recognized brings their own stories to bear on the history of this country and how they navigated the history.”
The National Indian Residential School Crisis line provides 24/7 support to residential school survivors and others who may need it: 1-866-925-4419.