Who Should Teach Indigenous History?

Canada's "residential schools" took indigenous Canadians away from their families and communities and educated them in ways meant to minimize their heritage. So when news spread that Mount Saint Vincent University, in Nova Scotia, had hired someone who is not indigenous to teach a course about the residential schools, many indigenous groups in Canada were critical. They said that this added insult to the injury already caused by the schools. CBC News reported that the university has called a meeting with the professor assigned to the course and indigenous faculty members to find "a way forward." But one Canadian organization is criticizing the university for not simply standing behind its choice. A letter to the university from the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship states, "The idea that only indigenous scholars can teach topics involving indigenous people is false and pernicious. Mount Saint Vincent University should clearly and forcefully repudiate it."