Terminology

CULTURAL PROGRAM FACILITATOR

When interacting and engaging with the public, you will quickly notice that everyone has different experiences interacting with Indigenous people—some will know of the complex history and others will know very little. These different backgrounds may give rise to different terminology some will use when referring to Indigenous people.

Here is a comprehensive list of commonly used terminology:

indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/terminology

When working with the public, you may notice that some people might address artists or employees using dated terms. When this occurs, use it as a learning experience, explaining to them that this is a term we no longer use in Canada and that is offensive to Indigenous people because it carries a history of harm.

Continue to explain the terms we use in the present day, such as “Indigenous.”

Additionally, make sure your organization is consistent with the terminology it uses in signage and employees’ language.

Connection-Building Activities Match a term to the correct definition

„ Provide guests with newspapers or documents from the past to the present, each one using a different term for

“Indigenous” that people used at the time. Use these as examples to show guests how terminology has evolved over time and provide context for when and how certain terms were used to describe Indigenous people. „ Ask guests to place the newspapers or documents in the order in which they think they were published, based on terms used.