At this year’s Annual Representative Assembly (ARA), educator and scholar Dr.Dwayne Donald was presented with the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s (ATA) highest honour, honorary membership, recognizing his profound contributions, both provincially and nationally, to Indigenous education and reconciliation.
Donald, a professor in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Education, holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Reimagining Teacher Education with Indigenous Wisdom Traditions.
In his acceptance speech, Donald expressed deep gratitude to those who have shaped his life and work. A proud graduate of Strathcona High School in Edmonton, Donald paid tribute to those who played a significant role throughout his school years. In particular, he recognized his former football coach, John Belmont, whose mentorship helped guide him throughout his youth.
“Back when we were young, our dad was a long-haul trucker and wasn’t home a lot, and so I think our parents were worried we were going to get into trouble,” said Donald. “So we relied a lot on the school to keep us busy. And sports was the way to do that. And John Belmont was a huge influence on that.”
Another key figure in Donald’s life was Larry Booi, his high school social studies teacher and track coach. Booi, who went on to become president of the ATA, was a role model for Donald—someone he wanted to emulate.
“For me, it was always him, just the way he was, the way he presented himself,” Donald said.
Moving from personal reflections to broader social issues, Donald expressed his concerns about Alberta’s socio-political landscape.
“As I see it, we still live in a frontier society. That mentality is still lingering and carrying on in different ways,” said Donald. He observed that we are still experiencing rugged individualism, resource exploitation and a lack of concern for the past or the future, and he praised the ATA for its ongoing commitment to inclusion and equity.
“In my view, the Association has been very thoughtful and wanting to make sure that everyone is included in the work that we do and protecting those that are most vulnerable,” said Donald.
Donald also cautioned about the rising tensions following recent court rulings affecting Indigenous peoples, noting how the rhetoric has ramped up and it feels like we’re finding ourselves in a dangerous time. He urged the ATA and educators everywhere to remain steadfast in their role as stewards of social responsibility and reconciliation.
“I look forward to standing beside the Association, carrying on with that work, thinking about more than just what’s in it for us in the present moment,” he said. “We have a treaty, and there are people who live amongst us whose ancestors have lived here for thousands of years. That’s part of all of us.”
Donald concluded with a call for unity grounded in mutual dependence and respect, saying, “With respect to all our differences, we are unified by the fact that we all depend on the life around us for survival. I hope we can continue to work in that way, support each other in that way, and think about how we could live together, differently, in the years to come.”
Award recipients usually are presented with boutonnieres as a sign of recognition. In Dr. Donald’s case, he was presented with an intricately beaded medallion created by Edmonton teacher Glenda Viney.
The design incorporated Donald’s Cree name, Hai Muskwa: presence of the bear. Seven flowers adorn the perimeter of the piece to honour the Seven Sacred Teachings: love, respect, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility and truth. The geometric shapes and feather at the bottom suggest pathway, journey, endurance and purposeful movement across distance, symbolizing how Donald helps people move intellectually and ethically across histories, across relationships and across ways of knowing.
