Coyote Project
This is The Coyote Project
The Coyote Project has united all of TRU — nine faculties plus TRU World, Open Learning and the Library — in creating a campus that is welcoming and supportive to all, especially Indigenous students and staff.
The five-year project, funded by $224,000 per year, is a pan-institutional program to accelerate indigenization, but its impacts and legacies are meant to be long-lasting.
The Secwépemc people of the BC Interior tell a story about Coyote, who is known for being a powerful transformer. The story, called Coyote Brings Food from the Upper World, forms the basis of The Coyote Project at TRU.
Why indigenization matters
The Coyote Project is about implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action — particularly the elimination of educational and employment gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians and new Indigenous education legislation with the full consent and participation of Indigenous peoples.
The latter call to action includes:
- Providing sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one generation.
- Improving education attainment levels and success rates.
- Developing culturally appropriate curricula.
- Protecting the right to Indigenous languages, including the teaching of Indigenous languages as credit courses.
In response, The Coyote Project will address recruitment, retention and completion issues for Indigenous students.
