Open Chats Between Staff and Indigenous Engagement Team

These regular chats with the Indigenous engagement team at Spark are open to all staff, and are opportunities to talk about Indigenous science, relations, protocols or anything else. It is a safe place to learn and share.

Capacity Building Workshops

These ongoing staff workshops encourage education about the original caretakers of the land, history and moving forward together in a good way. Workshops include:

Residential School Journey, a workshop led by Elder Casey Eagle Speaker.

Protocols (for staff and the Spark Board of Directors), led by Kori Czuy, Manager, Indigenous Engagement.

Intergenerational Trauma, a workshop supported by Calgary Foundation.

Indigenous Honoraria Process

With guidance from Spark's Indigenous Advisory Circle, the honoraria process has been amended in a way that respects oral tradition. This applies to Indigenous Elders, experts and community members. Spark understands the significance and impact of decolonizing processes, and created a process that respects Indigenous histories and protocols, while also doing what is required for Spark's accounting processes.

With guidance from Spark’s Indigenous Advisory Circle and Pam Beebe (Kainai), Kori Czuy, Spark’s Manager, Indigenous Engagement, has created a series of documents guiding staff to work alongside Indigenous people and ways of knowing in a good way. This guide is based around the 5 R’s, as inspired by Jo-Ann Archibald (2008): Respect, Responsibility, Reverence, Relevance and Reciprocity.

• Kori Czuy, ᒥᐦᑯᐱᐦᐁᓯᐤ

Manager, Indigenous Engagement

Kori Czuy, ᒥᐦᑯᐱᐦᐁᓯᐤ, is Cree/Métis Polish, and was born in Treaty 8 by the banks of the Peace River. She is the Manager, Indigenous Engagement at the Spark Science Centre, focusing on bringing together multiple ways of knowing science. Kori is on an ongoing journey to reconnect with and learn from the knowings of the land, as well as helping others connect with the complexities of these knowings alongside Western science.

Her PhD is in storying mathematics; through her research she worked with children and Treaty 7 Elders to explore the depth of mathematics within Indigenous stories.

• Lindsey Zess

Indigenous Engagement Coordinator

Lindsey Zess is of mixed Métis and German/Norwegian/Scottish ancestry, born and raised on Treaty 7 territory. Lindsey comes to Telus Spark from the world of performing arts, bringing 18 years of expertise creating visual installations, community gatherings, and creative experiences. As an artist/academic, Lindsey’s research focuses on Ecoscenographic practices: Creating in dialogue with the land, honouring the gifts of resources and ecosystems, and amplifying under-represented perspectives (human an non). Indigenous epistemologies are central to how Lindsey relates to art, the earth, and the universe at large.