Indigenous Studies at UBC's Okanagan campus | UBC Undergraduate Programs and Admissions

In the interdisciplinary Indigenous studies program, you'll learn about Indigenous perspectives and governance, the justice system, land claims, traditional ecological knowledge and the protection of heritage in the Okanagan, Canada, U.S., and world communities.

This program is also offered at UBC's Vancouver Campus

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Why this program?

Build the foundational skills needed to pursue a career in government, Indigenous Peoples organizations, Indigenous leadership roles, and resource management.
Design research projects relevant and respectful to a particular Indigenous community or agency, and implement the project working on-site in that community or agency.
Put your classroom learning to the test with co-op job placements throughout the region and beyond.

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Program information

Campus: Okanagan
Faculty: Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Degree: Bachelor of Arts

Length 4 yrs
Co-op Yes
You can combine your studies with full-time, paid work at top local and international organizations.
Honours No
You can study intense specialization in a single field.

Indigenous Studies offers interdisciplinary perspectives on indigenous peoples from the Okanagan, Canada, and world communities. You’ll examine topics such as Indigenous governance, the justice system, land claims, traditional ecological knowledge, the protection of heritage, Indigenous theory, and more.

In third or fourth year, you have the option of completing directed studies, where you will undertake a supervised investigation of an assigned topic in Indigenous Studies, culminating in a major term paper.

Experiential learning and research

In third or fourth year you have the option of completing directed studies, where you will undertake a supervised investigation of an assigned topic in Indigenous studies, culminating in a major term paper.

The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences holds an annual undergraduate research conference on UBC’s Okanagan campus to showcase student research projects.

Campus features

UBC is a global centre for research and teaching, consistently ranked among the 40 best universities in the world. The involvement of the Okanagan Nation and the En’owkin Centre in its development and in ongoing partnership provides a strong foundation in the Okanagan community, and ensures continuing input from Indigenous perspectives.

En'owkin Centre

INDG 100 - Introduction to Indigenous Studies
Provides students with an overview of the discipline of Indigenous studies including the history, cultures, and experiences of Indigenous people.
HIST 112 - Canada to 1867
Contributions of the First Nations, French, English, and others to the social, economic, and political development of Canada. Also offered by distance education.
ANTH 100 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
An overview of social and cultural anthropologyits origins, its distinctive methods and concepts, and its place in the contemporary world. A critical examination of human diversity and how social and cultural differences are produced and shaped by local and global patterns.
SOCI 111 - Introduction to Sociology I
Studies how society influences human behaviour. How is society organized and structured? How does it affect the way we think and act? What is the relationship between individuals and society? What is our social nature? Why is there inequality in the world?

INDG 203 - Indigenous Peoples' Historical Perspectives
Overview of the historical and contemporary socio-economic, political, cultural, and ecological perspectives of indigenous peoples.
INDG 201 - Okanagan Indigenous Peoples' Historical Perspectives
Indigenous historiography as demonstrated through Okanagan traditional oral techniques for documentation of knowledge; an indigenous peoples' approach to orality and the maintenance of social, ecological, and land-based practice. Offered in relationship with the En'owkin Centre.
INDG 202 - Okanagan Concepts and Frameworks
Indigenous perspectives as demonstrated through Okanagan theory and practice; a systems-based indigenous peoples' approach to landscape and ecology. Offered in relationship with the En'owkin Centre.
INDG 210 - Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
Overview of the contemporary socio-economic, political, cultural, and environmental characteristics of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
INDG 295 - Indigenous Studies: Special Topics
An examination of selected topics in Indigenous studies. Consult the program brochure for this year's offerings and specific prerequisites.

INDG 301 - Examining an Indigenous Methodology: En'owkinwixw
Understanding an indigenous strategy of community discourse as a methodology for inquiry, a technique of examination employing sequential stages of critical analysis in a whole-systems approach. Offered in relationship with the En'owkin Centre.
INDG 310 - Indigenous Women's Perspectives: Gender, Nation, State, Resistance
Historical realities of the salience of states and nations in the lives of Indigenous women. Indigenous methods, de-colonial historical analysis, and gender theory are used to analyze Indigenous women's and peoples' resistances to invasion, colonization, occupation, settler states, and dispossession.
INDG 305 - Indigenous Justice
Decolonial Indigenous concepts, principles and historical consciousness of justice and anti-violence praxis in community-and-land based contexts. Locating agency with Indigenous peoples and Indigenous justice practices, the course puts primacy on ways that Indigenous peoples have engaged in and continue to enact justice. Revitalization of Indigenous knowledge informs ethical and moral issues addressed in relation to healing, and collective transformation.
INDG 306 - Indigenous Land Rights
Legal theories under British Law or its historical derivations that have been used to justify the colonization of Indigenous peoples. Legal arguments and anthropological evidence raised by Indigenous groups to challenge those theories. Particular reference is paid to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
INDG 309 - Indigenous Perspectives on Health
Introduction to current thinking about Indigenous peoples' health, and especially Indigenous peoples' perspectives on health and contemporary health systems. Includes a critical examination of concepts of health within the context of ongoing processes of colonization.

INDG 401 - Research Applications
The planning of research projects from the perspective of Indigenous cultures and values. Topics include project development, community relations and ethics, and identification and acquisition of appropriate resources.
INDG 405 - Indigenous Education: History and Revitalization
Indigenous perspectives on language and cultural shifts through the critical lenses of Indigenous knowledge and insider views on historical education policies; language and knowledge loss and consequences; revitalization and recovery; and transformational community development through Indigenous education and community empowerment.
INDG 420 - Indigenous Perspectives on Food, Place, Identity, and Biodiversity
Overview of the contemporary geopolitical, agricultural, and environmental connections between identity, food, place, and cultural and biological diversity from the perspective of Indigenous peoples. North/south flows of genetic resources and key international and regional conventions and agreements are highlighted.
INDG 440 - Residential Schools and Reconciliation
The history of the Indian Residential School (IRS) is placed within the context of colonization and the official Canadian Government policy of assimilation. The IRS legacy will be placed in the context of issues confronted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
INDG 450 - Indigenous Women, Activisms, Feminisms
Examines Indigenous women?s feminist activisms and theory in historical and contemporary contexts. Emphasizing resistance against colonization, dispossession, violence and ecological destruction as well as development of strategies and models based on Indigenous concepts and consciousness. Emphasizes relationship building and empowerment between Indigenous women beyond borders.

Life at UBC's Okanagan campus

On UBC’s Okanagan campus, you'll gain all the benefits of attending a globally respected university while studying in a close-knit learning community. Modern on-campus residences are close to academic supports, and surrounded by hiking and biking trails, sandy beaches, and vast lakes. Take part in on-campus events, volunteer in the community, or explore the outdoors.

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Your future

A UBC degree is respected by employers around the globe. Build the foundational skills needed to pursue a career in government departments and agencies, media and publishing, and non-government organizations or services, or to pursue graduate studies. Indigenous Studies will prepare you for a wide range of careers, from Aboriginal rights research, economic development advisor, and journalist, to policy analyst, tourism worker, and community development consultant.

Program requirements

Canadian high schools
International high schools
International baccalaureate

English-language requirements

English is the language of instruction at UBC. All prospective students must demonstrate English-language competency prior to admission. There are numerous ways to meet the English Language Admission Standard.

General admission requirements

IB Diploma Programme

Completed IB Diploma, including at least three Higher Level courses.

IB Certificate Courses

IB Certificate courses (Standard and Higher Level) may be used in an admissions average if you are graduating from a recognized high school curriculum that can be used as your basis of admission.

IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, do not satisfy the math requirement for admission to UBC’s science-based programs, the Faculty of Management, the UBC Sauder School of Business, or the Vancouver School of Economics.

Degree-specific requirements: Arts

No specific courses required beyond those needed for general admission

Related courses

The following subject categories are particularly relevant for this degree. Consider taking courses in these areas in your junior year and senior year.

Language Arts
Mathematics and Computation
Second Languages
Social Studies
Visual and Performing Arts

Visit program website

This program is also offered at UBC's Vancouver Campus

Why this program?

Experiential learning and research

Campus features

Life at UBC's Okanagan campus

Your future

Related programs

Program requirements

English-language requirements

General admission requirements

Degree-specific requirements: Arts

Related courses

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