Indigeneering as Transformational Pedagogy: A Personal Storywork Inquiry into Weaving Indigenous Perspectives into Engineering Education
Engineering education in Canada is increasingly responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the duty to consult Indigenous Nations. This conceptual paper explores "Indigeneering," a transformational pedagogy that weaves Indigenous worldviews into a foundational undergraduate course, ENGG 481 - Technology and Society, serving over 1,000 students annually. Grounded in a storywork inquiry and the author’s twenty-year professional background in the resource sector, the methodology utilizes relational ethics, circle work, and "Two-Eyed Seeing" to bridge Western technical standards with Indigenous relational accountability. The inquiry demonstrates that shifting from compliance-driven models toward a relational way of being as a professional engineer supports core competencies like intercultural communication and ethical reasoning. Ultimately, this longitudinal redesign shows that Indigenous methodologies are not peripheral additives but are foundational to responsible engineering that honors our interconnectedness with the land and community.