University of Winnipeg leaders are reviewing new recommendations to create formal protocols to verify the First Nations, Métis and Inuit ancestry of job-seekers and award applicants. Post-secondary institutions have historically relied on self-identification when assessing candidates to fill positions intended for Indigenous scholars. For more than a year, U of W has been collecting feedback on identity, citizenship and “safeguarding opportunities” to thwart fraudulent claims and ensure rewards are gifted to the intended recipients. An internal working group has endorsed a flexible and multifaceted approach to assessing claims that allows Indigenous groups to determine their own memberships, accepts various forms of documentation and ensures privacy for people involved in the process. Members have called on administration to develop clear criteria for Indigenous identity that does not solely rely on genetic…
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