Liisa-Rávná Finbog

STATEMENT OF INTENT

Bárru works to support an expansive and equitable Indigenous intellectual ecosystem where all Indigenous academic voices thrive and where critical discourse flourishes as we remove social, cultural, and institutional barriers in order to facilitate the growth and empowerment of Indigenous thinkers, scholars, and communities. This intent is necessary because our collective voices have the power to shape a more just and interconnected world by revealing truths, transforming lives and institutions, deepening intercultural human understanding, and creating a future of shared Indigenous intellectual survivance.

The collective was founded in 2023 by Liisa-Rávná Finbog (Sámi), Britt Kramvig (Sámi), Harald Gaski (Sámi), and Joan Naviyuk Kane (Inupiaq).

SYNERGY

We seek collaboration as we create statements of rights for Indigenous academics, community educators and knowledge bearers working within academia that center our safety, intellectual and cultural sovereignty, and relationships to community and each other.

We seek collaborative development of multilingual Indigenous-designed public-facing materials including a website for outreach and inreach which will also house a directory of current and prospective members with links to scholarship, projects, and areas of expertise.

We envision written, audio, and video materials related to Indigenous methodologies, including storytelling, personal reflection, collaborative discussion, visual and material art, and relational exchange including workshops on academic writing, Indigenous creativity, and articulating Indigenous practice as theory.

RELATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Our intent is to establish a network of Indigenous academics to foster exchange between each other, across academic campuses, and through our dynamic presence in our communities and across geographic, regional and academic institutions.

COLLECTIVE SURVIVAL

We envision cultural/creative texts and scholarly media documenting the ways in which Western academia has isolated, disempowered, and disenfranchised Indigenous academics and Indigenous communities, though a growing critical mass of Indigenous academics have succeeded and seek to support each other as we look to the future.