From Fall 2024 to Spring 2025, WCA learners, members, staff, and leadership team gathered with community members several times to discuss and decide on a traditional governance model for our academy. We gathered with groups including: four ceremonies at Alexander First Nation with 100 attendees each from western Canada, the First Nations Educators' Conference at Enoch Cree Nation, and education partners at the Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Centre.

The consensus was to base our governance on the Sun Dance lodge which stands as a practice and way of relating which has persisted through Treaty, and serves as a home to for learners to decolonize their ways of thinking and being. The "governance" of a Sun Dance lodge is less about formal authority structures and more about the collective responsibility of participants and leaders to uphold the sacred traditions and to facilitate a powerful spiritual experience focused on renewal and connection with the Creator. Just as the Sun Dance lodge is guided by individuals with specific responsibilities, chosen based on their spiritual standing, knowledge, and commitment to tradition, we want the academy to be guided by committed learners and teachers in the same way.

Our draft governance model is outlined here. We intend to fully implement this and supporting policies in 2025/2026 as we grow our programs.

Leadership within our Sun Dance-informed governance is based on spiritual guidance, humility, service, and community consent, reflecting values we have heard from the community:

• The Guiding Council of Elders and Knowledge Keepers would lead the traditional work of the Academy embodying these principles. Their authority is already rooted in traditional knowledge and practice through ceremonies like the Sundance. They guide the content of knowledge and also the spirit in which the organization operates, ensuring decisions align with culture and spirit. We will restore practices to publicly recognize and witness the selection of these Elders and Knowledge Keepers, emphasizing demonstrated spiritual and community commitments. There will be different roles within the Guiding Council, including a person who directs the attention of the team toward traditional teachings and practices, a person who conducts the work and helps to implement decisions of the Guiding Council, leaders of specific teaching and learning areas, a person who is responsible for receiving and protecting knowledge received by the Academy, and a person who manages ceremonial operations. They will be supported several practitioners and teachers including singers and drummers, and traditional helpers.
• The Board of Directors would lead the business operations of the Academy with integrity and understanding of the spiritual underpinnings of the organization's work. Their strategic planning and decision-making would be guided by a commitment to the holistic well-being of the community, a concept closely tied to the purpose of ceremonies like the Sundance which aim to restore balance and harmony. They would serve the vision set by the Elders Council with humility and a focus on the long-term spiritual and cultural health of the nation.

All levels of leadership would prioritize consensus-building and respectful dialogue, mirroring the communal nature of the Sundance where individuals come together for a shared purpose. Our engagements highlighted the importance of decision-making that involves the whole community and respects diverse perspectives. This aligns with the spirit of unity and shared responsibility which underpins our ceremonies.

Curriculum Development and Knowledge Transmission:

• The spiritual significance of the knowledge being shared would be paramount and guided by the Elders Council. The "how" the knowledge is shared would be as important as the "what," ensuring respect for protocols and the spiritual essence of the teachings.
• The integration of technology would be approached with mindfulness and respect, considering its potential impact on the spiritual connection to traditional knowledge. The Elders could guide the ethical use of technology, ensuring it enhances rather than diminishes the sacredness of the teachings. This reflects Elders' agility to adopt technologies and practices that help carry out Creator's work.

Community Engagement and Outreach:

• Engagement continues to be rooted in reciprocity and building genuine relationships, reflecting the interconnectedness of spirits, people, and our land.
• We recognize healing and well-being to be built among ourselves and those we learn with, which follows the restorative and healing powers of ceremony. Our role not just as educators but as facilitators of community healing and cultural revitalization.

Governance Processes (Board of Directors and Guiding Council):

• Our decision-making processes are informed by spiritual reflection and prayer.
• Our protocols for conflict resolution that draw upon traditional spiritual teachings of forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoring harmony. The emphasis on restorative justice aligns with the healing focus of many traditional practices.
• Accountability extends beyond financial responsibility to include accountability to the integrity of traditional knowledge, ceremonial practices, and values of the community.

Financial Management (Board of Directors):

• Financial decisions would prioritize the long-term well-being and sustainability of the community and the preservation of traditional knowledge, rather than solely focusing on profit or growth.
• The Academy will explore traditional economic models or principles of sharing and reciprocity in its financial practices, alongside contemporary wage-based models, to build and promote viable full time careers for traditional helpers and knowledge keepers as accredited first-class professionals.

This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada.