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Abstract
Indigenous Student Affairs (ISA) is a relatively new functional area in higher education. Many North American institutions have created ISA programs, but there is no unifying sets of literature, standards, or professional associations in which to situate this work. Therefore, ISA educators are subject to the individual whims and desires of non-Indigenous institution administrators to guide their work. A lack of Indigenous voice in the development of this field thus far has caused a major strain on Indigenous ISA educators who often struggle to utilize cultural knowledge and values in their work within colonized institutional spaces. This study utilized an Indigenous paradigm (Wilson, 2008) and Tribal Critical Race (Brayboy, 2005) theoretical framework to simultaneously create a community of ISA educators (the Indigenous Student Affairs Network, ISAN) from across North America and center their Indigenous knowledge to develop a shared definition of ISA. The co-researcher participants from nine institutions across the U.S. and Canada developed a collective definition, mission statement, guiding principles, contextual considerations, and essential institutional support and resources for ISA programs and educators. In this way, they established their own definition for themselves that is Indigenous-led and culturally relevant. The results of this effort may now be used (a) by ISA educators to situate their work and leverage resources, (b) as a resource for institution leaders who wish to create ISA or support an existing ISA, and (c) by researchers who wish to further the exploration into the ISA functional area.