UBC’s First Nations House of Learning [Coddling]

This is the second post in a three post series. The first post was on the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. The third will be on UBC’s Department of Anthropology. UBC’s First Nations House of Learning is intricately connected to the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, which was discussed in a video.

UBC’s First Nations House of Learning is intricately connected to this first advocacy entity because it “led the development of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre” and co-led the apology to residential school “survivors” in 2018.

The Acting Director of the First Nations House of Learning is Joely Viveiros, whose activities Widdowson has documented in a previous post and video:

In the post and video, Widdowson pointed out a connection between this advocacy entity and Andrew Martindale – an archaeologist who resides in the Department of Anthropology. Martindale was one of the academics featured (along with Sean Carleton, a self-proclaimed “residential school denialism expert”) in the “Confronting Indian Residential School Denialism” event, which was put on by the First Nations House of Learning in November 2024.

At this event, Sean Carleton stated that Tom Flanagan and Frances Widdowson were “disgusting” and “sad people” who were “peddling misinformation” to monetize anti-indigenous sentiments.

Viveiros also took on “denialism” when she put out a statement on behalf of “a collective of approximately 30 [unnamed] faculty and staff from UBC Vancouver” in May 2025.

It is likely that this letter was sent out in response to four UBC professors challenging land acknowledgements and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives at the university.

Widdowson became aware of Viveiros when she learned that the Acting/Associate Director had made assertions that are tied to UBC’s perpetuation of falsehoods about the “unmarked graves” on “X”. On this account, Viveiros identifies as an “Assoc Director, UBC”.

In making herself known to Widdowson, Viveiros took issue with a clip that Widdowson posted about the Kamloops Indian Band’s GPR operator Sarah Beaulieu, who claimed, on July 15, 2021, that the apple orchard was surveyed because “knowledge keepers” had said children were digging holes for burials there.

Sarah Beaulieu (@goUFV) says @tkemlups apple orchard was chosen for the GPR survey because "Knowledge Keepers" said "children as young as six years old [were] woken in the night to dig holes for burials" there. Should these "voices" be "amplified", @TruthInTheSoil @SeanCarleton? pic.twitter.com/L5xCAQCYBp

— Frances Widdowson (@FrancesWiddows1) August 20, 2025

This led her to reply that Widdowson didn’t “understand the truth and recognize evidence” and that “knowledge keepers” were “eyewitnesses” who were “accepted in court” (and so presumably should be believed, although witnesses in court are cross-examined).

As a result of the exchanges that occurred before Viveiros blocked Widdowson, it was discovered that Viveiros was asserting that GPR identifies graves. Viveiros continues to argue this, apparently as a representative of UBC.

This view, that GPR confirms remains, seems to be based on the research of Andrew Martindale, an archaeologist who resides in the Department of Anthropology.

Viveiros also plays an important role in the climate of UBC because she maintains that aboriginal students have an “inherent right” to be comfortable.

More on the First Nations House of Learning @UBC. Here's @JoelyViveiros discussing aboriginal peoples' "inherent right to be comfortable in Canada, in any space in Canada". @UBCLonghouse evidently enables this, @jonkay! What if these students hear about the #MassGraveDeception? pic.twitter.com/xf4KsFnBIi

— Frances Widdowson (@FrancesWiddows1) August 24, 2025

This was the reason given, in November 2021, by the Academic Director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond for cancelling the “grave hoax speaker” Lauren Southern. Although Southern would have corrected some of the false information about GPR confirming remains that was being disseminated by UBC, Turpel-Lafond said that students were “very traumatized” by the announcement of the event and this “effect[ed] the sense of cultural safety for indigenous students, most of whom are intergenerational survivors”.

Making sure that indigenous students are “comfortable” and “culturally safe” is presumably why Viveiros is criticizing Widdowson for trying to correct the record at Thompson Rivers University about the false claims being made about “The 215” (the accusation about “that lie” was actually made by Jim McMurtry).

Viveiros also has characterized Widdowson going onto the Thompson Rivers University campus to discuss the question “What Remains?” as an indication of “hate”.

Viveiros also called Widdowson a “sociopath” after the meltdown at The University of Victoria on December 2, 2025, asserting that this is why she “remains calm” when discussing the evidence for “What Remains?” at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

Viveiros even refers to the book “Dead Wrong”, to which Widdowson has contributed two chapters, as “the manifesto of Canada’s KKK”.

Relatively early on in these exchanges – on October 3, 2025, Viveiros appeared to have some doubts about the claims that she was making. She was reassured in her falsehoods by the University of Alberta graduate student Benjamin Kucher, who is associated with the advocacy archaeologist Kisha Supernant.

Vireiros had been previously interacting with Kucher and Sean Carleton in August 2025.

The role of Supernant and Kucher, and their relationship to the GPR work of Sarah Beaulieu, UBC archaeologist Andrew Martindale, UBC Anthropology graduate student Eric Simons, UBC associate Brian Whiting, and University of Saskatchewan archaeologist Terence Clark, will be discussed in the next post and video.