The Ideas of Vice-Provost Leroy Little Bear

Leroy LIttle Bear, “Jagged Worldviews Colliding”.

In “Jagged Worlviews Colliding”, Little Bear states that “wholeness” arises “out of the Aboriginal philosophy of constant motion”. “Wholeness” is described as involving “strengh, sharing, honesty and kindness”, which includes the “ethic of ‘noninterference'” of having “respect for others’ wholeness, totality, and knowledge”.

Little Bear also states that “honesty is an important Aboriginal value” and that the ethic of noninterference means that “no being ought to impose on another’s understanding of the flux [reality]”. He maintains that people “ought to have the strength to be tolerant of cognitive diversity” and there is “a strong expectation that everyone will share his or her truth…because people depend on each other’s honesty to creat a holistic understanding of the flux [reality]”.

Little Bear, as Vice-Provost at the University of Lethbridge, however, was working behind the scenes to facilitate the cancellation of Frances Widdowson’s talk on February 1, 2023. This does not seem consistent with his musings about “everyone…shar[ing]…truth…because people depend on each other’s honesty to create a holistic understanding”, “noninterference”, and “tolerance of cognitive diversity”. Little Bear’s promotion of intolerance and disrespect began with an email from Leroy Wolf Collar, an indigenous activist and “Education Navigator” from the Siksika tribe, to other members of the “Navigator – MCF [Mastercard Foundation] EleV Team” at 8:35 a.m on Friday, January 27, 2023.

According to Shanda Webber (Manager, Strategic Indigenous Learning Initiatives), Vice-Provost Little Bear then met with the “Navigator team” (see email below, sent at 2:04 p.m.).

Vice-Provost Little Bear then sent an email at 11:20 a.m. to Mike Mahon, the President of the University of Lethbridge, forwarding him an email from Caroline Hodes, an Associate Professor in Women and Gender Studies, demanding that Widdowson’s talk be cancelled and that Paul Viminitz be disciplined for inviting her.

President Mahon the sent a reply to Vice-Provost Little Bear at 12:39 p.m. saying that the Hodes email was “helpful” and thanking him for his “input”.

At 2:04 p.m. Shanda Webber thanks Vice-Provost Little Bear for meeting with the “Navigator team”. She attaches the Wolf Collar email (posted above) “for [his] reference”.

Although no date and time stamp was provided on this attachment (sent in Shanda Webber’s 3:21 p.m. email below), it appears to have been written after Vice-Provost Little Bear met with the “Navigator team” on the morning of Friday, January 27, 2023.

At 3:21 p.m., Shanda Webber sends an email to Vice-Provost Little Bear and Michael Whipple (Executive Director, President and Provost Offices) sending an “accumulation of documents and letters of concern regarding the current controversial guest speaker appearance”. Included in these attachments was the “Navigator – MCF EleV Team” document above.

At 6:07 p.m. President Michael Mahon announced (confidentially) that space for Widdowson’s talk had been rescinded.