Reflections on Indigenous Displacement and the Possibilities of PLAR

Abstract

This essay examines why Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) remains underutilized for Indigenous peoples in post-secondary institutions despite institutional commitments to Indigenization and reconciliation. Using displacement as an analytical lens, Ray argues that settler colonialism operates through ongoing strategies of physical, social, cultural, and political displacement that restricts Indigenous self-determination and undervalues Indigenous knowledge systems.  

The essay also critiques how post-secondary institutions approach Indigenization as self-serving, particularly through "inclusion Indigenization" that integrates Indigenous knowledge without dismantling colonial structures or sharing power. Such an approach becomes another form of displacement, allowing institutions to co-opt and control Indigenous knowledge systems while maintaining settler futurity. Drawing on Nakata's concept of disembodied knowledge and Tuck and Yang's critique of "decolonization as metaphor," Ray demonstrates how institutions appropriate Indigeneity to legitimize their continued dominance. 

Despite these limitations, Ray positions PLAR as offering "imperfect possibilities"—not decolonization itself, but a mechanism through which Indigenous communities can regain some control over their knowledge systems. PLAR's recognition that learning occurs in multiple contexts creates space for Indigenous peoples, communities, and lands as legitimate sources of knowledge. Operating within Nakata's "cultural interface," PLAR functions as a “bridge practice” that advances Indigenous interests within ongoing settler colonial realities while supporting parallel Indigenous resurgence work. 

Keywords: Indigenous knowledge, PLAR and Indigenous knowledge, displacement theory, Indigenization