Day 7 & 8: Sacred Spaces

June 12-13, 2022

Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre at University of Saskatchewan

On Monday morning, we started the day in a sacred space a the University of Saskatchewan. We met with Candade Wasacase- Lafferty once again and she gave us a tour of the Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Center. The center opened in 2016 "as an intercultural gathering place, the Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre brings together the teachings, traditions and cultures of the peoples of Saskatchewan. Grounded in the teachings of collaboration, cooperation, humility, reciprocity and sharing, the centre aims to enhance First Nations, Métis and Inuit student success."

We toured the building centered around the medicine wheel ceiling designed with an exhaust fan that sends the smoke from the smudging ceremonies in all four cardinal directions. The entrance to the student center features a wall that Includes the outline of a tree removed during the construction of the building. They wanted to make sure to honor the tree even though they had to loose it to the construction.

Then, came the smudging ceremony where we sat in a circle around bear skin, under the medicine wheel ceiling. Candace Introduced Elder Roland Duquette by stating that "our Elders are our PhDs". Elder Roland described the meaning behind a smudging ceremony -- a way to clear negativity in and around the spirit. This is an offered tradition every Monday and open to all folks indigenous and non-indigenous in the student center .

Elder Roland asked each participant to share about who we are from our hearts and share about who we are in a narrative form. Elder Roland has such a powerful and calming presence and created such a safe space for each of the participants that many people cried as they shared their true selves within the ceremony. My fellow Fulbright teacher Marisa Foti described the moment In her blog by writing, "The intimacy and vulnerability that our Saskatoon group shared in this ceremony drew us closer us as a family. As super-teachers, we often live in our heads, but this experience moved us into our heart spaces. It was transformative and unforgettable."

To close the ceremony, Elder Roland came around with the sage and welcomed us to cover ourselves with the smoke and then ground ourselves on the bear skin laying in the center of the circle.

It's powerful that students now have a safe space to connect with fellow students and staff who are Metis, First Nations,Inuit, and other indigenous students.

St. Francis Cree Bilingual School

The afternoon brought us to another sacred space; the St. Francis Cree Bilingual School, the largest Indigenous language center In the world where students come to learn from all 57 neighborhoods in the city of Saskatoon.

Walking the halls of the schools, you see photos of how to construct a tipi, land based learning trips, Cree and English language, and so many other reflections of indigenous Identity and culture. We sat In on a class with students practicing writing In Cree. The school leadership and teachers are indigenous themselves- the Principal is Cree and Vice Principal is Metis.

This is the first time on the trip that we interacted with parents- we met the mother's from the video above. "They are the parent experts" was stated when the Principal introduced the moms. They fought for a new school building one In which the Elders urged "don't build boxes" so the new school buildings exterior Is designed after the Northern Lights. The classrooms Instead of being "boxes" will circle around a ceremony space in the different wings of the school.

We got to meet the school's kôhkom” meaning “ grandmother”. All the stakeholders made sure to emphasize just how essential and needed this school Is to this new generation of Indigenous students. One mom shared, "“My kids are more fluent in Cree than I am”. This school Is a way to bridge the gap of Indigenous Knowledge created with families having to move to the city away from residential lands as well as heal from the harm done through residential schools.

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