TRI News

Chef Russell Weir (far left); Chef Manuel Gomes; Jeff Turner, Partnership Development Specialist; Ron (Deganadus) McLester, Vice President – Truth, Reconciliation & Indigenization (far right); with the fall 2021 harvest from the College’s Three Sisters garden.

Algonquin College’s “Three Sisters” Indigenous garden returned this year and produced another rich fall harvest.

Horticultural Industries students originally planted the ceremonial garden of Corn, Beans and Squash in 2019. After going untended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the garden — located in the outdoor courtyard between E, H and D Buildings — was re-planted in the spring of 2021 and is being harvested this month.

The courtyard was used to grow vegetables and herbs for many years by the School of Hospitality and Tourism until its transformation into a traditional Haudenosaunee-style community garden. This thriving green space also gives people of other cultures access to the Haudenosaunee creation story, of which the Three Sisters are an important component.

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When the DARE district opened in 2018, Ryan Gorrie, a Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinābek architect, worked to incorporate Indigenous symbols reflective of Anishinābe culture and traditions.

A series of hieroglyphic-style symbols was created for design purposes. Since then, those symbols have been more widely incorporated throughout the college online, on murals and building walls, and in its marketing materials, including most recently in the 2020 Annual Report.

“The college made significant commitments about inclusion and we found it really important to work with Ryan Gorrie,” said Ron (Deganadus) McLester, Vice President – Truth, Reconciliation & Indigenization. The work we do honours the host nation (the territory of the Anishinābe people) and the diversity of our Indigenous students.”

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Cornbread pudding with a sweetgrass and cedar caramel sauce and creamy sweetgrass ice cream.

A bowl of roasted, seasonal vegetables, earthy wild rice, sweet corn, and toasted pumpkin seeds drizzled with wojape, a berry dressing.

A hearty bison burger with crispy squash fries.

The students in Algonquin’s Indigenous Cook Pre-Apprenticeship Program use a mix of traditional Indigenous ingredients, French and Indigenous culinary techniques, and a sense of ingenuity to make these and countless other dishes during their time in the revolutionary culinary program.

In this program, students learn the same skills and techniques you would in other culinary programs, but using traditional Indigenous ingredients, while also learning the stories, history and philosophies behind them.

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On National Indigenous Peoples Day, Algonquin College President and CEO Claude Brulé outlined the College’s next steps as a community to further embed Indigenous knowledge and culture “into who we are as a College and how we operate.”

He said that next steps include: 1) Over the next year, the College will develop a multi-year Truth, Reconciliation and Indigenization Strategic Plan, in consultation with the College community and our Indigenous partners and 2) develop a Student Leadership Pack that will create opportunities for Indigenous learners to share and celebrate Indigenous culture with their peers and College community and Indigenous partners.

“I would like, on this National Indigenous Peoples Day, to reaffirm Algonquin College’s commitments,” said Brulé at an employee gathering on Monday, June 21. “Let us mark this annual day in the future by reflecting on how we are meeting our goals and vision. How are we living up to our commitments to Truth and Reconciliation?” Continue reading →

When developing a project for over three years, one undoubtably becomes passionate about their efforts.

This is certainly the case for Nathaniel Parant and Matthew Jerabek who were the team leads to create the Interconnection of Science & Makerspace collaboration project which recently ended its successful first virtual session.

Parant, a part-time professor, and Activities and Events Representative at the Mamidoeswin Centre, and Jerabek, the Associate Manager, Marketing & Communications, Applied Research, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, collaborated and designed a unique program for Indigenous students. Learners create projects using 3D printing and laser-cutting technologies to explore their culture through the lens of Western science, combining traditional hands-on crafting with digital fabrication tools.
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Pageants aren’t what they used to be, and for that today’s young women and those who respect their skills and values have reason to be grateful.

Take the Miss Eeyou Eenou Iskwaau (MEEI) pageant organized by the Cree Women of Eeyou Istchee Association to celebrate the young women of the Cree Nation. According to the pageant website, “one of the goals of the pageant is to empower young women in Eeyou Istchee, to help them grow as a person, come out of their shell, and shine bright for all to see how beautiful and sacred they are inside and out.”

For Geraldine Trapper, the current Miss Eeyou Eenou Iskwaau, her title gives her a unique platform for education and advocacy. “I am a part of the LGBTQ2S community, I am a two-spirited woman,” says the Algonquin College General Arts and Science student, currently studying Indigenous Studies and Justice.

Since winning the title in April, Trapper has been preparing to speak to young people about a variety of issues including LGBTQ2S issues. “I wanted to advocate and share that it’s OK to be who you are,” says Trapper. “I wanted to be a voice to let people know that better days will come. There is a community and they are loved. They don’t need to feel lost and alone.”

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Algonquin College will present Indigenous activist, lawyer and mediator Roberta Jamieson with an Honorary Degree at its virtual convocation ceremony on June 23.

Over her long, varied career, Jamieson has worked tirelessly to advocate for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people across Canada. As the Chief Executive Officer and President of Indspire from 2004 to 2020, she helped expand the organization – which aims to improve Indigenous communities’ access to post-secondary education – to become the largest Indigenous-led charity in Canada. In her 16 years as CEO, she grew the organization’s bursary program eight-fold, launched the Indigenous Research Knowledge Nest, and vastly expanded its other programs, resources, and initiatives, engaging government, the private sector and thousands of individual Canadians in the process. Under Jamieson’s leadership, Indspire was recognized as one of the Top 10 Charities of Impact in Canada.

Raised on the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, Jamieson is also an internationally recognized leader in non-adversarial dispute resolution, having acted as a mediator between First Nations communities and the federal and provincial governments of Canada for many years. Continue reading →

The Honourable Murray Sinclair, participating Tuesday in an Algonquin College Speaker Series event hosted by Pembroke Campus, issued a call to action to individuals aspiring to play a part in reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations.

“I speak often with groups who ask me ‘What can I do? Is it too big a problem for me?’” Sinclair said. “I say it isn’t too big for you. You can do this very easily. You need to first of all make yourself aware of Canada’s history and what it’s done to you. Understand how it’s effected your thinking and work hard to change the way you think about Indigenous people and Indigenous issues.”
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When Algonquin College Board of Governor’s member, Audrey Lawrence, was a young woman attending teachers’ college, she received a bursary that changed her life. Now, she is returning that long ago favour by establishing a new bursary in her own name.

The Audrey Lawrence AC Online Bursary, which will be awarded to full-time and part-time learners in financial need, is being established thanks to a generous gift of over $15,000 from Lawrence.

The bursary, which was announced this week, is one of the first of its kind in Ontario and represents five separate bursaries. Two $6,000 bursaries will benefit full-time learners, with one preferably directed toward an Indigenous student. Three $1,000 bursaries will also be awarded to part-time students.
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