RRC Polytech’s annual Pow Wow returns in-person! Please join us to celebrate Indigenous students as we send them off on a continued journey to success. Ray ‘CoCo’ Stevenson will lead us as Master of Ceremonies in a day filled with ceremony, dancing, drumming, singing, food, vendors, special messages from leadership, and of course, honouring graduates.

Host Drum: Walking Wolf
Arena Director: Marcel French

Pow Wow 2022
Friday May 6, 2022
Notre Dame Campus, North Gym

10:00 am – Pipe Ceremony
12:00 pm – Grand Entry  
2:00 pm – Graduate Awards Presentation
4:30 pm – Feast

RRC Polytech Indigenous Students, please register here.

Dancers, drum groups, artists/makers – email Pow Wow planner Rhonda Monkman at rmonkman90@rrc.ca to register.

Thursday, April 28 | 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Indigenous Support Centre, Notre Dame Campus, F209

Take a break from studying and join Indigenous Student Supports to play board games! There will be pizza, chips, and pop as well as three door prizes to be won. We can’t wait to see you in-person. (Mask required, except when eating or drinking.)

Register by emailing Terri-Lynn at tlanderson@rrc.ca

Earlier this week, Miss Una Swan held a small pipe ceremony (watch her message) with students to honour and welcome in the Spring Equinox, a day where day and night are equal. Not only is the Spring Equinox recognized by many Indigenous cultures ceremoniously as new beginnings and rebirth, but there are many teachings and stories about Spring.

We’ve pulled together a few tales and teachings on the blog. (Click on the title to watch.)

Sisikwun: The Rattle by Wilfred Buck

Wilfred Buck is a local Elder who shares many teachings, including star teachings. Here he shares a teaching about Spring constellations and the rattle.

K’i Tah Amongst the Birch (National Film Board of Canada)

Filmmaker/activist Melaw Nakehk’o has spent the pandemic with her family at a remote land camp in the Northwest Territories, “getting wood, listening to the wind, staying warm and dry, and watching the sun move across the sky.” In documenting camp life—activities like making fish leather and scraping moose hide—she anchors the COVID experience in a specific time and place.

The Lake Winnipeg Project (National Film Board of Canada)

As our lakes and rivers begin to thaw and we all start to take advantage of these gifts, it’s important to know the context and history of our lakes and Indigenous communities. We also recommend viewing this series.

The Lake Winnipeg Project is a four-part documentary series that calls attention to stories of ingenuity and resilience in four diverse communities surrounding Lake Winnipeg, at a time when many external forces are imposing change.

Research Interviews with Red River College Polytechnic

We are looking for Indigenous students that are currently enrolled, or those who have recently graduated from the Pathways to Nursing, Nursing Baccalaureate, or Licences Practitioner Nursing programs at Red River College Polytechnic. Those who choose to participate will be asked to complete a short anonymous survey and participate in a 1-hour one-on-one interview with the researcher.

The Purpose of the Interviews

The interviews will assist in developing the parameters for the Bill and Shirley Loewen Indigenous Nursing annual bursary. The parameters will be co-developed by the Truth and Reconciliation – Indigenous Strategy and Business Development Department, Dean – School of Indigenous Education, Department of Advancement and Development, and the Student Financial Aid and Bursaries. 

The fund purpose:

This fund will support Indigenous students attending the Pathways to Nursing program and related Nursing programs at RRC Polytech. The fund’s goal is to ensure that Indigenous students who want to devote their careers to Nursing have all the support needed to graduate and gain their desired employment. 

The fund will support all Indigenous student needs, including but not limited to:

• student support (educational and mental), 

• equipment required for successful completion of the program, 

• external accommodations, 

• scholarship/awards/bursaries (the goal is to provide full tuition support), 

• room and board.

Questions on the research or interested in participating?

Please contact Kyra De La Ronde

kdelaronde2@rrc.ca

Thursday, March 31 – 7:00pm – 8:30pm

After a successful first bingo family fun night, Indigenous Student Supports is back with a another night of online bingo! Feel free to join with your family, friends and classmates.

We will do four rounds of full cards for each direction (North, South, East, West) and there are prizes to be won! The grand prize is an incredibly cozy Sherpa lined with fleece exterior bedroom set from Dene Cree Designs. The event will be hosted via Microsoft Teams. Everything for this event is online – no dabbers required.

Inspiring stories from RRC’s Indigenous Alumni

How do successful people get to where they are? What did that journey look like? What did they learn and how did they stay the course? What does it mean to be an Indigenous student in post-secondary?

The Stay the Course speaker series is a hand from one generation to the next, hosted by Carla Kematch, Manager, Truth and Reconciliation and Community & Engagement. Every month, incredible RRC Indigenous Alumni share their experiences on their journey to success. Advancing Indigenous achievement at RRC means listening to Indigenous stories. This is just one of the many ways we can embed the efforts of Truth and Reconciliation in our daily lives.

Dean Davis

Dean Davis is Indigenous from Ebb and Flow First Nation who has worked in Winnipeg as a technologist in many industries over the past 30 years. These industries include Repair/Calibration Services, Telecom, Medical Devices and the latest Aerospace which he hopes to be the last. He is a graduate of a two-year engineering technology program at Red River College.

His education and work experience has developed him into a Configuration Control Specialist in the Helicopter Division at Standard Aero.

Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Time: 4:00 – 7:00pm

Ever wondered about Indigenous Education programs at RRC Polytech? Curious about your options? Want to talk directly to instructors and staff?

Join us for our virtual Indigenous Education Exploration Fair where you can connect, discuss, and explore programs and career paths virtually.

This event will help you learn, plan, and start your post-secondary education in a supportive environment so you can receive the skills, training, and confidence to strengthen the path forward for the next seven generations. Let us know how we can help you carve your path as you aspire towards your personal, professional and community goals.

This event is for future First Nations, Métis and Inuit students, their families, friends, and support networks, community organizations, and anyone who wants to learn more about Indigenous Education at RRC Polytech.

What to Expect

• Keynote Speaker Sheila North, RRC Alumni, Journalist, Former Grand Chief, Advocate
• Greetings from Elders-In-Residence: Paul Guimond and Una Swan
• Visit a variety of booths – meet staff and ask questions
• Tune into a live broadcast to learn all about Indigenous Supports at RRC Polytech
• Learn about programs, supports, and campuses

Wednesday, March 16, 2022
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
VIRTUAL – ZOOM
FREE

Are you a student interested in meeting a potential mentor in your desired field?

Join us for our free virtual Indigenous Youth Networking Forum – where we will bring together local business mentors with Indigenous post-secondary students to discuss career journeys, life advice and how to seek meaningful employment.

Hosted in partnership with RRC Polytech’s Indigenous Education and HP Change, attendees will first hear from an Indigenous business panel discussion then be broken into smaller groups, depending on the student’s interest and business leader’s specialization.

Why should students attend:

• Get your questions answered and gain credible career advice from local business leaders matched to you
• Create meaningful relationships with potential mentors
• Network with future employers located here in Winnipeg

To help us engage mentors that would be relevant and of value to students in attendance, we have just a few questions in the above registration.

Thursday, February 17, 2022 | 7pm-8pm

It’s Family Fun Night – with a Métis theme in honour of Louis Riel Day! Indigenous Student Supports invites you, your family and friends to join us virtually to play a Métis version of Kahoot! with prizes to be won. Navigation Coach Terri-Lynn Anderson and her family will also share a short lesson on how to do the Red River Jig. The event is hosted via Microsoft Teams and all are welcome to come – we hope to see you there!

Wednesday, February 16, 2022 | 12-1 pm

Shirley Delorme Russell from the Louis Riel Institute joins us for a lunch hour session to share the history of Métis peoples in Manitoba in advance of Louis Riel Day (February 21) to support our collective truth and reconciliation journey.

Learn about Louis Riel and why we have a provincial holiday named for him!

Find out why the creation of the province of Manitoba (where Louis Riel was the President) led to the Supreme Court Land Claims Case of 2013.

Understand all the resources that are available to Métis citizens (including RRC Polytech students!)

Shirley Delorme Russell

Shirley Delorme Russell (Class of 2007 Aboriginal Languages) is a proud Métis woman from the heart of the Métis nation by her momma as a Delorme. She is a humble Anisinaabekwe from her father from the land of the Sleeping Giant by her dad as a Russell.

A history nerd at heart, Shirley loves to instill pride and excitement as she shares Métis history with others.

Trained at RRC Polytech in Aboriginal Languages as part of her Bachelor of Education (University of Winnipeg 2010), Shirley is currently the Instructor of Métis History and Culture at the Louis Riel Institute, the educational affiliate of the Métis national government- the Manitoba Métis Federation.