Truth and Reconciliation and Community Engagement is proud to introduce our 2020-2021 exploration.

We are shifting our events and special initiatives online to allow us to continue to promote respectful cultural awareness safely. Throughout this academic year, we will be inviting some special guest speakers, sharing resources, and hosting activities that will engage the College community in conversation and deepen your understanding of Truth and Reconciliation and Indigenous cultures.

We invite you to begin by watching our “What Does Truth and Reconciliation mean to you” video featuring conversations with RRC staff and students:

This video introduces a three-part video series that we can find on our new TRC web page.

• New TRC Web Page
  • Here you will find information, videos, and resources to use. Like the journey of TRC, this webpage will continue to grow and change with us, so please feel free to check back in the future.
• Stay the Course Speaker Series
  • This series is a hand from one generation to the next. Every third Friday of the month, starting Sept. 25, join us live over the lunch hour on WebEx as we hear from some RRC Indigenous Alumni on their journey to success. (Tell your students!)
• Truth and Reconciliation Week 2020 – Sept. 28-Oct. 4
  • This an important week as Wednesday, Sept. 30 is Orange Shirt Day: Every Child Matters, and Sunday, Oct. 4 is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Awareness Day. Throughout the week, you will be guided through a voyage of local Indigenous cultures and themes. We will receive a teaching on Treaties with Elder Harry Bone, learn about Pow Wow regalia, paint along with artist Jackie Traverse, and much more.

We are so excited to also present the National Film Board of Canada’s Freedom Road, a five-part documentary series that tells the inspiring story of Shoal Lake 40. We will be sharing the link and password so you can watch at home. (Please feel free to share, the more the merrier.) We will end the week with a Freedom Road live panel discussion over WebEx. Get ready by watching the trailer here:

The best way to keep up to date on TRC is to subscribe to receive the Indigenous Education news feed. We hope you will walk with us. Click here to subscribe.

This July, Red River College’s School of Indigenous Education is launching a free online course all about creating social change.

“At RRC, we’re committed to advancing Indigenous achievement. One facet of this strategy is developing the learning opportunities Indigenous students desire and by creating the environment students need to succeed,” says Isabel Bright, Dean, School of Indigenous Education. “We are constantly trying to adapt, and this course provides a unique opportunity for remote learners in this new digital age. With this course being online, it really opens it up to potential students across the province. Social Innovation is a relatively new concept in post-secondary, so this is a great way for people to get an-depth understanding of this sector and see if it’s something they would like to pursue in a full-time program.”

Social Innovation Foundations runs July 20 to August 14, 2020, and does not have a set schedule, so students can log in when it works for them. The intensive 15 hours per week course can also be applied towards the Social Innovation and Community Development diploma program.

“During the pandemic, we have seen our Social Innovation and Community Development students take these new skills into their home communities to lead, organize and support the people in their communities. With this type of training, we’re really going to see an emergence of recent graduates become the change makers we need in our society,” continues Bright.

Social innovators explore social opportunities and use creativity to turn these opportunities into reality. Students will explore how new ideas are created, developed, and applied to promote change that can affect the world for the better. This course introduces students to social ideas in action, but also to the leaders impacting the social innovation sector.

Through activity-based projects, reading, videos, dialogue and discussion boards, students will look at social inequities, global issues, sustainability, and defining social problems.

“A big theme throughout the course is creativity. How do we creatively come up with solutions to common problems? We are going to be really digging into what research has been done into a specific challenge and discussing what has been tried before; has it worked? Has it not worked? What have we seen in our own communities that has worked really well,” says Instructor Mike Tutthill.

“When we talk about Social Innovation, we often talk about it being the forefront of Community Development. It’s the intersection of some of the principals we use in business and community development and really merging those two things together to get the best bang for our buck in terms of community investments so we’re doing programs that work.”

Tutthill says he hopes students to bring their own perspectives, issues that are important to them, and their lived experience to the classroom as well.

“There will be lots of chances to communicate together online. We’ll be sharing some of the challenges different communities are having and some of the great things they are seeing. Who are the people doing amazing things in their communities locally, nationally, and globally. Maybe it’s someone’s kokum.”

Tutthill says this course is for anyone who is interested in creating change. “Whether you want to create change from being an activist, running for office, working at your local community health centre doing programming, starting a business or maybe you’re interested in working with a group of people in your community to start a co-op.”

Although students registering are not required to be Indigenous, the course is offered through the School of Indigenous Education and there will be a focus on Indigenous innovators, issues, communities and Truth and Reconciliation.

“No matter who enters this program, we always hope that people will go out into the world and be able to think about how they will bring Indigenous ways of knowing into the decisions they are making and the programs they are doing.”

For more information, visit rrc.ca/indigenous/social-innovation-foundations

Limited space available.

Friday, June 26, 2020 | 11 am
Red River College – Indigenous Education Facebook Page

Join Indigenous Language Instructor Corey Whitford and Indigenous Liaison Advisor Monica Morin for a live Q+A on Facebook to get an in-depth look at our Indigenous Language programs offered in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) and Inninew (Cree). Find out more about what classes will look like this fall, what you can expect to learn and what you need to get started. Plus, we’ll start off with Ojibwe word of the day!

Click here for the Facebook event.

RRC Virtual Indigenous Celebration
Friday, June 5, 2020 | 12:00 pm
Red River College – Indigenous Education Facebook Page

“RRC’s annual Pow Wow has been a point of pride for the College for nearly 20 years and has been a tremendous way to honour, celebrate, and make Indigenous culture more accessible for the College community. Although we are not yet able to be together physically, we still are, and will always be, dedicated to advancing Indigenous achievement and embedding Indigenous ways of knowing and being,” says Isabel Bright, Acting Dean, School of Indigenous Education. “We want to ensure we are doing what we can to help students celebrate important milestones and reminds them that they are part of a community.”

Our annual Indigenous student celebration is moving online! We are excited to create a virtual place that makes our students feel special, honours their achievements, and holds space for Indigenous culture and teachings. Join us Friday, June 5 for a Facebook live stream featuring some special performances on the Indigenous Education Facebook page.

Although we can’t all be together, we can find ways to celebrate and mark this special occasion. If you’d like to host your own Celebration at home, or create a special moment for yourself to honour your journey, we’ve included some ways that can add to your celebrations – online and offline.

• Instagram users: search “RRC” in stickers when posting to your stories for our Virtual Indigenous Celebration sticker. We love that this sticker has a heart/drum beat and a nod to the medicine wheel! Tag @redrivercollege in your stories in this Friday so we can share and bring our Celebration onto Instagram. To Indigenous students who registered: we would love to see you wearing your RRC Indigenous stole when you receive it in the mail.
• Update your Facebook picture picture with our new profile picture frame.
• Make your own bannock with “Cooking with the Coyote” Corey Whitford, Indigenous Language Instructor.
• Make Cedar Tea.
• Sew your own ribbon skirt with Wellness Advisor Donna Glover.
• Download these colouring sheets by Anishinabee artist Jackie Traverse to create some art!
• Miss visiting our Indigenous spaces at the College? Take yourself on a 360 tour of the Medicine Wheel Garden and Notre Dame Indigenous Support Centre.

Registration is now closed to be included in the Virtual Indigenous Celebration, but students can still register to receive a mailed gift by visiting rrc.ca/indigenous/virtual-celebration until June 19.

Our annual Indigenous student celebration is moving online! We are excited to create a virtual place that makes our students feel special, honours their achievements, and holds space for Indigenous culture and teachings. Join us Friday, June 5 at noon for a Virtual Indigenous Celebration Facebook live stream featuring some special performances on the Indigenous Education Facebook page.

Get ready to host your own at home celebration by making bannock with a recipe from our own “Cooking with the Coyote” Corey Whitford, Indigenous Language Instructor. We are so excited he is sharing his bannock secrets with us!

“The art of making a delicious bannock as follows:

• In a medium bowl, eye ball all of your ingredients, just like my koko used to do it.
• First, put around three cups of flour.
• Add half a tablespoon of salt and a full tablespoon of baking powder. Stir all the dry ingredients in the bowl.
• Now make a well in the center of your bowl by pushing all the mixed flour towards the edge.
• Next, add about a cup and a half of warm water.
• This next step is the most critical part of the journey to a well-made bannock. Gently use a spoon to begin scraping small portions of the wall of the bowl – be sure to take only small increments each time. Make sure to do this until all the flour is combined into the water.
• When you are done mixing thoroughly and all flour is mixed in; it should be a thick medium texture.
• Start folding the dough right inside the bowl about twenty times or until it feels like it is not sticky.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Celsius.
• Pull out the dough from the mixing bowl and put it on a lightly floured area of your counter and begin flattening it with a flat patting down movement.
• This is the part where you don’t want to knead the dough too much because if you do… your bannock will become real hard. So make sure that you knead the dough only about 3-4 times, it should not take too long to do.
• Place it on a baking tray, then take a fork and start poking holes in the flat kneaded dough.
• Put the baking tray in the oven for about 23-25 minutes. It should rise and turn into a golden brown colour as it bakes.
• Take it out and slather it with butter all over; stand it up on the kitchen counter for about 10 minutes.
• After ten minutes of standing, rip-off a giant piece of bannock; put butter on it, and then slather it again with raspberry jam.

And there you go a-la-bakwezhigan!”

Winnipeg artist Jackie Traverse and her publisher Fernwood Publishing have released six free printable colouring sheets from her colouring books Sacred Feminine and IKWE for a relaxing stay-at-home activity for kids and adults. The beautiful images feature Ojibwe Florals, Courage from the Seven Teachings, selections “Honouring Women, Life Givers, and Water Protectors,” and more.

Click here to download the colouring sheets.

The Anishinabee artist’s work was recently unveiled as one of the main design features of the College’s new 100,000 square-foot Innovation Centre, currently under construction on in the Exchange District. The piece will span approximately 1,000 square-feet across the inside and outside of the building’s fourth floor ceiling, and will be visible from blocks away.

Now we can all have a piece of her artwork in our homes!

Miigwech!

Red River College’s School of Indigenous Education, in partnership with the Campus Store, is honoured to present the first Mínwastánikéwin Truth and Reconciliation Award to Child and Youth Care student Morgan Barbanchon. The word Mínwastánikéwin is Cree and means ‘to set it right.’

“Finding out that I was the person who was chosen, I almost cried. I felt special,” says Barbanchon, whose spirit name is Ogima Wabishkay Gekek (Leading White Hawk), and is from the bear clan. “I was really excited. It’s a lot to take in.”

Barbanchon wrote a compelling essay selected by a committee based on the question, What Does Truth and Reconciliation Mean to You? In her essay, she shared a personal story about how the intergenerational effects of colonialism have impacted her and her family, but how she is now on a path of reconciliation, education and healing.

“It’s a long journey. It took me six years to understand myself better and feel a connection with myself and my spirit. It was after I got sober that the journey began for me, and it solidified it even more so after coming to Red River College.”

“College has changed my life quite a bit. I have learned so much about myself. I’m a completely different person before coming into this program and going to Red River. I just found the beauty in Indigenous culture that I was searching for my whole life. I never knew how beautiful our culture was and it made me more proud to be who I am.”

She enrolled in the Child and Youth Care program to better understand how she can help her family and her community. During her studies, she has had more access to Indigenous culture, spirituality and ceremony and has been sharing her teachings with her family.

“Making sure that I do not continue this vicious cycle of intergenerational trauma is very important to me because I feel that I am setting an example for those whom I love. I believe that people can heal on Creator’s time, not mine.”

When she completes her program this spring, she says she will bring her spirituality into her work with children and people in need.

“I feel like we have to start with our spirits and go from there. I bring healing wherever I go. I have replaced resentment with empathy and compassion towards others.”

This new award that seeks to advance Indigenous achievement was a grassroots initiative, created by the generous support of the College community during the first Truth and Reconciliation week. Staff and students purchased specially designed t-shirts at the Campus Store that bring awareness to Indigenous issues and key dates Orange Shirt Day: Every Child Matters and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Awareness Day.

“This award is all because of students, staff and faculty showing their advocacy and ally ship with Indigenous issues. It has been a wonderful surprise and we hope we can continue to find new ways to support our Indigenous students,” says Carla Kematch, Manager, Truth and Reconciliation and Community Engagement. “We loved how Morgan expressed herself and her spirituality, and how she has embraced a personal responsibility to help heal others in not only her career choice, but in her personal life as well. She owned and shared her truth with a brave vulnerability. She is an example of understanding truth and using it to heal herself, her family and her community. She is a positive beacon of hope and we couldn’t be more proud.”

“I just want to be an example for those who are really trying, and are wanting to do better in their life and getting an education. I really appreciate this award. It motivates me to continue with my education, even after Red River College,” says Barbanchon.

Miyâhkasikan (Cree)
Giizhik (Ojibwe)
Cedar

Cedar, along with tobacco, sage and sweet grass, is one of four sacred medicines recognized in many Indigenous communities for ceremony, healing, and wellness. These four medicines can be used in ceremony separately, or in any combination, especially if there is a certain goal to be achieved. In particular, cedar is used for healing, restoring balance and protection against disease. Not only does cedar have anti-inflammatory effects, improves respiratory organs and decontaminates the air, the aroma is comforting and calming.

There are many ways to reap the benefits of cedar; you can smudge with cedar, wear cedar in your shoes, make cedar tea, or simply boil cedar on your stove to release its properties.

Ceremonial: Smudging

When we smudge, we send our intentions through smoke to the spirit world. As part of our journey in this human experience, we continue to build new relationships while severing old ones. At times, we recognize the need to clear the space of unwanted spirits. We also recognize there are times to build relationships in life with our spirit, spirit helpers, and the spirit world.

Dried cedar is placed in a bowl, or other safe container, and ignited. The flame is then extinguished, allowing the cedar to smolder. The smoke that rises is then fanned using one’s hand or a feather. There is no right or wrong way to smudge, you can do what feels natural to you. Move the smoke from the top of your head, over your eyes, mouth, ears, hearts and bodies. Focus on the sensation of the smoke while centering your mind and calming your spirit.

How to Make Cedar Tea

• Harvest fresh green leaves, only gathering as much as you need.
• Remove any seeds or brown pieces.
• Rinse cedar to remove dirt particles.
• Allow time to dry, at least four days.
• Crush leaves using a mortar and pestle.
• Boil water in a pot or kettle.
• Pour hot water into tea pot and add crushed cedar leaves.
• Allow time for the leaves to soak until the water becomes golden brown.
• Strain off the cedar leaves and skim the tea to remove the scum layer.

Warning: cedar contains Thujone, which can be toxic to the human body. It is recommended that a person drink no more than three cups of cedar tea per week. It should not be used during pregnancy, breastfeeding or with kidney weakness. 

Benefits: High is Vitamin C. The body requires vitamin C to efficiently use carbohydrates, fats, and protein. It binds and neutralizes the tissue-damaging effects of free radicals. It is an essential co-factor for the formation of collagen, the body’s major building protein, and is essential to the proper functioning of all internal organs.

We deeply regret to inform you Red River College’s 20th Annual Graduation Pow Wow that was to be held on May 8, 2020 will be postponed due to the recent recommendations made by public authorities to increase social distancing to reduce the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

This event has been a point of pride for RRC for nearly 20 years and has been a tremendous way to honour, celebrate, and make Indigenous culture more accessible for the College community. Although we are saddened by this change, we are hopeful that we will be able to join together to celebrate our Indigenous students and the journey they are on in the near future.

We would like to acknowledge the time and efforts of our Elders, staff and community members who have been putting in great effort to plan this special day.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Rhonda Monkman, Events Coordinator, at rmonkman90@rrc.ca

Miigwetch (thank you) in advance for your understanding.

Red River College staff are taking advantage of a new opportunity to learn more about Canada’s history and Indigenous culture through the Blanket Exercise, which is named for the blankets participants walk on that represent North America.

During the exercise, participants role-play as Indigenous peoples as they are guided through a simulation of the colonization of Canada. It begins with what Indigenous worldviews are and what life and governance looked like before European contact. It takes you through the first treaties, laws and policies that were enacted, the Canadian Residential School System, the Sixties Scoop, all the way up to current issues.

The exercise is designed to not only share information and key events, but in a way that is safe, supportive and non-judgmental.

Elders are an essential part of the exercise as they start the day off in a good way, share Teachings, and contribute to creating a safe environment. Every offering of the Blanket Exercise will be a little different as the College has a number of facilitators and lead Indigenous facilitators, all of who will bring their own Teachings and different life experiences to the day, which is fitting as no Indigenous community is the same.

This training is just one of the ways that the College is working to embed the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, to support the healing journey between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and to create a stronger College community.

Angela Ferris, Assistant to the Executive Director, Community & Student Services, recently experienced the Blanket Exercise for the first time and is hoping that more staff take advantage of the workshop.

“There is a need for reconciliation. As Canadians, we need to know the history of what went on because a lot of it is swept under the rug. There is that stereotype of Friendly Canada, but we have our own skeletons in the closet. As RRC employees, I think it is incredibly important because we do have many Indigenous students coming through our doors. It’s important that we can understand their history and where they might be coming from.”

Growing up in Eastern Canada, Ferris didn’t encounter Indigenous people or relations except for when protests were on the news, which were difficult to understand. “It was never talked about. It wasn’t until I moved to Winnipeg that I was exposed to Indigenous people because I just never met any Indigenous people, or if I did, they didn’t identify as being indigenous so I didn’t know. Then I saw the relations and the tensions and it was shocking, but I didn’t really know what to do.”

Ferris was looking for ways she could educate herself, and fortunately when she attended the University of Winnipeg for her Bachelor of Education Degree, Indigenous studies was part of her education.

“It kind of just fell into place, and luckily it did. I remember thinking now that I’ve learned the history, I feel like I can be an ally and talk to other people about it and make them question their own view.”

As a non-Indigenous person, Ferris thinks this is the most important thing allies can do – question their own views and ask others to do the same.

“It’s so easy to grow up thinking one way, or have other people’s views internalized without even taking the time to question it. I would like more people to question what they thought they knew. Everyone has their own beliefs, right or wrong, but I think it’s good to always question it and never think that you are 100% correct. If more people could just question, I think that would be great.”

Although she had formal education on Indigenous history, she felt the Blanket Exercise made it feel much more real. “I could definitely visualize that feeling, that grief, that moment, a lot better than just reading it on paper.”

She said the whole day was very powerful and incredibly informative, but the moment that stuck out the most was the sharing circle where she felt everyone was very open to speaking and listening to one another. It was a great way to end the day. She also thinks that having the workshop in the Indigenous Support Centre provided a good energy and is a place everyone at RRC should experience. “You walk in and everyone is so welcoming.”

Although the day was emotional, she felt supported all the way through. “I felt I could have gone to any facilitator and they would have been there for me.”

“You can always learn something new and I think it’s worth taking the time because we are Canadians. It’s incredibly important and it’s worth making a priority.”

Click here to register. 

Find more information here.