Indigenous Education

News and Events

Wrapping Up the Fifth Annual Truth and Reconciliation Week

October 11, 2023

As the fifth annual Truth and Reconciliation Week wraps up, RRC Polytech would like to extend chi-miigwech to the nearly 90 volunteers that helped make this Truth and Reconciliation Week the most comprehensive and expansive we’ve had yet. The College community turned out to 16 in-person events across all campuses and tuned into countless other self-guided resources, including articles, books, videos, and seminars and actively engaging in the shared responsibility we have to Truth and Reconciliation.

Special thanks to our invited guests Elder Allen Sutherland, Tanya Clark-Marinelli, Elder Aaron Pierre, Fawnda Neckoway, Dawn Chartrand, Douglas Sanderson, Andrew Stobo Sniderman, and Maureen Twovoice for joining us for various sessions that helped create deeper connections and understanding as a community.

As we know, Truth and Reconciliation is a year-round commitment, so we invite members of the College community to utilize these upcoming opportunities:

Indigenous Research Methodologies with Dr. Ramona Neckoway

This Friday, October 13 from 10am-12pm at the Roundhouse Auditorium, join us for a session part of RPI’s Indigenous Perspectives in Applied Research Series with Dr. Ramona Neckoway, Associate Vice-President Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation, University College of the North. The session is co-hosted by Research Partnerships and Innovation and Truth and Reconciliation and Community Engagement, and will include welcome remarks, a talk from Dr. Neckoway and a discussion period. To register, email Chelsea Welechenko at cwelechenko@rrc.ca as space is limited.

Truth and Reconciliation Community of Practice

The Truth and Reconciliation Community of Practice is a learning community that creates opportunities for staff and faculty to extend and apply their learning, and to take action to advance Truth and Reconciliation and anti-racism. Participation will involve a commitment of 10-12 hours throughout the fall, including group discussion and small group or partner discussions, focused on guided questions that relate to both Truth and Reconciliation and anti-racism. Learn more and sign up here.

Finding Footing in Information Technology

October 6, 2023

Colton Gadoury grew up immersed in the Internet. Today, his favourite hobby is settling in and logging onto Red Dead Redemption, or connecting with friends over the occasional virtual sports game.

At 24-years-old, with post-secondary certification in Electrical Applications and after a lot of consideration, Gadoury enrolled in the first Pathway to IT cohort in January 2023.  He says the program was a logical fit for his circumstances: with a tuition of just $500 thanks to RBC Future Launch, the program didn’t strain his budget as much as launching directly into a diploma or bachelor program might have, and was the best way to change his job title from electrician to software developer.

Colton Gadoury.

“The Pathway program gave me the confidence to make the jump between industries. I wasn’t sure where I would fit in the information technology industry because it’s so huge, but the Pathway helped me explore options and figure out where I wanted to go… It helped introduce me to a lot of opportunities in tech for a Métis person such as myself,” said Gadoury.

Despite his affinity for technology, Gadoury initially hadn’t considered a career in IT before attending RRC Polytech. From a young age, he thought he would be a tradesperson and pursued that path.

“Since I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, and there was some expectation to attend post-secondary, I rushed into a trade I thought I might like,” Gadoury said.

After experiencing that frustration as an electrician, Gadoury reflected on what it was that did make him happy. As an avid gamer that grew up with the evolution of the internet, he’d acquired technical skills from his hobbies that he hadn’t realized he could transfer to a career. He used that foundational knowledge of computer systems and coding that he’d gleaned over the years as inspiration for a new career trajectory: information technology. It’s a constantly-growing, goliath industry with plenty of opportunity to carve a new path. He just needed to know where and how he could gain the skills to take the plunge.

The biggest challenge for Gadoury’s career change was the uncertainty. Making the choice to pursue a different profession meant that his established and steady income would become temporarily unstable, and he wouldn’t know for how long. The Pathway program eased his hesitation and he says he’s glad he went for it.

Gadoury recalls his favourite experience being the Sprint to Innovate course. He and his classmates broke up into groups to generate concepts for improving the user experience, or UX, on RRC Polytech’s internal staff HUB site in three areas: filling out expense reports, obtaining keycard access, and booking rooms. The first group designed a wizard to calculate and populate spaces based on information users provided; the second group proposed a virtual assistant chat box to provide users with advice and direction; and Gadoury’s group constructed an interactive booking map to engage users.

Gadoury during a class panel.

At the beginning of the term, Gadoury says he was nervous at the prospect of their project. It felt like a lot of work loomed over them, especially during the planning stages to determine the best path forward. Each group figured out how to work with the existing site structure to integrate their solutions and by the end of the term, they presented prototypes to mock clients. Gadoury says the collaboration transformed his reservations into confidence, and he was proud to apply the skills and knowledge he had acquired through the program.

The experience with Sprint to Innovate and the support he received in the Pathway to IT program confirmed for him that taking a leap to the new career – one he finds rewarding with endless opportunity – was the right decision. Through the Pathway program, he’d made connections with other Indigenous IT professionals making technological progress for a variety of Indigenous organizations.

Gadoury is looking forward to focusing his portfolio in RRC Polytech’s Business Information Technology (BIT) program in Fall 2023. He says he can see himself applying his skills to front-end development to innovate user experience by streamlining digital interfaces, or contributing to the programmatic structural integrity of software through back-end development—both areas have wide applications out of which Gadoury says he could carve a rewarding career.

Pathways at RRC Polytech

Pathway to Information Technology Programs prepares Indigenous students to take the lead in technology and helps to jumpstart an education in technology. Pathways are exploratory and preparatory, ensuring that Indigenous students have the foundation to start strong in their post-secondary journeys. Pathways are for Indigenous students that haven’t experienced post-secondary education yet or want to build a starting point for an education in a particular industry—which includes career-changers like Gadoury.

The Pathway to Information Technology is generously supported by RBC Future Launch, which has reduced the program’s tuition to $500 for each intake until 2024. For more information about the Pathway to IT Programs and to get your application started for Fall 2023, check out the Program Explorer.

RRC Polytech partners with local Métis artist for original Red Shirt design

October 4, 2023

As a tattoo and multimedia artist, Shayre Curé’s art is often specially curated for the people that commission her—regardless of the medium. Her art is typically for the enjoyment of private buyers, in their houses or on their skin.

This year, Curé partnered with RRC Polytech to create an original Red Shirt design to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit People (MMIWG2S) and to support the Mínwastánikéwin Truth and Reconciliation Award for Indigenous students.

“As a Métis artist, my goal is to create art that brings awareness to this important issue. I want my art to not only reflect cultural heritage, but to inspire future generations to continue the fight for justice, equality, and empowerment,” said Curé.

The Red Shirt design portrays a woman with the emblematic handprint over her mouth that represents the “No More Stolen Sisters” movement, a phrase coined to express the outrage and grief over the loss of so many women, girls and Two Spirit people that, in many cases, could have been prevented. Curé worked in collaboration with a committee of Indigenous staff to come up with the concept.

No More Stolen Sisters. It’s a sentiment close to Curé’s heart, and the hearts of many Indigenous people.

RRC Polytech’s relationship with Curé first began earlier this year, when the Indigenous Student Support Centre purchased a piece from her entitled “The Silent Genocide on Turtle Island”—a piece that has taken her years to complete.

In 2018, she’d hand-drawn the concept for this piece shortly after her best friend Kayla was killed in a hit-and-run. The death of her best friend was devastating, though grief was not unfamiliar to Curé—she says that Kayla’s brother had also been murdered eight years prior in 2010. She’s known many people whose friends and family have gone missing or were killed over the years, and she says being able to honour them through her art and bring light to their stories is humbling.

Curé had returned to the concept last year in October 2022, when previously undisclosed details of Kayla’s case were revealed. To deal with the emotion that bubbled to the surface, the pain of injustice, and the reminder of loss, Curé transformed the original hand-drawn concept into a multimedia painting using acrylic paint and beads.

From a young age, Curé expressed herself through art—art and the process of creation was an anchor for her while growing up. As a child, Curé recalled seeing tattooed folks on TV but never on the people she knew or had seen in her area. Identifying that market planted the seeds that would later bloom into a strong and active career.

In high school, Curé says she fell in step with a bad crowd and diverged from her artistic inclinations for a few years. The summer before she started university classes for psychiatric nursing, Curé met a tattoo artist and her path circled back to her love of art, and she decided to pursue tattooing. She’s been tattooing at Tattoos by Rodriguez for the past five years and regularly creates art on skin and canvas alike.

Curé’s emotional and powerful expression of grief and hope through her painting that now lives in the Indigenous Support Centre moved RRC Polytech to approach Curé with another opportunity to collaborate on the Red Shirt design to bring more awareness to MMIWG2S, and to support Indigenous students through the proceeds from the sales.

“Through the design of this shirt, along with the acrylic painting I created for the Indigenous Student Support Centre, I pay tribute to my best friend Kayla Arkinson — her life was tragically taken on June 23rd, 2018, in Sagkeeng First Nation,” Curé said.

The Red Shirt can be purchased at the Campus Store and all proceeds go to the Mínwastánikéwin Truth and Reconciliation Award. Every Red Shirt is produced and supplied by Red Rebel Armour, owned and operated by Indigenous alumnus Sean Rayland-Boubar.

“Working with Indigenous artists and entrepreneurs to represent Indigenous ideas and movements is integral to the societal change we aim for,” said Carla Kematch, Director, Truth and Reconciliation and Community Engagement. “Initiatives like the Orange and Red Shirts are not only a strong way to raise awareness of truth and Indigenous history, but it’s also an opportunity for Indigenous people to participate in their own stories. Curé’s story is unique but many people know it well from their own experience, which makes it all the more powerful.”

The College community is invited to wear red on October 4 to show support for the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two Spirit people.

Artist’s Statement

Since settlers set foot on Turtle Island, a silent genocide has been perpetuated against Indigenous women. The United Nations recognized this and called on Canada to implement the MMIWG2S National Inquiry’s 231 Calls for Justice. Indigenous women are twelve times more likely to be murdered or to go missing than non-Indigenous women in Canada.

Through the design of this shirt, along with the acrylic painting I created for the Indigenous Student Support Centre, I pay tribute to my best friend Kayla Arkinson — her life was tragically taken on June 23rd, 2018 in Sagkeeng First Nation.

As a Métis artist, my goal is to create art that brings awareness to this important issue. I want my art to not only reflect cultural heritage, but to inspire future generations to continue the fight for justice, equality, and empowerment.

Shayre Cure

Welcome Back Celebration Oct. 11

September 15, 2023

Join the Indigenous Student Support Team for a fun-filled day of activities, entertainment, and food! Take the opportunity to meet fellow students, introduce yourself to support personnel, and enter to win prizes!

The Indigenous Support Centres at NDC in F209 and at EDC in P407 will be open for the celebration with baked goods, coffee, pizza, and pop all throughout the day. Please come and go as your schedule allows.

Date: October 11, 2023

Location: NDC – F209 & EDC – P407

Time: 10am – 2pm

The event is free of charge and open to all RRC Polytech students.

Truth and Reconciliation Week 2023

September 13, 2023

All students, staff and faculty are invited to participate in RRC Polytech’s fifth annual Truth and Reconciliation Week, September 25 to October 6, 2023

Through in-person events and self-guided learning offered by departments across the College, you’ll deepen your knowledge and understanding of Canada’s true history, Indigenous cultures, and spark conversations and take action towards Truth and Reconciliation. 

This year’s event has been expanded to two weeks to enhance the opportunities for the College community to participate and includes sessions featuring special guests. 

We look forward to fostering learning, healing and building stronger relationships. 

Please stay tuned to this page for session updates.

Schedule of Events

Truth and Reconciliation Week – Daily Activities

Monday, September 25

Tuesday, September 26

Wednesday, September 27

Thursday, September 28

Friday, September 29

Saturday, September 30

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day 

Monday, October 2

Statutory Holiday in lieu of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Please note that RRC Polytech Campuses are closed today, Monday, Oct 2.

Tuesday, October 3

Wednesday, October 4

Thursday, October 5

Self-Guided Resources

Tuesday, October 10 & Wednesday, October 11

Friday, October 27

Sweat Lodges 2023 – 24

September 11, 2023

Sweat Lodge Ceremonies are a positive way to heal and connect with oneself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Join the Indigenous Student Support Team with Elder-in-Residence Paul Guimond and Knowledge Keeper-in-Residence Richard Curé for Sweat Lodge Ceremonies throughout the year. We host Sweat Lodges in the Medicine Wheel Garden at the top of the hill in the north-west quarter of Notre Dame Campus. Sweat Lodges are divided into staff and student groups with a maximum of 20 spots for each Ceremony.

Sweat Lodges typically start at 10am and close out by 1pm with a Feast in the Indigenous Support Centre. If you need help getting to the Medicine Wheel Garden, you can drop by the Indigenous Support Centre in F209 between 9:30am and 10am and join staff to walk out to the hill.

Upcoming Sweat Lodge Ceremonies 2023 – 24

Staff

  • September 15, 2023
  • October 13, 2023
  • March 15, 2024
  • April 12, 2024
  • May 10, 2024

Student

  • September 29, 2023 – cancelled
  • October 27, 2023
  • March 29, 2024 (subject to change)
  • April 26, 2024
  • May 17, 2024

To register, email the Indigenous Support Centre Admin Holly Scherban at hscherban@rrc.ca. All are welcome!

Never attended a Sweat Lodge before? Connect with Holly or drop by an Indigenous Support Centre (F209 at NDC or P407 at EDC) and connect with one of our Navigation Coaches.

Please note: registrations will only be accepted the same month that the Sweat Lodge is being hosted. I.e., registrations for March Sweats will not be accepted until March.

The Indigenous Student Supports Team invites you to get involved with R-Crew!

September 6, 2023

The Indigenous Student Support & Community Relations department recruits students each year known amongst their peers as the R-Crew, or Resource Crew.

The R-Crew positions provide a great opportunity for Indigenous students to get involved with Indigenous-focused activities and events, while learning valuable leadership skills, gaining work experience, and becoming a role model to other students. These students are an integral part of our team and help to build our community on campus.

Every year, we welcome new R-Crew members to take on leadership roles in our community. Read about the 2022-2023 R-Crew ›

Qualified applicants must have:

  • a willingness to learn;
  • a strong sense of teamwork and dedication;
  • time and flexibility to work outside of class time hours, and;
  • the ability to serve as an integral part of RRC’s Indigenous Student Support team.

Members who complete 100 hours of volunteer time between October 2023 and June 2024 will be awarded a $1,000 bursary.

Apply by Friday, September 29, 2023.

Students at Notre Dame Campus can submit their resumes and cover letters to Brittany Ross, Navigation Coach at bross4@rrc.ca.

Students at Exchange District Campus can submit their resumes and cover letters to Charmaine Mousseau, Navigation Coach at cmousseau@rrc.ca.

Save the Date: Truth and Reconciliation Week 2023

September 5, 2023

All students, staff and faculty are invited to participate in RRC Polytech’s fifth annual Truth and Reconciliation Week, September 25 to October 6 2023.

Through in-person events and self-guided learning offered by departments across the College, you’ll deepen your knowledge and understanding of Canada’s true history, Indigenous cultures, and spark conversations and take action towards Truth and Reconciliation.

This year’s event has been expanded to two weeks to enhance the opportunities for the College community to participate and includes sessions featuring special guests.

We look forward to fostering learning, healing and building stronger relationships.

Upcoming Truth and Reconciliation Week Events:

Fall Equinox Celebration

Join the Fall Equinox celebration Monday, September 25, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., in the Roundhouse Auditorium at Manitou a bi Bii daziigae. The celebration will feature a Pipe Ceremony, Sharing Circle and Feast. Learn more here.

Blanket Exercise

The Blanket Exercise will be offered for staff and faculty on Thursday, September 28, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Roundhouse Auditorium at Manitou a bi Bii daziigae. The experience simulates the history of Indigenous people in Canada and the effects of colonization through facilitated interactive activities.

Space is limited to 30 participants. To learn more and sign up, click here.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation / Orange Shirt Day: Every Child Matters

September 30 is Orange Shirt Day: Every Child Matters, a time to recognize and honour Residential School Survivors, remember those who never made it home, and work towards healing and continuing our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.

You are encouraged to wear your Orange Shirt on campus on Friday, September 29, and take some time to learn and reflect about Canada’s history of the Residential School System and its intergenerational impact.

This year, orange t-shirts featuring the art of RRC Polytech Graphic Design grad Leticia Spence, and produced by Red Rebel Armour, an Indigenous streetwear outlet owned and operated by RRC Polytech grad Sean Rayland-Boubar, are available through the Campus Store. All proceeds go to the College’s Mínwastánikéwin Truth and Reconciliation Award, which aims to alleviate financial burden for Indigenous students. Learn more about the orange shirt design here.

Stay tuned to Staff and Student News and subscribe to the Indigenous blog here for more information and the full schedule of events.

Fall Equinox 2023

August 31, 2023

Join us at Manitou a bi Bii daziigae for the Fall Equinox Celebration on Monday, Sept. 25!

The Fall Equinox is one of the four transitory events that marks the changing of the seasons, along with the Winter and Summer Solstices and the Spring Equinox. The Fall Equinox is the moment in the Earth’s cycle when the Sun crosses the equator into the southern hemisphere. In the Fall, we harvest our crops and prepare for the long winter when the land is protected by a blanket of snow.

To acknowledge the changing of the season, we come together with Ceremony and a Feast. Join us in the Roundhouse Auditorium on Monday, September 25 in Manitou a bi Bii daziigae at the Exchange District Campus. The Roundhouse Auditorium is on the second floor on the west side of the Agora.

The morning will start with a Pipe Ceremony, followed by a Sharing Circle led by Elder-in-Residence Paul Guimond and Knowledge Keeper-in-Residence Richard Curé. The morning will close out with a Feast to celebrate the changing of the season.

All are welcome, no registration needed.

Location: Roundhouse Auditorium, Manitou a bi Bii daziigae

Date: Monday, Sept. 25, 2023

Time: 10AM Pipe Ceremony • 11AM Sharing Circle • 12PM Feast

Orange Shirt Day 2023

August 21, 2023

Phyllis Webstad, whose orange shirt was taken away when she attended Residential School in the 1970s, started the Orange Shirt movement by sharing her story. Since 2013, the Orange Shirt Society has raised awareness of the impacts of Residential Schools and the work Survivors and their families do to heal Indigenous communities. September 30 has been declared the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and recognized as Orange Shirt Day to honour Residential School Survivors, their communities, and the children who never came home.

In honour of Orange Shirt Day, RRC Polytech has partnered with Ininew artist and alumna Leticia Spence to create an original Orange Shirt design and with Red Rebel Armour, owned and operated by alumnus Sean Rayland-Boubar, to produce the Orange Shirts.

The design features a tree made up of florals, Medicines and roots. Hummingbirds flank the tree, surrounded by rosehips, rosebuds and berries. First Nations, the Métis Nation, and the Inuit Nation are represented by symbols deeply intertwined with each nation: the cardinal directions, a wild rose forming an infinity, and fireweed flowers.

“I want whoever is wearing this t-shirt to feel a sense of hope and strength as they honour those who are currently being found while knowing that it’s okay to create space to honour themselves as either direct residential school survivors or intergenerational residential school survivors.”

Leticia Spence, Artist – Graphic Design 2019

The Orange Shirts will be available through the Campus Store and all proceeds from Orange Shirt sales go to the Mínwastánikéwin Truth and Reconciliation Award when applications open in January 2024.

Show your support for Truth and Reconciliation by wearing the RRC Polytech Orange Shirt on Friday, September 29 on campus.

Read more about the 2023 Orange Shirt and Leticia Spence on the RED Blog.

Purchase your 2023 Orange Shirt through the Campus Store.

Learn more about Phyllis Webstad and the Orange Shirt Society on their website.

RRC Polytech campuses are located on the lands of the Anishinaabeg, Ininiwak, Anishininwak, Dakota Oyate, and Denésuline, and the National Homeland of the Red River Métis.

We recognize and honour Treaty 3 Territory Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, the source of Winnipeg’s clean drinking water. In addition, we acknowledge Treaty Territories which provide us with access to electricity we use in both our personal and professional lives.