Raise a lodge, share a semester, start with smudge

Icebreaker activity. Check.

Say your name and where you’re from. Check.

Review the course outline. Check. 

What if first-day-of-class activities felt less like a list of formalities to speed through and instead were a chance to leave the classroom, ditch the lesson plan and create something together?

At the heart of a unique, transdisciplinary course, students from the Faculty of Arts International Indigenous Studies program in the department of Political Science and the department of Communication, Media and Film began the term outside in the open air, raising a lodge in the spirit of relationality, friendship and collaboration with one another.

Guided in ceremony by Amskapi Piikani ceremonialist Dustin Walter, MEd'20, students hoisted poles, attached canvas and hammered wooden stakes into the ground to support the lodge (also referred to as a tipi). “Raising the tipi is about coming together as a collective, to complete a complex task,” says Walter, whose words on tradition, protocol and ethics supported the activity.

Inside the lodge, Knowledge Keeper Shelli Eli led a smudge ceremony. “By grounding the students in a traditional way, I am working in reciprocity. I am sharing my knowledge to ensure that this knowledge continues on to the future generations,” says Eli, who will work with the students throughout the course.

How the course came to be

Born out of a chance conversation, Dr. Adela Kincaid, PhD'15, and Dr. Maria Victoria Guglietti, MA'04, PhD, both assistant professors (teaching) in the Faculty of Arts, discovered a shared interest in creating unique, transdisciplinary educational experiences — specifically, courses that integrate lessons from Indigenous teachings.

As non-Indigenous educators themselves, support from Indigenous partners and guidance from Eli played an integral role designing the shared course.

“In addition to supporting students from my class with ethical considerations around their research proposals, community members provide guidance on how Indigenous teachings of relationship and community could inform their projects," says Kincaid, who teaches the Indigenous Ethics and Protocol course. "Overall, the student research proposals are thoughtfully guided throughout the semester by Blackfoot Knowledge Keeper, Shelly Eli.” 

The importance of these teachings is paramount in how students approach their work, says Communication and Media Studies instructor Guglietti. “It’s critical for students to understand how traditional protocols apply when collaborating with and researching and communicating knowledge about Indigenous communities,” says Guglietti.

Raising a lodge draws on generations of practice and tradition and it’s the Knowledge Keepers who ensure that teachings are shared according to appropriate protocol. With assistance from a $100,000 grant from Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL), direct involvement from Elders, Knowledge Keepers and community members in the course is made possible. Additionally, the grant helps to break down barriers for students who care for family or community members or have financial constraints. It also supports those who produce course content in a work-integrated setting.

Makel Holloway, a fourth-year International Indigenous Studies student, sees working with a community partner as a chance to explore allyship and how it relates to people who inhabit multiple community contexts. 

“I attended primary school away from my home at Siksika and was looked at differently," says Holloway. "It got me thinking about how truth-telling works when you live in two worlds.” Of Afro-Indigenous heritage, he sees this project as an opportunity to learn how Indigenous people in their community, at university and elsewhere define and practice allyship.

Meetings with community partners are also attended by students from the communications class who work with students like Holloway to mobilize project knowledge through media. Alongside staff from CJSW, students produce a podcast about their experiences in a professional facility. The podcast will explore what they learned about Indigenous ethical protocols with students from INDG 415, Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and community partners.

For fourth-year Communication and Media Studies student Belen Tamariz-Martel Herrera, the combination of hands-on learning with Indigenous teachings was a valuable opportunity.

“I’m from Spain where university is seen as a vocational, discipline-specific pursuit," says Herrera. "Adding to that, our colonial history is a taboo topic, so exploring communications through a creative, Indigenous-oriented project like this has been a very eye-opening experience for me.”

On the grass outside of the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, students arrived with only basic instruction on what to expect. Grounded by smudge, spectators slowly became participants and new relations were formed. 

The term had officially begun.

Community acknowledgements

This shared course is made possible by the generous contributions and participation of members of the community. 

• We are grateful for the blessing and smudge of the learning space and Lodge from Amskapi Piikani ceremonialist Dustin Walter and for the teachings in the tipi by Knowledge Keeper Shelly Eli.
• We are honoured to have support for raising the tipi and for the courses in general from the Office of Indigenous Engagement (Dr. Michael Hart, Jonathon Brewer, Julius Hirsch, Norma Jeremick'ca Gresl and Shawna Cunningham).
• Ongoing support from Dr. Craig Ginn as the Indigenous Studies director and Dr. Roberta Rice as the head of Political Science.

Student project partners:

• Lucas Hale (Cultural events and programming co-ordinator) from Writing Symbols Lodge.
• Travis Milnes (specialist, Campus as Learning Lab) and Dr. Christine Daly (associate director, Office of Sustainability), with support and guidance from Norma Jeremick'ca Gresl (manager, Community Outreach and Program Development, Office of Indigenous Engagement).
• Dr. Christine Martineau (educational development consultant, Indigenous ways of knowing) from the Taylor Institute.
• Hanna Woodward (Indigenous student support advisor) from Student Wellness Services and WSL, with a focus on Indigenous student wellness.
• Eva Verity (social innovation navigator) with the Social Innovation Hub, with a project focus on social innovation and if/how the concept relates or culturally translates to Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.
• Chelsie Graham, project co-ordinator with Recovery on Campus Alberta and UCalgary Recovery Community (supported by Dustin Walter’s research in the area of addictions).
• Dustin Walter, PhD candidate, supporting student project proposals on addictions.
• Adrienne Cunnings (field research manager) and Savannah Poirier Hollander (school program co-ordinator) from the Biogeoscience Institute BGI, supported by Daryl Kootenay, Stoney Nakoda community member and youth leader.
• Flora Giesbrecht (executive director, Elbow River Watershed Partnership (ERWP)), Joe Fowler (watershed stewardship co-ordinator, Bow River Basin Council), Teagan Young (UCalgary PURE student working with ERWP).
• CJSW Radio: Adam Kamis, station manager and Kaamil Kareemi, podcast co-ordinator.