MacEwan University and Indigenous Peoples

In the past few months I have become increasingly impressed with MacEwan University's commitment to Indigenous peoples and reconciliation. While not a student or staff there myself, I live in Edmonton and have been at their campus for several events.

Here are some of the reasons:

At the start of an event I attended there, Fred McGinn, Dean of Health and Community Studies, in his opening remarks said that MacEwan has the goal of being the first university in Canada to meet the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action (presumably, those that apply to educational institutions). That's quite a goal!

kihêw waciston (Eagle's Nest) Indigenous Student Centre (logo at left) is "a home away from home for MacEwan University's Indigenous students. Here you can gather, work and grow in a community that honours the distinctive knowledge of Indigenous peoples and supports you on your post-secondary journey." There are also Indigenous student advisors available to assist students.

In 2019, it will be moving to a larger more prominent location in the Robbins Health Centre building.


Roxanne Tootoosis is the university's Indigenous knowledge keeper and facilitator. Read more about her.



The university flies the Treaty 6 and the Métis flags at its main entrance along with its own flag.

Acknowledgements of being on Treaty Land: 
These happen at the start of all university conferences and public events. As well, there are plaques with the treaty acknowledgement at the main entries to buildings.


Other examples of Treaty acknowledgements





Allard Hall, the university's new Arts and Culture Building, has an atrium named after Elder Jerry Woods, who served as an elder for MacEwan and other institutions for many years. A display on the second level of the atrium commemorates him and his legacy at the school.

In this month alone, I have attended three Indigenous educational events at MacEwan (there are probably more, but my regular job prevents me from attending everything that I'd like to):

• “Mothering They/Them”, with Lana Whiskeyjack, mixed‐media artist/researcher/educator; and Roxanne Tootoosis, Indigenous Knowledge Keeper, facilitator for kihéw waciston (eagle's nest) Indigenous Centre.
• Indigenous Research Symposium: Respect, Relationships & Reciprocity. This was a full day symposium with numerous Indigenous academics presenting and on the panels, including Dr. Blair Stonehill, Dr. Lana Whiskeyjack, Dr. Rebecca Sockbeson and others. Presented in conjunction with Blue Quills First Nations College.
• “How do we build the road toward reconciliation? Understanding historical trauma, explaining the present and focusing on the future” A lecture by Senator Mary Jane McCallum, presented by the Department of Public Safety and Justice Studies.

Dr. Deborah Saucier, the university's new president is Métis. Read the interview with her where she speaks about the important changes MacEwan is making. And read her comments about advancing reconciliation beyond the classroom.

MacEwan has partnerships with Indigenous institutions like Blue Quills University.

For 26 years now, the Faculty of Health and Community Studies has hosted the Dreamcatcher Aboriginal Youth Conference.

The university has begun the tradition of using Pendleton blankets to honour those who "make significant contributions to the university’s Indigenous initiatives".

MacEwan commissioned Christi Belcourt and Isaac Murdoch to create a mural for the university:

Read about it here.

MacEwan has their new pimâcihisowin Foundation Program which works with Indigenous students to allow them to upgrade their high school credits in order to have the prerequisites required for specific MacEwan programs. "The goal is to provide a culturally and academically supportive environment aligned with the TRC’s Calls to Action – one that includes programming aimed at revitalizing, rebuilding and restoring Indigenous languages and cultures."

MacEwan clearly is declaring that it welcomes and embraces Indigenous people. This is similar to the declared spaces that this blog speaks about in regard to LGBTQ2S+ peoples.

It will be interesting to see what further growth takes place at MacEwan in the next few years. I will update this when I have more to post.

p.s. am also keeping an eye on NorQuest College...