Lakehead University receives support for outdoor Indigenous learning space in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Sarah Law · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 04, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: March 4

Lakehead University successful Thunder Bay, Ont., has received enactment to revamp its outdoor Indigenous learning abstraction to marque it much accessible for students and assemblage members.

The existing abstraction consists of a ungraded roadworthy starring toward a sweat lodge and plot connected the occidental borderline of campus. There's abstraction to physique tiny fires and store supplies needed for accepted activities.

The anticipation is to alteration the country into an indoor-outdoor abstraction with moving water, washrooms and supporting infrastructure.

"We're looking astatine what we tin bash to usage that arsenic a year-round abstraction close now," said Denise Baxter, a subordinate of Marten Falls First Nation and vice provost of Indigenous initiatives astatine Lakehead.

The Bank of Montreal (BMO) announced a $1 cardinal donation connected Friday to beryllium dispersed implicit 5 years to enactment the project.

"It's been transformative," Baxter said. "It's a existent honour to beryllium moving unneurotic to truly deliberation astir what it means to person much spaces for taste engagement, assemblage connections, Indigenous acquisition and land-based learning astatine the university."

Decolonizing acquisition spaces

About 13 per cent of students astatine Lakehead person identified themselves arsenic Indigenous, according to the school, galore of whom travel from distant communities.

"If you're not from Thunder Bay, wherever your household whitethorn be, you are coming to a larger centre and you are coming to a metropolis of imaginable strangers," she said.

"Having an accidental for students to marque connections with different radical and truly admit this peculiar place, it's truly rather a almighty thing."

While the outdoor learning abstraction is unfastened to each students, it volition beryllium particularly utilized for Indigenous leaders, Elders and cognition keepers, "while supporting cardinal programs similar the Indigenous Transition Year Program and the Indigenous Cultural Traditions Club," Lakehead said successful a quality merchandise issued Friday.

The abstraction is besides portion of the school's ongoing Gichi Kendaasiwin project, which means "higher knowledge" successful Anishinaabemowin. The extremity is to decolonize acquisition institutions and marque them much inclusive for Indigenous learners.

"For excessively long, Indigenous peoples person been historically disadvantaged successful acquisition spaces, and Gichi Kendaasiwin represents a committedness to changing that narrative," said Precious Anderson, seat of the Ogimaawin Indigenous Education Council.

"It is astir honouring our teachings, languages, and communities, and this partnership, rooted successful the tone of reconciliation, helps bring that imaginativeness to beingness successful a almighty and lasting way." 

While determination person been a fewer setbacks to implementing the project's imaginativeness — namely changes successful government, backing challenges and the increasing costs of operation — Baxter said she's blessed to spot the enactment determination ahead.

"To me, that's a precise heavy and affluent and embedded process," she said.

Her anticipation is to spot a groundbreaking ceremonial held for the outdoor Indigenous learning abstraction successful either the summertime oregon fall, though determination are a fig of different operation projects connected platform successful the area. 

"I deliberation sooner than aboriginal would beryllium the champion barometer I tin springiness … due to the fact that it's not a immense project, but it's inactive a gathering project."