The semester is wrapping up for most classes this week and we just wanted to give a shout-out to all our amazing students! You did it, and we can’t wait to see you next year! Here’s a sneak peek of what you can expect when you return in 2023:

• Classes start Tuesday, January 3, including our first-ever Pathway to IT cohort!
• The 2023 cohort for Compass Skills starts Monday, January 9!
• January 4 is National Ribbon Skirt Day, and we’ll be planning a ribbon skirt-making workshop in early January!
• We’ll host a meet-and-greet with our new Knowledge Keeper, Richard Curé, a couple of weeks into January at both Indigenous Support Centres!
• Elders and Knowledge Keepers rest their bundles in January, so Sweats will resume in February!
• Get your applications in for the Mínwastánikéwin Truth and Reconciliation Award before January 15. The recipients will be selected in late January!

Happy holidays, stay warm and safe, and get lots of rest!

Red River College Polytechnic and the School of Indigenous Education are pleased to welcome Knowledge Keeper Richard Curé to our community!

This past summer, Richard conducted a Drum Making Workshop to create beautiful drums that now hang in our Indigenous Support Centre at Notre Dame Campus. He has also worked with Elder Paul in Sagkeeng First Nation for many years.

Richard will work alongside Elder Paul and our Indigenous Student Support Team on campus to support RRC Polytech students, staff, and community partners and members. He will work in the same capacity as Elder Paul once he has become accustomed to the many ways our Elders and Knowledge Keepers support our community. Right now, Richard will be on campus Thursdays and Fridays from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm in the Elder’s Office in F209.

Richard also joined the Knowledge Keepers Council, where Knowledge Keepers and Elders from the community are invited to consult on various decisions related to the College’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.

We look forward to hosting a meet and greet in early January in the Indigenous Support Centre F209, so check back for more details in the new year.

If you’d like to learn more about Richard and his role as a Knowledge Keeper, read his bio on our website. If you see Richard on campus, say hi!

The Resource Crew, or R-Crew, helps the Indigenous Student Support Team and Indigenous Support Centres with activities and events throughout the year.

R-Crew members brainstorm and implement plans with the Support Team, speak and perform at events, and help with logistical set-up and tear-down, among many other tasks and responsibilities. They also help Indigenous students, those new to the College and those that have been around the block, get settled in and navigate everything from events to classes.

If you see an R-Crew member, say hi!

NDC R-Crew

Hello! My name is Aleesha Wood, and I am from St. Theresa Point First Nation in Island Lake, MB.

I decided to join R-Crew to get the full college experience and to gain skills from the Support Centre. I’ll be happy to help in any way I can and to support in the Indigenous Support Centre!

If you see me, come say hi.

My name is Andrea, and I am an Ojibway Ikwe from Sagkeeng First Nation and Little Black River First Nation. Attending school definitely has overwhelming moments. Having a comfortable and safe space to decompress helps alleviate the stress — I found this relief at the Indigenous Support Centre.

As a newly selected R-Crew member, this opportunity allows me to contribute to the awesome services, activities, and events that the circle of staff coordinates.

EDC R-Crew

My name is Sharon-Rose Bear and my Spirit Name is Flying High Eagle Woman. I am a Cree woman from Muskoday First Nation Saskatchewan, but I was raised here in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I’m a second-year Community Development student here at RRC Polytech, and I also want to pursue a diploma in Indigenous Social Entrepreneurship. I hope to work in the inner city because I grew up there and that area resonates with me.

I am an Indigenous woman who wears many hats, and I have had to learn to manage these hats to become a successful student, mother, and now R-Crew member. If you see me around, don’t be afraid to say hi! I look forward to representing our Indigenous Support Centre.

Thank you!

Sharon-Rose Bear (Flying High Eagle Woman)

Boozhoo! My name is Teddy and I’m in Creative Communications (CreComm) as a part-time student.

I am from Lac Seul Ontario (Treaty 3) but I grew up in Winnipeg. I am active in RRC Polytech Students’ Association as a Student Rep. I am also a new R-Crew team member. I look forward to getting to know you and being an Indigenous student support.

I have a background in social work and I enjoy meeting people and helping where I can. If you need help on campus I am usually found in the Indigenous Student Lounge on EDC in P407 or wheeling my backpack around the halls. Miigwetch.

Sweats take place at 1 pm in the Medicine Wheel Garden at the Notre Dame Campus. To register, email Stephanie at sdwright@rrc.ca. Subscribe here for reminders of upcoming Sweats and any schedule changes!

On Dec. 5, College Transition students received beads and a bracelet to recognize the sacred Cree Teachings they attained during the first four months of the eight-month program. The teachings represented by the beads are based on the sacred Cree Teachings of self-determination, culture, and interconnectedness, which are also reflected in seven of RRC Polytech’s ten commitments outlined in the 2015 Manitoba Collaborative Indigenous Education Blueprint for Universities, College and Public School Boards.

Students learned how to incorporate the teachings and live a healthy life based in their strength and ability to live and work with a double worldview approach. Each student chose their beads for further connection to the teachings, which were adapted to apply to each students’ own nation.

Instructor and Knowledge Keeper, Marilyn Dykstra, opened the ceremony with a welcome and a brief explanation of College Transition: the program is designed to help learners prepare for post-secondary education with classes in communication, math and science, career and professional development, and Indigenous cultures and practices. The program also has a dedicated practice in reconciliation.  

Following Marilyn’s welcome, students from Treaty 1 Territory, Treaty 5 Territory, and Nunavut took turns presenting their names and home communities in land acknowledgements they developed together in relation to each of their nations.

Every student was presented their beads from staff that supported their journeys, including Jamie Wilson, VP of Indigenous Strategy, Research, and Business Development; Fred Meier, President and CEO of RRC Polytech; and the Deans of the School of Indigenous Education and the School of Skilled Trades and Technology.

“Education is about walking with learners while they grow all parts of themselves. The students’ statement that they made at the end of their land acknowledgements stand—’We are the connected spirits of our land.’ It’s our responsibility to support that connection because education is not just about reading books.  It’s how we are all interconnected in spirit and in reconciliation.  When students grow, so do our kinships, communities, nations, environment, and ancestors,” said Marilyn.

This was the first bead ceremony held for College Transition and the students are looking forward to their next set of traditional teachings in term two, which starts January 2023!

To learn more about College Transition, visit the Program Explorer page.

All students, staff, faculty are invited to our Winter Solstice gatherings at EDC on Wednesday, Dec. 7 and at NDC on Wednesday, Dec. 14 in the Indigenous Support Centres.

This year, we are honouring our ancestors and the children that never made it home with gatherings for Winter Solstice.

Gathering for Winter Solstice brings comfort and warmth as we prepare for the longest night of the year and the season of rest. People come together to share stories and laughter and to recall the events of the past year. In many Indigenous cultures, winter represents the ancestral spirit, so reflecting on the past by sharing stories and giving thanks to our ancestors is an important part of honouring where and who we are from, especially as we plan for the cold months ahead.

No registration is required. Everyone is welcome to come as they are.

Sistering Indigenous and Western Science (SINEWS) is a paid mentorship program for female-identifying students. SINEWS supports pairs of students in the development and implementation of projects that address the needs of Indigenous communities. Selected projects will focus on braiding traditional Indigenous knowledge with western scientific methods under the guidance of experienced research scientists, Elders, and community knowledge keepers. At least one member of each pair needs to be Indigenous to qualify for this program.

Register for the SINEWS Information Session on Monday, December 12 at 1:30 pm!

This information session will cover the fundamental aspects of the SINEWS program and the application details. The presentation and slideshow will be about 30 minutes and time will be allotted at the end for a Q&A.

For more information and to apply to SINEWS, visit the Government of Canada website Sistering Indigenous and Western Science program (nrcan.gc.ca).

For Indigenous students at RRC Polytech living with disabilities, the observance of Indigenous Disability Awareness Month has potential to be a turning point for the College. Offiially adopted in Manitoba in 2021, this year is the first time the College marked the observance.

Teddy Lands (they/them, she/her), a Creative Communications student living with visible and invisible disabilities, says recognizing the intersection between Indigeneity and disability is important to address the unique issues and layered experiences that many Indigenous people living with disabilities face in every day life.

“If I’m having a hard day and people see me staggering a little bit while walking, or my eyes start wandering, they make assumptions about me because I’m Indigenous. It doesn’t occur to them first that I might have a disability,” says Lands.

According to the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability, Indigenous people were more likely to have one or more disabilities than non-Indigenous people. Disabilities across the board ranged from pain-related conditions and mobility problems to mental health and cognition issues.

Compassion is a huge outcome of raising awareness on disability, especially during Indigenous Disability Awareness Month. Offering help to someone that appears to be having difficulty managing on their own can directly challenge the stereotypes and assumptions people living with disabilities might face.

Lands used Accessibility Services when they entered Creative Communications last year and has since had a range of options to help them be successful—from switching to the part time stream of the program, to regular check-ins with a counsellor, the program coordinator and instructors.

“The network I built at the College is as important as the support network I have at home,” says Lands.

Instructors are provided with information and resources on how to best accommodate student needs, like implementing the use of assistive technology, having accessibility staff to take notes for students, or allowing extensions for assignments and tests, among the many other options. Having that two-way communication helps Lands stay in class.

Lands says observances like Indigenous Disability Awareness Month can help catalyze systemic change as people learn more about how having disabilities and being Indigenous can impact a person’s life. Ensuring people can get access to the resources they need, even if that means going into a deficit, means that decision makers will see the need for these services and act on it.

“Support services should do away with standardized tests,” says Lands, noting standardized evaluations, like IQ tests, don’t necessarily reflect the intelligence of people who don’t fit those standards, whether it’s cultural- or ability-based differences.

“I’ve met people with two-digit IQs who are the most brilliant people I’ve ever met. Just because they’re not textbook smart, doesn’t mean they’re not intelligent. I have cognitive issues that affect my ability to perform academically—doesn’t mean that what I have to contribute isn’t valuable,” says Lands.

Lands, who has dyslexia and other cognitive impairments, says that developing relationships and communicating regularly with instructors, staff, and peers really helps to alleviate the pressure they’re under to perform at the same capacity as those who don’t use accommodations. A program like Creative Communications can be especially challenging for people with cognitive disabilities.

Kelly Stifora, Program Coordinator for Creative Communications, says support is very individualized and that instructors and students both rely on counsellors to coordinate solutions for meeting student needs.

“Students need a lot of resilience to be successful, even without the need for accommodations. It’s a matter of leveling the playing field for those students that need those accommodations,” says Stifora. “Academically speaking, students who have accommodations for their needs are just as successful as students who don’t use accommodations,” says Stifora.

Additionally, 4 Seasons of Reconciliation training is mandatory for all RRC Polytech staff and faculty to acquire a baseline knowledge of the initiatives in Truth and Reconciliation at the College and how these initiatives contribute to the healing of Indigenous peoples in our community. This training is supplemented by voluntary professional development opportunities, like the blanket exercise.

As for Teddy Lands, they say the current approach is a good start and has been working for them so far.

“After CreComm, I want to use my diploma and my experience in social work to influence change in education policies to be more forgiving for people with disabilities and cultural differences. It’s not just for me, but for my daughter and others living with disabilities, Indigenous or not,” says Lands.

For now, raising awareness during Indigenous Disability Awareness month is the first step in making sure students know that supports are available for them.

Students, staff and faculty can visit Accessibility Services at the College’s Winnipeg campuses in person Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm in room D102 at the Notre Dame Campus and in room P210 at the Roblin Centre. Accessibility Services has a page on RRC Polytech’s website to find more information on their services or to book appointments virtually. Staff members who need accommodations to work can contact their immediate supervisors or the Supportive Employment Program.

If you’d like to contribute to future professional development opportunities, the Diversity Self-Identification Survey helps the College to get a better picture of where we can provide more supports and better inform EDI initiatives. Click here to get started.

If you or someone you know someone is struggling to maintain steady work or stay in school, the Compass Skills Program can help.

Compass Skills is a free, paid 10-week course with potential for post-program financial assistance for education or employment.

Learners will gain the skills they need to enter post-secondary education or the workforce. They’ll learn how to manage their resources, self-reflect and plan for the future, and have access to culturally-inclusive supports for a holistic experience.

Compass Skills focuses on personal and professional growth. The program is not designed to put the pressure of grades or competition on learners. Compass Skills is designed with learners’ success in mind.

The Compass Skills program is delivered 25 hours a week, or five hours per day, Monday to Friday, which can be flexible based on learners’ needs. Childcare support options are available to help learners find the time to learn and grow.

Compass Skills participants will receive a living wage to support them while they learn. They’ll get training in first aid and mental health first aid, Manitoba Health Certified Food Handler Training, and Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS). Compass Skills will help learners access the class 5 learner’s driver’s license handbook, the Canadian Adult Achievement Test Level C (CAAT), the CliftonStrengths Test, and criminal record checks.

Compass Skills introduces participants to life skills that aren’t necessarily reflected in the standard education system and would otherwise be inaccessible without first having someone to show them how to nurture these skills.

When does Compass Skills start?

Compass Skills starts Monday January 9, 2023, and runs until Friday, March 17, 2023.

Who can apply?

Compass Skills is offered to learners ages 18 – 30, who are Indigenous (First Nations status, First Nations non-status, Inuit, Métis), and not already in education or employment. Access to a laptop or computer is required to participate fully.

Transcripts, textbooks, references, and payments are not required.

If you or anyone you know is ready to apply to Compass Skills, check out the program page here for more information and to apply.

If you have any questions, contact Monica Morin, Program Manager, at momorin@rrc.ca.

Join us in NDC’s Indigenous Support Centre for a Holiday Craft Making Family Fun Night! Supplies for the holiday crafts will be provided, and refreshments and snacks will be available. All staff and students are welcome to bring their families and friends for a night of holiday creativity!

When: 5 pm – 8 pm, Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Where: Indigenous Support Centre F209, Notre Dame Campus

Send an email to Terri-Lynn at tlanderson@rrc.ca to register.