Rady celebrates National Indigenous Peoples Day

By Danica Hidalgo Cherewyk and Alan MacKenzie

National Indigenous Peoples Day at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences began June 22 at the Mashkiki Gitigaan – Medicine Garden with a sacred fire and pipe ceremony led by Elders and Knowledge Keepers from Ongomiizwin – Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing.

After the morning ceremony, the festivities continued in the Brodie Centre atrium. 

Debra Beach Ducharme, a member of Lake Manitoba First Nation and director of Indigenous health integration with Ongomiizwin – Education, emceed the event and shared welcoming remarks.

Speaking about Winnipeg, Beach Ducharme said, “There's much to celebrate and be grateful for ... When we first moved here in the 1960s, there were very, very few Indigenous people living here. And now, we make up 20 per cent of the population.” 

Honouring First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in Turtle Island

More than 100 Rady Faculty members attended celebrations throughout the day, including learners, faculty and staff.

Beach Ducharme said the day is a time for recognition and connection, and a reminder of the strength and brilliance of Indigenous communities.

“For many Indigenous nations, this is a time of renewal, ceremony and gratitude,” she said. 

The Norman Chief Memorial Dancers, a Métis group, along with Winnipeg’s North End Band, entertained the crowd with live music and dance. Indigenous vendors also lined the Brodie Centre mezzanine.

George Muswaggon, Knowledge Keeper with Ongomiizwin – Education, shared a teaching and prayer to prepare a spirit dish — an offering for loved ones who have passed on and entered the spirit world — before a feast from Shelly’s Indigenous Bistro was served.  

Supporting Indigenous learners at UM

Beach Ducharme said Indigenous people work in a wide variety of professions and trades across Winnipeg.  

“Our people live and have gone to school here, including myself,” she said. “I graduated from this university in 1985. And more and more of our people continue to get educated here at the University of Manitoba.”

Beach Ducharme said Ongomiizwin, which officially launched in 2017, has grown since she joined UM 10 years ago.

“It's expanded to include all the areas that are important to us — health research, health services and health education — where we try and recruit our young people to come here so we can fill the gap that exists.” 

College of Nursing hosts inaugural celebration

The College of Nursing held its first-ever Indigenous Peoples Day ceremony on the same day in the atrium of the Helen Glass Centre for Nursing.

About 50 faculty, staff and students attended the event, which was hosted by Kayleigh Pagee, Indigenous student representative with the Nursing Students’ Association. The ceremony included greetings from Dr. Todd Duhamel, associate vice-president (Indigenous) – research and academic, and Dr. Tina Chen, vice-provost, equity. 

“When I stand here today as a proud First Nations woman, as a nursing student and as a leader within this college, I do not stand here alone,” Pagee said. “I think of those who came before me … and I think of how much they sacrificed so that my generation and future generations can stand proudly and say, ‘This is who I am, and I am proud of it.’”

Grandmother Karen Courchrane, of Migizii Agamik, delivered an opening prayer and thanked Pagee and her team for organizing the event.

“It takes courage to do something like this, especially when it is the first event. It is an act of courage, and it is not always easy to do something like this,” she said.  

The event concluded with a feast catered by Kitchen Manito-Waya.