A new multi-million-dollar facility is ready to welcome thousands of Indigenous students home at the University of Alberta (U of A). The new 40,000-square-foot First Peoples’ House opened on the university’s North Campus on Monday, offering students a place to connect with Elders, smudge, cook together or access mentorship. It also houses a gym, a healing room, and spaces for ceremony and studying. Shana Dion, assistant dean for First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students at the U of A, called the centre “a place of love.” “Institutions weren’t created for us,” Dion said at the grand opening. “We weren’t at the tables, and now we created our own table and created a space that’s just for our First Nations Métis, and Inuit students. “Where they can thrive. Where they can be a part of ceremony, hear the language, listen to the Elders, listen to the teachings, and gather all the information and the teachings that they never had before.” Masters student Kuna Gadwa is one of more than 2,000 Indigenous students at the U of A. She said the new centre is a safe space for students far from home. “I made a really big commitment to leave the reserve … I left my family, I left my community, I left ceremonies, I left powwows – I left everything behind to benefit my education,” she said at the opening ceremony. “This space is for us. It gives us that place that’s like our home, (that’s) for us to finally be acknowledged,” she added. The $16.8-million facility took three years to build and replaces the much smaller First Peoples’ House, previously located in the the Students’ Union Building. “As our numbers of Indigenous students continued to grow, it had long since outgrown its space,” said Bill Flanagan, U of A president and vice chancellor. “This is why we’re so proud. This is an enormous space … This is now setting the standard for universities across the country.” More information about First Peoples’ House can be found on the University of Alberta website. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Noah Rishaug
