Indigenous students from across the three University of Toronto campuses took part in a trip to Manitoulin Island, supported by UTSC Sociology Assistant Professor Danielle Kwan-Lafond, and co-organized in collaboration with Varsha Patel, Assistant Dean, Student Success and Career Support and Brittney Jaikaran, Indigenous Academic Advisor/Career Support at the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office.
The students visited three First Nations communities on the island: M’Chigeeng, where they visited the Ojibwe Cultural Centre, and Kenjgewin Teg, the post-secondary institution in the community, where all programs have Anishnaabe culture and language infused into programs. The group also went to Sheshegwaning, where they visited with Land First Youth Initiative, which is run by a Sociology UTSC Alumni Caeley Genereux and their sister, Kiara. There they sampled some moose and other traditional foods and saw a food forest project run by the Initiative.
On the last day the students visited UTSC Campus Elder Josh Eshkawkogan at his home in Wikwemkoong Unceded Territory, where they took part in a sweat lodge ceremony, learned traditional hand drum songs and stories with Danielle Roy, founder of the Odemin Kwe singers, and ate dinner with food from Doug Trudeau, another local from Wikwemkoong.