An orange 'Every Child Matters' t-shirt designed by RDP student Cori Steele, with a tipi in the background. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

a great time to learn and act

Student perspective on truth and reconciliation takes centre stage at Red Deer Polytechnic

Sep 24, 2024 | 8:20 PM

In what is their most concerted effort to date, Red Deer Polytechnic and its Students’ Association (SA) are recognizing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR), Sept. 30, with a week full of action.

From film screenings to flag raisings, and from pin-making to art displays, you cannot walk the halls of RDP without being reminded not only of the one-day observance, but also much of the history behind it.

Story-boards, purchased by the SA, line the windows of the main walkway, and tell of the linear progression from 1876 when Treaty 6 was signed, to modern-day with discoveries of gravesites and Pope Francis’s apology at Ermineskin within the last half-decade.

“What we are doing is not just about what and who was lost in residential schools, and not just what has been lost over basically 400 years of systemic oppression faced by Indigenous people,” says Devyn Shannon, SA president. “We’re also talking about what has survived, and what pieces of culture still thrive, as well as the resiliency of Indigenous people everywhere.”

(rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

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A descendant of the Beothuk peoples who called home the island Canadians know as Newfoundland, Shannon agrees that students have a critical role to play in truth and reconciliation.

“We want our society to move to a place where there’s less oppression, less bigotry and less hatred, and move to a place of peace. It’s the role of post-secondary students to help us move away from the rhetoric of the past. It’s simply about accepting people for who they are,” he says.

“Non-Indigenous Canadians have to move away from the stereotypes assigned to Indigenous people. If they can’t divorce in their head the idea of alcoholism and addiction as a standard for Indigenous people — which was because they were literally stolen from their families and had to find a way to cope — that makes it hard to move forward.”

Earlier this month, RDP and the SA opened the Pónokaisissáhta Indigenous Student Centre.

Pónokaisissáhta means ‘elk river’ in Blackfoot, or ‘waskasoo seepee’ in Cree; when Europeans arrived in Red Deer, they mistook elk for the European red deer, giving the area its modern-day name.

“This is a place that Indigenous students can perform ceremony and ritual, and where there can be an exchange of information and culture,” says Shannon.

“It also means students don’t have to book a room for things like smudging, and they don’t have to worry about its impact on students and faculty who are sensitive to a lot of heavy smells. It’s a beautiful place.”

The room was a collaborative effort financially.

There are approximately 500 Indigenous students at Red Deer Polytechnic, up 18 per cent year over year.

“From a student perspective, we’re always encouraged to sort of rush through this place, to get our degree as fast as we can and just as quickly get out and be a productive member of society,” Shannon concludes.

Passers-by were invited to craft an orange shirt pin at Red Deer Polytechnic on Sept. 24, 2024. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

“This week is a great time for people to actually learn not only what it means for an Indigenous person to exist in this modern world, but also about what our role should be in supporting them.”

The full slate of NDTR events happening at RDP this week can be found here.

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