The First Peoples House of Learning at Trent University joined with community partners, Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre, Fleming College, and Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag, to host an Indigenous solidarity celebration on June 21 in celebration of National Aboriginal Day.

Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members came together at Nicolls Oval Park at the event in solidarity to celebrate the culture, accomplishments, and contributions of First Nation, Métis and Inuit people in Canada.

“Events like this bring Indigenous peoples together to celebrate a great day of dancing, song and visiting, and I think that’s really important because of all the things that were taken away from our people,” said Betty Carr-Braint, cultural counsellor at the First Peoples House of Learning.

Juliana Lesage-Corbiere, a third year student in the Indigenous Environmental Studies program at Trent feels that events like this also help Indigenous students stay connected. “No matter what’s going on, events like this allow us to stay connected to our culture.”

“I find it really amazing that we can all come together like this. It’s really empowering and I feel really connected with everyone,” expressed Skye John, a third year student taking Indigenous Studies at Trent.

For more than 50 years, Trent has incorporated traditional teachings and perspectives into its curricular and extra-curricular programming. Trent’s ground-breaking leadership in Indigenous Studies dates back to our beginnings, when we became the first university in Canada, and only the second in North America, to establish an academic department dedicated to tehs tudy of Indigenous peoples.