Continuing Trent University’s long-standing commitment to create a learning environment where Indigeneity is respected and recognized, traditional Indigenous spaces at the University’s Durham campus in the Greater Toronto Area have been expanded with the addition of a new Tipi and Medicine Garden. 

“Thanks to generous donations, this traditional space is a place where Indigenous students can connect meaningfully in a culturally safe environment and where all students can have the opportunity to learn about Indigenous culture and history,” said Jenifer Richardson, director of Student Affairs at Trent Durham GTA. “As a campus community, we are grateful for the land, the opportunity to build connections, and the chance to learn from one another.” 

The Medicine Garden, located behind Trent Durham’s Building A, features new garden beds for traditional medicines that will be used in First Peoples House of Learning (FPHL) events, and a Healing Pathway that will be a place of reflection and cultural connection for students, staff, faculty, and the community. The new 30-foot Tipi — an important cultural space for Indigenous peoples — will host events like Sacred Fires, Social Fires, and Full-Moon Ceremonies.  

“The Tipi provides Indigenous students with a space to gather, learn, and engage in ceremonies, and we often invite members of the greater Trent community to participate in the space and learn with us,” said Samantha Krizel, a fourth-year English Literature student who worked as FPHL’s summer ambassador at the Trent Durham campus. 

David Lundberg, owner of Sewn Home, delivered the Tipi’s handcrafted canvas and harvested logs and demonstrated how to tie the lodge poles together to raise the Tipi. Trent Durham staff and students then collectively constructed the Tipi, tying clove hitches and knots, raising additional lodge poles, and unravelling and staking down the canvas. 

Corten steel sculptures by artist André Fournelle frame the Healing Pathway. Donated by Michel Constantin, the art installation Arcade: A Passage Crossing includes five archways with English, French, and Anishnaabemowin words etched into them. 

The project was seeded thanks to Herman Kassinger Foundation, and further supported by The Edmond & Sylvia Vanhaverbeke Foundation, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, and former Trent board chair Anne Wright. Wright says she was inspired to support Indigenous spaces to continue Trent’s leadership in Indigenous education. 

“I do feel that Indigenous programming is incredibly meaningful as it fulfils a huge need in this country of better understanding our history and addressing historical wrongs,” Wright said at the time of announcing the gift. “Trent University is at the forefront of Indigenous Studies and I’m so proud to be a part of that.” 

Learn more about the supports available for Indigenous students at Trent Durham.