What’s design’s role in shaping the lived experience of the city? This discussion featured the challenges encountered by Nakoda students living on-reserve as they transition to Calgary’s large urban centre to attend post-secondary education.
Culminating a 15-month long collaboration with the Nakoda Youth Council as we developed ideas around community-building through a non-monetary exchange, this event was an opportunity to strengthen relationships between Calgarians and the îyâhre Nakoda residing in Morley (west of Calgary). Wesley, Chiniki and Bearspaw First Nations make up the îyâhre Nakoda.
The Nakoda Youth Council was established in 2014 to bridge a gap between the youth and elders on reserve.
The evening began with a blessing by Elder Terry Rider who has worked with the Nakoda Youth Council closely in the past year.
Daryl Kootenay, a co-founding member of the Nakoda Youth Council and acclaimed young Indigenous youth leader, facilitated the evening’s discussion. Kootenay has participated in past d.talks discussions, and is a faculty member at the Banff Centre for Indigenous Leadership. He is also an artist and father.
Calgary Councillor Courtney Walcott (Ward 8) offered introductory remarks, sharing his experience in finding a sense of belonging in Calgary. Prior to being elected Councillor, Walcott was a teacher and basketball coach at Western Canada High School.
Daryl Kootenay next invited Nakoda Youth Council members Cheyenne Suwataga-Mu and Greves Pouchette to the stage to share their experience with the process of developing the Stoney Exchange, a platform for Nakoda community members to connect and exchange.
Audience members who were attending either online or in-person watched the premier of Echin Bathtabich (meaning: to study or look into something right away). Directed by Taylor CrowSpreadsHisWings and filmed by Jarret Twoyoungmen, the film features interviews with students completing post-secondary studies.
Although the number of Indigenous students enrolled in and completing post-secondary programs has increased in the last 20 years, there are still barriers that hinder the successful transition from living on-reserve to attending post-secondary institutions. The sense of community students felt living on-reserve is not always translated as they migrate to the City of Calgary, where feelings of displacement, intimidation, and isolation can increase as they adapt to the urban centre. While resources at post-secondaries exist to support Indigenous students, they are scarce and do not embody the wholistic support required to encourage a full sense of belonging.
Daryl Kootenay hosted a conversation with the film’s director, Taylor CrowSpreadsHisWings and three of the artists in the film: Tricia Young, Ariel Waskewitch and Dakota CrowSpreadsHisWings.
What’s poignant about these stories is how the smallest assumptions we may think that we all share as lived experience—such as navigating the city by transit, or the classroom structure and hierarchy of learning, or even the ease of commuting to school as a mother…attending post-secondary education is not similarly experienced.
In a final comment, Daryl recognized that those on the stage tonight represented perseverance and success in breaking through barriers. He described that community is at the root of the traditional family systems with the îyâhre Nakoda (as well as with the Blackfoot and Cree ways). And that to counter the experience of culture shock when entering a different environment such as coming to Calgary for post-secondary education, students look for their community.
We still have much to learn. We thank the Nakoda Youth Council for sharing so deeply and humbly with us. We have been witness to your stories tonight.
Ishynish.
This event was hosted in partnership with the Calgary Public Library and produced in collaboration with the Nakoda Youth Council. It was made possible with the support of Canada Council for the Arts.
We are grateful to the contributions of individual and organizational members, along with additional support from Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Calgary Arts Development, making possible free access to our events.
An earlier exchange, initiated by d.talks in collaboration with the Calgary Public Library and Momentum, invited Calgarians to participate in an exchange.