Page 18 - ECF-LIA-Mar-Apr-2024_20878_Web-Mag

“The funding
allowed me
to focus on
my schooling.
I noticed a
big increase
in my grades”
— SKYLER WONG,
RLI Métis Student
Services Centre
Coordinator
LEGACY IN ACTION
18
not heard at all, as systems have taken
pan-Indigenous approaches to serving
Métis, Inuit and First Nations students.”
Historically, Métis people faced
displacement and colonization; they
faced forced assimilation, institutional
denial of culture and discrimination.
Art and clothing, often mislabelled as
being from artists of other backgrounds,
are only now being repatriated. Schools
were not safe places for Indigenous
children — including Métis — as
attested by the many stories in the
online RLI Métis Memories of
Residential Schools resources.
But since the mid-1700s, Métis
people had developed a distinct identity
with their own strong and vibrant
culture, languages and traditions. It’s a
culture backed by strength and resilience.
(RLI offers the public a chance to learn
about Métis culture and history through
Métis Foundational Knowledge Themes,
which are free online books and a self-led
virtual course.)
It’s the first day after winter break.
The centre is quiet but students are busy
socializing on the other side of the glass
walls before their return to classes. One
of those students enters the space for the
first time and Savill greets him.
After exploring, he mentions it
would be great to hear some Métis
music in the background.
“Great idea!” Savill says. Fiddle
music is an integral aspect of Métis
culture, combining Indigenous and
often Scottish or French-Canadian
rhythms to create a unique sound. And,
Savill says, the centre is designed by
students so it makes sense to welcome
these ideas.
Skyler Wong is the RLI Métis
Student Services Centre Coordinator
and worked with a group of interns —
he originally was one as well — on the
centre concept, the interior design, as
well as the exterior graphics. Having
students front and centre in the concept
and inception was key, he says.
Now, Wong helps run the centre by
acting as a voice between students, RLI
and NorQuest. Advisors help students
navigate RLI funding and whatever
resources are needed including tutoring
support, emergency funding and
technology supports.
As a MacEwan University student,
Wong received RLI funding that
drastically improved his experience