Page 19 - ECF-LIA-Mar-Apr-2024_20878_Web-Mag

on campus. Previously he had been
working full time while trying to
juggle a part time schedule.
“The funding allowed me to focus
on my schooling. I noticed a big
increase in my grades,” says Wong. “It
took the stress off my parents, as well.”
Now Wong is happy to share
those resources with others in a space
dedicated to Métis culture.
Many non-Indigenous people who
come to the centre, says Wong, are
interested in unique elements of Métis
culture. “They say they didn’t know
any of this stuff, because sometimes
it’s not fully taught,” he says.
There is a small room connected
to the main space with a table —
that features a giant Red River Cart
wheel. It’s where students can study
or relax. Red River carts were used by
Métis people during the mid to late
1800s to carry loads long distances
and they are just one aspect of
Métis culture that shows the group’s
resourcefulness, says Savill.
Beautiful decorative sashes —
one hangs across a bookshelf at the
centre — were worn by women who
used them to carry their babies, hold
and mend things. Men also wore the
sashes to carry items to keep their
hands free for other work tasks.
The loose threads of what looks
like decorative tassels were used as
threads to mend broken clothing
pieces along their travels. Today
sashes are generally worn as symbolic
pride of the Métis.
Sharing those pieces of culture
with those who come to the centre is
a point of pride.
“It’s not a big space,” says Donna
Bell, who is a member of ECF’s
BBMA panel, RLI Vice Chair Board
of Governors and Manager of
Indigenous Relations and Support
at NorQuest’s Student Services
department, “But it is significant in
the sense that we have a lot of hopes
and aspirations for what it looks like.”
One of those hopes is to join
forces with the Indigenous Student
Centre at NorQuest, says Bell.
“That way people can actually see
the beauty of working together
collaboratively but also see all the
nuances and differences between
the groups.”
Bell’s work with ECF’s BBMAs
has allowed her to help many Métis
students receive funding with criteria
based upon community involvement
and need rather than grades.
“It was important to the founders
how these folks are currently
contributing to the community, and
what are they doing to be active
participants,” says Bell. “Because
that’s what being a Métis person is
about — it’s that reciprocity.”
The founders of the BBMAs
were a group of Métis men who
wanted to give back. They saw gaps
in opportunities for Métis people
to receive education and skills
development. “They were met with a
lot of resistance … but they pushed
back and now the BBMAs have a
very healthy endowment,” says Bell.
While BBMAs and Rupertsland
funding are completely separate
entities, students can potentially
access both. And they both can
make a huge difference in the
ability of students to complete their
education with less stress.
Bell says she hopes the
Rupertsland centre sets a trend for
other institutions to support the
education of all Indigenous people
in a meaningful and tangible way.
“When you have that
community that has your back
when you don’t think you have
the gumption or skill sets to move
forward, that’s really important,” she
says. “It really is living our ancestors’
dreams of where we would be in the
future… that we would exist and
actually be who we authentically are
as a culture.”