Our logo
The customized logo for Indigenous Education was designed by local Coast Salish artist Chris Paul.
It symbolizes the Tri-Nations (Coast Salish, Kwakwak’awakw and Nuu-chah-nulth) of Vancouver Island, the location of the University as well as the Métis and Inuit.
The logo includes a camas lily, a common flower found on southern Vancouver Island. For centuries the camus lily was a staple in the diet of local Indigenous communities.
The baby Whale represents the Nuu-chah-nulth; the salmon represents the Kwakwak’awakw and other First Nations. The Métis nation is represented by the infinity symbol and the Inuit by the Inukshuk. The circle in the logo represents the drum.
The Button Blanket
This button blanket was created by a group of students led by Wisdom Keepers Leslie McGarry and Gina Robertson, both Kwakwaka'wakw women, within the large classroom community the Faculty of Education course Learning and Teaching in an Indigenous World in the fall semester of 2009. It depicts the Tree of Life, surrounded by small figures that are representative of each student group.
The contributors to this huge project came from a wide range of both cultural and sewing backgrounds, so the process of creating the blanket became about creating unity, sharing gifts, and learning together in traditional ways. Only people with good hands and good hearts worked on this piece. Students were encouraged to sit and observe the process if they felt unable to give a positive contributionto the community and blanket on that day.
Although the image surrounding the Tree of Life were created bu individual students, each group member contributed to the other figures, such as the two orcas featured on the blanket. All students prepared an orca, but only two were selected to be placed on this blanket. It was not a competition between students in the class, but a personal journey for each individual to create her best work.
We would like to thank the creators of this blanket for their good hands and hearts.
Leslie McGarry, Gina Robertson, Nadine Ogilvie, Carolyn Cooper, Chantal Brosseau, Barbara Jenni, Gail Blaney, Yvette Sellars, Liis Graham, Rachelle Lavergne, Stephanie Manson, Natasha Rohani, Bonnie Pearson, Sheyla Beattie.
The Old Man Welcome Pole
EDCI 499/591 Thunderbird/Whale Protection & Welcoming Pole (2005)
The first in a very successful series, this course is pedagogically based on Indigenous teaching and learning experiences: the construction and installation of a Thunderbird/Whale protection pole. Pre-service teachers, education graduate students and faculty in the class worked alongside an Aboriginal artist in-residence, Fabian Quocksister and Lekwungen mentor carver/educator, Butch Dick. The students witnessed, experienced and learned as they carved and positioned a Lekwungen and Liekwelthout pole, Schalay’nung Sxwey’ga, in the lobby of the MacLaurin Building, which houses the Faculty of Education.
Xaxe Siam Seetla Wall Hanging
