DARE District embedded with Indigenous elements
Posted on Monday, July 30th, 2018
Grand Opening of the DARE District
May 03, 2018
(PHOTO: Jana Chytilova)
The DARE District’s three-storey mural is impossible to miss, but the building’s Indigenous influences go far beyond the striking visual of animals and nature.
Indigenous knowledge, methodology, and imagery are embedded throughout the DARE District’s design, identity, and purpose.
“Within the new DARE District, Algonquin has raised and invested $5.4 million dollars into four unique areas that embed, profile, and celebrate Indigenous culture and identity,” says Ron McLester, Executive Director of Truth, Reconciliation & Indigenization. “There is the courtyard (under construction), the Indigenous Commons, the Institute of Indigenization, and an area on our third floor Library that is meant to be a bit of a repository for traditional Indigenous knowledge.
“Together, they will give the students of Algonquin College the ability to celebrate, learn, and continue their education – and explore relationships that occurred in the past and happen today, and chart a way forward.”
In developing DARE’s Indigenous elements, McLester says Algonquin took inspiration from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report and the Indigenous Education protocol.
The Indigenous Commons will serve as a gathering place for the College community, as well as a place for the Algonquin – and external partners – to host special events. For example, in late June, the space hosted the College community on National Indigenous Peoples Day.
“Inside that Commons is a place to cook meals, a fireplace, a gala space, and a speakers’ area,” McLester notes.
The Students’ Association invested $1 million towards DARE’s Indigenous artwork and design, which helped support projects like the mural and courtyard. McLester calls the investment “an amazing gift.”
Past SA President Victoria Ventura is proud of that contribution. “We wanted it to be authentic and respectful, so we deferred in the design process to the Indigenous community,” she says.
The courtyard – currently under construction and expected to be completed by late fall – is shaped by Indigenous pedagogy. The space will include a fire circle surrounded by plants and medicines of significance to Indigenous communities. It will serve as an outdoor gathering and social area for students and faculty, and a natural location to host special events, speakers and performances.
The Commons and the courtyard are highly central and visible locations. That was intentional.
They were born of, “this idea of having a physical space were we can take time and dedicate ourselves to thinking, understanding, and relating to the world through an Indigenous lens,” McLester says.
The Institute for Indigenization will focus on how to include and embed Indigenous knowledge throughout the College organization, including areas like entrepreneurship.
McLester is proud of the consultation and collaboration that went into DARE’s Indigenous components. Brook McIlroy, the architects behind the District’s Indigenous elements, worked with the Algonquin team to consult with students, employees, the local community, and Indigenous groups and elders.
“We cast the net far and wide for engagement,” McLester says. “One of the pieces we know for a fact is that there a thirst, a desire, and a willingness to embed Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous ways of knowing, and Indigenous methodology into our practices here at the institution – whether that is in marketing or in HR, whether that is in Hospitality or at the Mamidosewin Centre.”
The DARE mural puts that practice front-and-centre on Ottawa campus. Anchored by images of a dark-eyed moose, a soaring eagle and a giant turtle, it was recently completed by artists Shalak Attack and Bruno Smoky.
“This (mural) acknowledges the creation story of many Indigenous peoples,” said McLester. “It’s definitely a piece that links our shared cosmology.”
For a video profile on DARE’s Indigenous components, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgepNX0h8Vw