Trent University Honours Local Michi Saagiig on National Truth and Reconciliation Day

To mark the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Trent University unveiled new installations paying tribute to the Michi Saagiig Anishnaabeg, on Thursday.

Treaty Rock unveiling on Thursday. Photo courtesy of Trent University.

The tribute highlights the importance of the original treaties pertaining to the land upon which the two campuses are built and honouring the original signatories of the Michi Saagiig Anishnaabeg.

“For more than 50 years, Trent has been committed to providing education in Indigenous history, traditions, cultures, and Indigenous knowledges for students and the broader community,” said Julie Davis, Trent University vice-president of External Relations and Development. “As we honour Truth and Reconciliation Day, recognizing the local treaties and the Michi Saagiig people is foundational.”

On the Peterborough campus outside of Bata Library, the University unveiled three limestone boulders bearing the symbols of the dodem (clan totems) carvings of the Treaty 20 Michi Saagiig signatories as well as a statement identifying the Symons Campus lands as being situated on Michi Saagiig traditional territory.

At Trent University Durham GTA, a new Treaty Wall has been installed in the front atrium of the campus featuring original signatory documents and a pre-confederation treaty map.

“Curve Lake First Nation and Trent University have a gold-standard relationship,” said Chief Emily Whetung of Curve Lake First Nation. “Trent University prioritizes hearing the teachings of our Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers and ensuring the teachings are respected. We are very pleased to see these installations, developed in a true partnership, come to life. The meaningful acknowledgment of our ancestral lands and the treaty in which Trent University is situated will raise awareness in all who pass through Trent University.”

The University has created a new webpage to advance the goals of education, reflection and action, and is sharing ways our communities can engage meaningfully in reconciliation and honour the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The webpage highlights important resources like the 94 Calls to Action, testimonies of residential school survivors and a list of local Indigenous businesses.

“Here at Trent, on this very important day, as we come together to remember and honour all those who were forced into the Indian residential schools, we are committing ourselves as an institution to engage in the process of reconciliation,” said Dr. Dawn Lavell-Harvard, Trent University director of the First Peoples House of Learning, on Thursday. “As a small but important first step we must acknowledge the truth of our shared history and these installations were designed to educate all those who study, work, or visit our campuses. We give these places of honour to the Michi Saagiig Anishnaabeg, the original signatories of Treaty 20 and Williams Treaty, as a sign of respect and our commitment to do better and to work together in true partnership as the original treaties intended.”

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