At Concordia University, community members, faculty, staff, and students recently gathered for the inauguration of a student-led Indigenous Garden project. The garden will serve as a gathering place for land-based learning and as a home for traditional foods and medicines. At the inauguration, participants planted seeds and plants such as beans, corn, squash, and tobacco. “It’s been so fulfilling to get our hands dirty and witness new life emerging from the soil that we helped create,” said Concordia Associate Professor Akwesasró:non Louellyn White, who worked with students to plan the garden. Students will develop land-based skills in the garden that they will be able to pass on to their families and relations, and will pass along the responsibility of caring for the garden to future students. The organizers say that in the future, they hope to be able to cook and enjoy food from the garden at student gatherings, hold soup and bannock kitchens, and share with local shelters.
