Several K-12 and postsecondary schools across Canada this year honoured their graduating Indigenous students with special ceremonies and gifts. At institutions like Mount Royal University, Red Deer Polytechnic, Selkirk College, and St Lawrence College, graduates were given gifts such as blankets, eagle feathers, or Métis sashes to honour their accomplishments. Ottawa’s postsecondary institutions and the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) hosted special ceremonies that brought together Indigenous graduates from their broader communities. In Ottawa, Collège La Cité hosted a dedicated ceremony for Indigenous graduates of Algonquin College, Carleton University, La Cité, and the University of Ottawa. Meanwhile, WSD invited graduating students from evacuated regions of Manitoba to its ceremony. “They’d be missing out just on the camaraderie and the celebration of working so hard,” said Rob Riel, assistant superintendent of Indigenous education with WSD. “You don’t want to miss out on that.”
