UManitoba announces Indigenous identity policy plans, unveils Indigenous-designed convocation robes

The University of Manitoba has announced plans to implement a new Indigenous identity policy this Fall. CBC reports that the institution is considering using a tiered process of formal and alternative identity verification methods during the hiring process for Indigenous-specific opportunities. UManitoba VP (Indigenous) Catherine Cook said that the community wants the policy to be inclusive of Indigenous peoples who have been disconnected from their cultures or communities, who are non-status, or do not believe in verifying their heritage through formal documentation. UManitoba has also unveiled new convocation robes for its chancellor and president. The robes were reimagined by Jackie Traverse, an Ojibwe artist from the Lake St Martin First Nation; they feature the Prairie crocus to represent Manitoba, red and orange flower buds for missing Indigenous women and children, and the colours of the four symbolic nations of the medicine wheel. “I think that it shows the willingness to learn, make changes and to be open to dialogue and creating changes for everybody,” said Traverse.