Syllabics
The First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) kêhtê-ayak and Dr. Ottmann are pleased to announce a successful partnership with the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT) and McKnight Property Management in an application to the City of Saskatoon – Environmental Grant 2024. The Environmental Grant and funding from partners will be used to develop a Traditional and Medicinal Garden under the guidance and teachings of kêhtê-ayak and Cultural Advisors.
A name gifted by the kêhtê-ayak, maskihkîy kistikan (translation, medicine garden) is a new space at the Saskatoon campus for students, faculty, staff and their families to learn about traditional medicines and their relatives. The space will also encourage gathering, visiting, and strengthening connections and provide a place to heal, meditate, and uplift one another.
“First Nations University of Canada’s foundation are Indigenous Knowledge Systems and enacting and experiencing our traditions. maskihkîy kistikan, the Saskatoon medicine garden, is an expression of what we value – the healing effect of land and relationality, the deep and transformational learning that occurs when we come together inside and outside our campus buildings. This meeting place and garden is a gift to all at the Saskatoon campus, including our neighbours. I look forward to watching it mature and evolve”. says Dr. Ottmann.
maskihkîy kistikan volunteers have assembled and filled four large cedar garden boxes constructed by the Core Neighbourhood Youth Co-operative, CNYC. Each garden box has been filled with soil and has a rainwater barrel installed with a drip soak watering system. Volunteers placed the first maskihkîyak in the ground in the first week of August and are planning to have more arrive in spring 2025.
Exciting future plans for maskihkîy kistikan volunteers include building a small garden shed, painting vibrant and colourful canvas signage, and designing a 10ft mîkiwahp or tipi. These additions will further enhance the garden’s beauty and functionality.
A special tiniki, miigwech, to all the volunteers and helpers who have worked so diligently on the maskihkîy kistikan over the past few months under the guidance of Elder Gilbert Kewistep, Elder Shelley Belhumeur, Elder Judy Pelly, Maria Campbell, and Ace Lafond (Cultural Coordinator, SIIT). A special acknowledgement goes out to FNUniv partners at McKnight Properties Management for their support and the City of Saskatoon for this exciting opportunity.
For campus locations, maps and hours of operation, please visit our contact us page.
(the good path through life)
(the good path through life)