Algoma University receives $18M for Indigenous Cultural Centre
Algoma University will soon become home to a massive Indigenous reconciliation centre.
The federal and provincial governments announced funding for an $18-million project on May 20 that will see construction of a new Indigenous Cultural Centre in the university’s east wing.
The federal government is investing more than $7.1 million in the project, while the province ins contributing nearly $6 million, and the university more than $4.7 million.
The project includes renovations to the University’s East Wing building to construct Mukqua Waakaa’igan, the Anishinaabemowin name endowed to the new cultural facility. The space will serve as a venue to share and promote the culture of Indigenous peoples in Canada and showcase the archival collection of work produced by children of Shingwauk residential school survivors.
“Algoma University’s campus is home to Shingwauk Hall, the only building left in Ontario that housed a residential school that you can visit today,” said Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano. “The Children of Shingwauk are the survivors of this dark period in Canadian history; they have worked tirelessly to speak the truth of what occurred in Canada’s residential schools. This announcement is so much more than the construction of a large infrastructure project in Sault Ste. Marie. This $18 million project will house the largest set of residential school archives in the country and serve as a destination for people to learn more about our history. The project will form a critical step towards reconciliation.”
The new facility will provide better access to culturally appropriate spaces for the local urban Indigenous population and surrounding rural First Nations communities. It is intended to serve as a Centre of Excellence, promote Anishinaabe culture, and help to advance the Calls to Action put forward by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
"Today marks a momentous occasion in the history of the Shingwauk site and for Algoma University and the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association,” said university president and vice-chancellor Asima Vezina. “Mukqua Waakaa’igan will become a Centre of Cultural Excellence for the country; a place in Baawaating, where people of all cultures will be welcomed from around the world to share and learn from and with each other as part of the University’s commitment to creating a safe, welcoming and inclusive place for cross-cultural understanding, teaching, learning and healing.”