People

Douglas Cardinal

Douglas Cardinal
Convocation Address
University of Alberta, June 7, 2002

Chancellor, President, honoured guests, graduating students, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honour for me to be back in Edmonton receiving this doctorate, particularly in this community where I had my practice for over 20 years. During that time, I had the pleasure of serving the University of Alberta as a Senator.

I appreciate receiving this doctorate from the university today. It comes at an exciting time when the University of Alberta is working toward building a new and stronger relationship with the Aboriginal community. The University is poised to take bold steps to ensure a continued relationship based upon an Indigenous framework that reflects Aboriginal traditions and worldview. One such step is the proposed Coordinated Aboriginal Strategy and Protocol (CASP), which envisions "the University of Alberta becoming a post-secondary institution of choice for Canada's Aboriginal peoples and an international leader in Indigenous programming." It commits the University "to be a place where Indigenous knowledge, pedagogies, and ways of knowing will be respected, protected, shared, and utilized in the pursuit of what so ever things are true."

This proposed CASP document, which is an Indigenous framework submitted from the University of Alberta Aboriginal Council (UAAC), will strengthen relationships with the Aboriginal community on and off campus and provide clarity on roles, responsibilities, concerns, and needs of Aboriginal programs and programming on campus. It is a way in which the Aboriginal community can communicate with the university leadership and work together toward a better and stronger relationship centred on respect and trust. It is a unique proposal that comes from the traditions of Aboriginal people and nowhere else in Canada is such a bold and brave concept being discussed.

From that very same tradition and Indigenous worldview comes the concept of the Aboriginal Lodge of Learning (ALL). I was approached with traditional protocol by U of A Aboriginal community members to guide them through the initial process of community visioning. They essentially asked me to put them through a Vision Quest. The community needs to build its own internal foundation and community consensus before a space can be erected, and it needs to do this within its own traditional processes. The process is as important as the product. If they are to build an Aboriginal Lodge of Learning, it has to be done with a traditional Aboriginal process. The Aboriginal community here is still in that process of community visioning which will see the process include all the main partners in the spirit of peace and friendship.

It has been my personal commitment to develop a closer relationship between Aboriginal people and the federal and provincial institutions that serve them. Indeed, in the late 1960s, I worked with all the Chiefs and the 52 First Nations in the Province of Alberta in developing an Aboriginal Education Centre.

The Aboriginal Lodge of Learning, I believe, evolved from that initial vision, and the opportunity I had years ago with the Aboriginal community reinforces the belief that there is a fundamental need — even more so — for this facility today. The vision sessions I had here in the last year only reinforced the need for this Aboriginal Lodge of Learning to be realized. I applaud the University of Alberta for responding to this essential need.

Our initial efforts here in Alberta were instrumental in developing Indian control of Indian Education which later became Federal Policy in the 1970s. It contributed in laying the foundation for the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in Regina, which is now under construction under our direction as architects.

SIFC believes that it is imperative their programs be implemented in a world-class facility to bring back the dignity, pride, and self-worth that the Aboriginal community must instill in their young people and higher places of learning. That is our future together.

However, the honour of bringing the Aboriginal people together in creating an Aboriginal Lodge of Learning in partnership with the University of Alberta is a dream. The process must be more than an intellectual exercise: it must be a spiritual journey that will create a better respect and understanding for those who participate in it. While the University of Alberta is dedicated to the development of the mind and body, this unique space will focus itself to the development of the "heart and spirit" of the people who wish to share this space.

The Aboriginal Lodge of Learning is an expression of a strong and balanced relationship. It will be a role model Aboriginal/Indigenous Centre of higher learning that other countries of the Americas can follow. It will serve the purpose as a conductor of Indigenous knowledge to all scholars from all walks of life.

This endeavour is a dream that I have been a part of throughout my professional career. Therefore, with great pride, I am honoured to receive this doctorate, which officially makes me alumnus of this University.

My job as architect has always been to bring peoples' dreams into reality. It is indeed an honour for me to be able to bring your dream into reality.

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