First Nations University of Canada celebrates traditional campus renewal

(Jasmine Pelletier/CTV News)

The First Nations University of Canada (FNUC) held an event Wednesday to celebrate its updated nēwoskan Traditional Campus.

“Of course, there’s teaching involved, there’s storytelling, but there’s also that holistic support that occurs here,” said FNUC president Jacqueline Ottmann.

The land-based education campus is located on a 22-acre property north of the South Saskatchewan River, near St. Louis.

“To learn from and be from the environment, to disconnect from the cities,” Ottmann said about the campus’s benefits. “To engage in meaningful ways with each other and to listen to the coyotes at night, to see the brilliance of the stars.”

Before it was a university campus, the land was stewarded by Elder Shelley Belhumeur, who first took possession in 1998.

“I didn’t ever say I own it because, I mean, we don’t own land,” Belhumeur said. “We care for it. We live on it. It belongs to Mother Earth.”

• Get the latest news from Saskatoon, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

The renewal includes renovations to the mess hall and kitchen, new overnight cabins, new showers and washrooms, water infrastructure upgrades, a permanent sweat lodge structure and an outdoor learning area.

“This is a sacred area,” Belhumeur said. “I’ve heard a couple of people say that it was a sacred area. It is. It’s been wonderful. The good thing about now, the university having this, is my dream has come true, and I don’t have to pay for it.”

The renewal was funded through the federal and provincial governments for $2.4 million. The FNUC contributed $1 million.

The Traditional Campus has been active since 2021 and will continue to serve as a permanent land-based learning environment for university members, students and elders.

This land-based learning environment is the newest of FNUC’s four campuses.