THUNDER BAY - People learn in many different ways, but one of the ways we all learn is through listening and watching. Students at Lakehead University and the public were treated to some unique and traditional lessons that had a lot to do with seeing, hearing, and tasting just what this region has to offer.
On Saturday, the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives and Aboriginal Cultural and Support Services hosted its 10th Annual Fall Harvest at the sweat lodge site on the Lakehead University campus.
“It is something that is really led by our Aboriginal Cultural and Support Services staff in partnership with our elders committee,” said Denise Baxter, vice provost of Aboriginal Initiatives at Lakehead University. “Lakehead University has a very active elders committee and many of those elders are here today running different stations and sharing different teachings.”
The harvest included sweat lodge teachings, wild rice teachings, bannock making, women’s moon teaching, storytelling, drum making, as well as foods like fried pickerel, sturgeon, roasted goose, wild rice soup, and traditional teas.
“It’s a chance for the community to come and for us to share our culture, history, perspectives, and traditions,” Baxter said.
Elder Delores Wawia was at the harvest for the first time on Saturday and she was sharing her experiences as a storyteller.
“There are different kinds of story tellers,” she said. “I am the modern version of storytelling. We did storytelling on the reserve when we were small. That was the only means of entertainment, also teaching our culture and sharing stories about the community.”
Wawia was a teacher at Lakehead University for 39 years and was one of the leading voices who helped bring an Aboriginal Studies program to the university.
The Fall Harvest continues to move Aboriginal education forward, Baxter said, and Lakehead is in a unique position to offer these kinds of lessons to students and the community in general.
“One of the biggest strengths that Lakehead University has is that it is situated right in Anishnawbe territory,” Baxter said. “With that territory comes partnerships.”
“We really have a lot of learning to do and to engage in,” Baxter continued. “There are a lot of international students here. We do a lot of work with international student department. Students come from all over the world specifically to Lakehead University in the Thunder Bay region to experience all the things we have here in the Northwest, which is so different from so many countries in the world.”
Melissa Twance, who is a PhD student at Lakehead, has been volunteering at the Fall Harvest for the last several years. On Saturday, she was busy frying pickerel, which she said helps bring people back to days on the lake and fish fries with her family.
That is what makes the Fall Harvest so special, Twance said, because it provides an opportunity to experience different ways of life and celebrate traditional teachings and food.
“I think sometimes you’re living in a city, going to university, and you don’t get the opportunity to see how different kinds of foods are prepared, especially traditional foods,” Twance said. “So having a space like this to come together and enjoy something like this is important.”
And while the food was delicious, what people take away from the harvest goes well beyond a full stomach. It is through watching and listening that they take away something more important - an education.
“It’s how we learn,” Wawia said. “When we are small, we are encouraged to listen. Even adult talk. You can listen to anything and learn anything. That is how we learn, through listening and through watching.”
