Dalhousie offers elders-in-residence program to support aboriginal students

There's a new support service at Dalhousie University that aims to connect students with aboriginal advisors. 

Six elders from First Nations and communities across the country will have office hours on campus through the elders-in-residence program.

Co-ordinator Geri Musqua-LeBlanc said indigenous students are increasingly travelling far from their extended families for university programs, which takes them away from the wisdom and teachings of their elders.

"That feeling of loneliness and being away from home will sometimes overtake their desire to succeed. We're there to encourage them, to let them know they're our future. We need them as much as they need us. We need them to take us further," she said. 

There are similar programs at other universities across the country, including a program launched by Unama'ki College at Cape Breton University in 2012 

Since taking on the new role in December, Musqua-LeBlanc said she's held smudging ceremonies, talking circles and one-on-one sessions with students. 

She said the group is committed to being available 24/7 in order to help if students in a crisis need traditional counselling. 

Advisory role

Dylan Letendre, who is Métis and co-president of the Dalhousie Aboriginal Students Association, left behind his own support networks when he moved from Saskatchewan. 

He said indigenous youth rely on elders for guidance and support, but up until this point he's never had that available at school. Visiting or calling an older family member isn't always possible, he said. 

"Being an elder to me is more than somebody who has attained a certain age. It's somebody who is able to provide that advisory role. And it's something that I need in the university setting. Otherwise I'm simply assimilating," he said. 

Letendre said in the university setting, aboriginal culture often isn't visible or well represented and meeting with elders could help aboriginal students work through how what they learn in school fits with their own cultural traditions. 

"It's a very European-style institution, and the history of school for aboriginal people hasn't always been positive," Letendre said. "It's not really representative of how I was raised at home, or how aboriginal people traditionally teach their children."

'A necessary first step'

He hopes the program will help the school move toward representing both indigenous and non-indigenous cultures.

"Having an elders-in-residence program is definitely a necessary first step in making universities a comfortable place for aboriginal students who seek to not have to make a choice between living a traditional cultural life and having a western education," he said.  

Musqua-LeBlanc hopes having the elders program on campus in Halifax will help the wider university community learn more about aboriginal culture and the ideas behind traditions.

She said indigenous students are often discouraged to encounter people on campus who have no concept of aboriginal history or culture. 

"It's my experience that this age, this generation is not aware of what residential schools are," she said. "The majority of indigenous students are aware of this and they're frustrated. Their grandmas and their grandpas went through all this and nobody knows about it?"