Indigenous Education & Community Connections

IECC Award Ceremony Event - March 28 & November 28 | 4pm | The Culture Centre

A Ceremony will be held for Award Recipient/Winners at Camosun College, Lansdowne Campus, Wilna Thomas, Room 234 (The Culture Centre). There will be light refreshments and desserts to follow. Guests and family are welcome. For more information or to RSVP, please connect with our office.

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National Indigenous Peoples Day - June 21

Each year, IECC celebrates National Indigenous Peoples Day. You will be encouraged to attend special cultural events either at the college or with Camosun's community partners.

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Welcome Feast - September 19 | 5:30 to 8:30pm | Songhees Wellness Centre

At the beginning of September, IECC welcomes new and returning students to a feast held at Songhees Nation. This is held on Thursday evening during the second week of classes. Students, their families, staff, faculty, college administrators and community members come together to cook, serve and share in food and conversation. Afterwards there are speeches, drumming and dancing. Elder Skip Dick (Songhees) says the gathering is "patterned after our way of doing things," and "there's great energy." The feast helps build strong community bonds and encourages respect, trust and collaboration.

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Orange Shirt Day - September 27 | 1-2:30pm | Na’tsa’maht

Camosun students, employees and community supporters will wear orange shirts to show their commitment to the principle that every child matters and to show support for those who attended residential schools and their families.

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Pit Cook Demonstration - October 25 | Gathering 9am | Food around 1pm | Na’tsa’maht and Young Bldg Lawn

Each year at Lansdowne campus, bright blue star-like camas flowers spatter the Garry oak meadow. Every year IECC, in partnership with Songhees Nation, hosts a pit cook to demonstrate how the Nations of this region use a fire-pit to cook the camas bulb between layers of locally harvested plants such as sword fern, salal or skunk cabbage. The pit cook demonstrates and promotes the traditional use of the camas, helps keep the teachings, and shows the younger people the traditional ways.

The camas harvest and pit cook "is part of who we are," says Cheryl Bryce (Songhees). "It helps with reinstating traditional First Nation roles, restoring the environment and ecosystem, and connecting with ‘territories’."

Up-coming and Past Conferences

2020 S’TEṈISTOLW̱ Conference - August 25-28

The 2020   S’TEṈISTOLW̱ Indigenous Adult and Post-Secondary Education Conference will be hosted by EyēɁ Sqâ’lewen: The Centre for Indigenous Education & Community Connections at Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in the traditional ‘territories’ of the Lekwungen (Songhees and Esquimalt) and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. Our intent is to gather educators, administrators and staff working in Indigenous programs as well as knowledge-keepers, leaders and allies in the field of Indigenous education from adult and post-secondary institutions and communities. S’TEṈISTOLW̱ is a SENĆOŦEN term referencing the concept of ‘moving forward,’ and following on the successes of the 2017 conference, our goal is to further expand and enrich the participant experience and continue to build relationship and networks of reciprocity – to share, learn and exchange with each other.

2017 S’TEṈISTOLW̱ Conference - August 23-25

Hosted by Eyēʔ Sqȃ’lewen: The Centre for Indigenous Education & Community Connections, the 2017 S’TEṈISTOLW̱  Conference is a gathering for instructors/educators in Indigenous programs as well as leaders and allies in the field of Indigenous adult education. The goal is to build relationship and networks of reciprocity – to share, learn and exchange with each other. We are pleased to share with you video of all the keynote speakers.

S’TEṈISTOLW̱  is a SENĆOŦEN term referencing the concept of ‘moving forward’. This conference will focus on both the doing and being of Indigenous education. While they are inextricably intertwined, “doing” involves pedagogies and teaching practices. “Being” involves relationality, connections amongst educators, communities, students, cultures and lands and involves living our collective values. We proceed with the intent of Eyēʔ Sqâ’lewen (good heart, good mind, good spirit) and Na’tsa’maht, (unity and collective vision).