First-year nursing student Chelsea Onyia sews a ribbon on to fabric to make a ribbon skirt at the college’s Niitsitapipaitapiissin: Culture Craft Series on Feb. 8. Onyia believes it is important to have an Indigenous cultural presence on campus.
Lethbridge College students learned more about Blackfoot culture through hands-on crafting workshops at the Niitsitapipaitapiissin: Culture Craft Series earlier this month.
Students learned how to make ribbon skirts, drums and three different styles of earrings at the drop-in workshops.
Marni Hope, Lethbridge College’s Indigenous student support and events coordinator, said this event is the first of its kind on campus.
“This is the first year we’ve ever brought this craft series to Lethbridge College. It came to Indigenous Services because we’ve had students who have wanted to learn how to do beading and make ribbon skirts,” Hope said.
The Indigenous student support and events coordinator said students have been curious about different aspects of Blackfoot culture – one of them being ribbon skirts.
“Students have seen us wearing ribbon skirts around campus and wanted to know more about why people wear them and how one would go about making one for themselves. We thought, what a better way to share that knowledge than through a craft series,” she said.
Hope said the name of the event was also a learning opportunity for students.
“Niitsitapipaitapiissin is a Blackfoot word meaning ‘Blackfoot ways.’ So, we tried to keep the crafts specific to how we do things in our Blackfoot culture. Because we’re on traditional Blackfoot territory, we thought giving the series a Blackfoot name was appropriate. We want to encourage students to learn a little bit about the language as well as crafting,” she said.
Indigenous Services hopes to host another Niitsitapipaitapiissin: Culture Craft Series in the future, possibly incorporating other cultures and increasing the number of workshop days – depending on funding availability.
Over 80 students participated in the drop-in workshops from Feb. 6 to 9.
Chelsea Onyia, a first-year nursing student at the college, said she decided to join to learn more about Indigenous culture and participate in a creative activity.
“I wanted to attend an Indigenous event, and I like creating things – I paint and draw. I thought this seemed like an event that would be perfect for me,” Onyia said.
The nursing student said she has learned more about Indigenous history through her studies and understands the importance of feeling connected to one’s language, culture and traditions.
“In my Indigenous studies class, I just started learning about how Indigenous cultural practices were banned. I thought about if it was me – if I was told you can’t sing the songs you sing. You can’t speak the language you speak. You can’t do the dances or community gatherings. You can’t eat the food that’s from your culture. It would be like being in a box,” she said.
Onyia said the Indigenous cultural presence on campus is powerful.
“I like seeing different cultures represented here. You can be proud of who you are, and we can all learn from each other.”
