About a year ago, I had a conversation with Cheryl Whiskeyjack – one I mentioned in my December 2022 column. Cheryl, a MacEwan Distinguished Alum and Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society executive director, spoke about land acknowledgments.
She explained that they should be about our personal relationship to the land – to what shapes that relationship with the ground beneath our feet. The land is integrally tied to my identity – as an academic, an administrator, and a person. I can’t think about my life or my work without it. For me, it’s critical to acknowledge that.
Any meaningful conversation about place requires us to consider the land.
My own relationship with the land was nurtured in Winnipeg, particularly The Forks – at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. This is an important and historic intersection. One where Indigenous people lived, traded, and built community, and from which the city of Winnipeg grew and evolved. It remains a sacred place, reminding me that we walk the paths of those who have come before us and that we must honour and respect that history.
Those joining rivers have always had an impact; water has shaped my work – and my world – in so many ways. I have fond memories of childhood trips to Lake Winnipeg and of the early years of my adulthood spent studying aquatic ecosystems and living in field stations near freshwater lakes and rivers. The years that followed pulled me further away from the water and indoors to offices, but those spaces were always close to the North Saskatchewan River and The Forks. The connection I feel to natural spaces, the land, and the water that flows across it still runs deep.
As I prepare for my State of the University address on October 19, I can’t resist making an aquatic reference: I truly believe that we are building towards a watershed moment at MacEwan.
When I think back to my research and learning when I first came to this university, I see the beginning of a shift in culture. MacEwan’s five-plus decades have included some incredible accomplishments and moments. Milestones that have been celebrated, but perhaps a bit quietly. And with a sense of humility.
I’m not suggesting that we abandon that – being humble, down-to-earth and grassroots are hallmarks of our identity, and celebrating wins and progress on a smaller scale is important. But I think we also need to get comfortable thinking bigger, unabashedly proud and more confidently step into our place as an institution. To make a cultural shift from humble to bold. From standing still to perpetual motion. To acknowledge and be proud that we make our community a better place to live and work and that we do that through partnership, collaboration and genuine engagement.
We are powered by place at MacEwan. And our relationship with our place is evolving.
The seven blocks we sit on in downtown Edmonton ground us. They create opportunities for us to honour those who came before us, generate new knowledge, develop meaningful connections and partnerships, and make a difference in the lives of individuals and communities. Those same seven blocks may have rigid boundaries of streets and avenues, but they are boundaries that do not limit us.
Instead, I like to think of those streets and avenues as rivers and outlets that bring together the incredible people who learn and work here and serve as a conduit back to the community, taking our big ideas and solutions to real issues into the world. There is energy, a constant flow and perpetual motion, within our place in O’Day-min.
I encourage you to take some time to consider how this place powers your own work, learning and life at MacEwan. And I hope to see you on October 19 for a deeper dive into the idea of place – and how it supports us in the pursuit of Teaching Greatness.
Dr. Annette Trimbee
President and Vice-Chancellor