A Decade of Seeing: Chinook Lodge Celebrates its 10th Year

It was a simple encounter, but it would resonate for years to come.

Lori Villebrun wandered through a grocery store in the community of Hay River, 1000km north of Edmonton. She had been living away from her home for several years and was happy to see a family friend from her community.

For Villebrun (CTSR '85),“masay yaida means seeing each other for all that we are. It’s a beautiful gift that we can give one another as human beings.” This sense of being ‘seen’ or understood is just one of the less tangible services offered at SAIT Polytechnic’s Chinook Lodge Aboriginal Resource Centre where Villebrun is the coordinator.

Reflecting on the Success of the Lodge

Since 2001, the lodge has offered practical, academic, social and cultural services to Aboriginal students attending SAIT. The 10th anniversary of Chinook Lodge this fall provides a natural opportunity to reflect on the centre’s successes, and to take a hard look at how staggering demographic changes among Canada’s Aboriginal population will impact SAIT and Chinook Lodge in the coming decade.

In 2001, the number of Aboriginal people in Canada with less than a high school education was 31 per cent — almost double the national average for non Aboriginal Canadians. It was into this climate that Chinook Lodge was born at SAIT.

On Sept. 22, the lodge, distinguished by its circular shape and use of earth tones, natural elements and Aboriginal imagery, opened its doors in SAIT’s Senator Burns Building. Founded through corporate sponsorships, partnerships with surrounding First Nations bands and out of SAIT’s commitment to welcome Aboriginal students, Chinook Lodge set out to facilitate Aboriginal post secondary education in the face of this disparity.

“Gathering places like Chinook Lodge… provide support and resources that uniquely meet the needs of Aboriginal learners,” says Villebrun. “There’s that cultural component that can be a really important bridge for students.”

Breaking Barriers

Part of building that bridge means understanding barriers Aboriginal people face in education. Some of the most widely credited barriers include socio-economic challenges, cultural and language differences, differences in ways of learning and the deep, residual impact of residential schools, says Villebrun. “All of that contributes and reflects in the education system."

Villebrun says they keep this social and historical context in mind at the lodge, and provide a range of services as diverse as the students themselves. “That can be as simple as sitting down and having a cup of coffee with the student... or it could mean helping with scholarship applications, or making a referral to a community agency ."

And while one doesn’t have to look far to find information about the challenges to Aboriginal people in the education system, Villebrun says it’s critical to look at the contributions Aboriginal culture can make in that system. “There is so much to learn from each other. We are glad to provide learning opportunities at Chinook Lodge that incorporate an Aboriginal perspective.”

A Sense of Community

Pride seems to bubble over when Andrea Louise-Martyn (OGLA ’09) speaks about her heritage in B.C.’s Kelly Lake Métis settlement. Though she grew up in Fort St. John and Calgary, her connection to those Métis roots is evident.

Before applying to SAIT’s Oil and Gas Land Administration Program, Louise-Martyn worked for the Métis Nation of Alberta. Being in an Aboriginal context was definitely her “comfort zone,” she says. So when she began classes at SAIT and went to Chinook Lodge, she felt she’d found a sanctuary on campus.

Here, she saw strong Aboriginal role models among the staff and elders and felt validated as a Métis woman. “I just felt like our core beliefs and values were aligned and it felt like a safe place,” says Louise-Martin, who is now a Land Administrator at Cenovus Energy. “I felt comfortable with my people.”

Like Louise-Martyn, Christopher Poitras (OGLA ’09) found sanctuary in Chinook Lodge. For Poitras, who had already completed a degree at the University of Calgary, his comfort was less about a need to connect to his Métis identity and more about the literal comfort of the lodge.

“The lodge was a wonderful place to get together with classmates and colleagues on an academic and social level,” says Poitras who works as a land negotiator for Standard Land.

For some students, the services offered by Chinook Lodge have made the difference between graduating or dropping out of their programs.

Finding the Resources

Benita Koochicum (OGLA ’03) was 12-years-old and the eldest of three children living with her parents when they moved to Calgary in 1990. “There were such low employment rates on the reserve. My mother didn’t want us to struggle,” she says.

Years later, in 2003, Koochicum thought she’d found that opportunity when she was accepted in the Oil and Gas Administration for Urban Aboriginals program at SAIT. She arranged for childcare for her two young children and prepared herself for full-time classes.

Everything went well for a while. Koochicum was doing well in classes and had made friends among her classmates, but then money problems took hold. “I was trying to make ends meet – paying for childcare, rent, groceries and utilities – on $1,500 a month.”

There simply wasn’t enough. Koochicum had resigned herself to quitting the program when an instructor suggested she might find help at Chinook Lodge. Help was what exactly what she found. She received financial help with her childcare and was connected with resources to help her young family with groceries.

Koochicum completed her program in 2003, a success she attributes in part to Chinook Lodge. After graduating, she was hired at Encana where she now works as a surface land training coordinator. She is happy with her work, her employer and the opportunity to make ends meet without batting an eye.

"Completing this program changed my life. I don’t struggle anymore,” she says. “I’m respected in my job and I’m able to contribute a lot. It feels really good.”

The Hard Numbers

The impact of Chinook Lodge over the past decade is, perhaps, better measured qualitatively than quantitatively. But it’s statistics and hard numbers that define the lodge’s challenges for the coming decade.

The Aboriginal population is the fastest growing demographic in Canada. “The increase is staggering,” says Chinook Lodge manager Villebrun.

From 1996-2006 the Aboriginal population grew by 45 per cent compared with a growth of just eight per cent among Canada’s non-Aboriginal population. Of the 1.3 million Aboriginals in Canada, over half are children and youth. “We’re seeing this huge wave of Aboriginal young people coming through the education system,” says Villebrun. “We’re seeing the beginnings of their wanting to access post secondary education.”

It’s a demographic trend that hasn’t escaped the notice of industry, which is now keen to hire skilled people within Aboriginal communities, particularly in Northern locations. It’s a workforce that is untapped, available and invested in those communities, says Villebrun, who adds SAIT could be well-positioned to be a key player in this trend. “If we’re the post secondary institution that is successful with Aboriginal learners and that becomes known among Aboriginal communities and industry, then (SAIT) will be the institution of choice.”

Demographic trends among Aboriginal populations are also on the radar of economists, who cite these as cause for industry to stand up and take notice. “There is a rising recognition among Canadian companies that employing Aboriginal people and partnering with Aboriginal communities is a smart business strategy,” said a 2009 report from TD Bank Financial Group.

In spite of these trends and the predicted 50 per cent growth in total Aboriginal income over the next five years, economists say the average income level of Aboriginal Canadians remains unchanged from a decade ago. It’s still 30 per cent less than that of non Aboriginal people. “For Aboriginal people to truly put a dent in this divergence over the long run, the gap in education attainment levels needs to be closed,” the report concluded.

Narrowing the Gap

This fall, that gap is narrowing for alumna Andrea Louise-Martyn on a personal level. Her daughter Sarah begins classes in SAIT’s Business Administration program starting in September. As a member of Canada’s Aboriginal baby-boom and as the daughter of a SAIT graduate, Sarah is a telling reflection of the potential of Aboriginal-inclusive programs in post secondary education. And the opportunity to be “seen” at a post secondary institute is an experience Louise-Martyn looks forward to sharing with her daughter.

“I can’t wait for my daughter to experience Chinook Lodge,” she says.