Two-Spirit Elder Charlotte Nolin is an elder in residence at Ongomiizwin – Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing at the University of Manitoba. She is an Indigenous person of Métis ancestry – Oji-Cree and French – a survivor of the “Sixties Scoop” and a member of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. 

Following the passing of her wife 13 years ago, Elder Nolin realized that life is short and it’s important to make a positive impact while we’re here.  

“I want to leave a good footprint behind that others will follow,” says Elder Nolin. “If I can convince one person to follow in my footsteps, then they may convince two people to follow in theirs, and so on, so down the road there will be a whole bunch of people walking in them.” 

Elder Nolin has spent the last 35 years of her career working in social services, and along with being an Elder-in-Residence at Ongomiizwin, she is a Sweat Lodge keeper. She believes that the way to help her people is through social work and ceremony. 

“When people come to me, I never turn anyone away. To me, when we do a Sweat Lodge ceremony, the doors are open to everybody. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you’re coming and asking for ceremony, for healing, it’s there for you. We’ve existed in a world that’s been so cruel in the past, and I want to do my part to change that.” 

Through her role with the University, Elder Nolin looks to her own journey to help others. 

“For me, it’s the opportunity to share some of my story with people who have never heard it before. So they have a better understanding of who we are as 2SLGBTQQIA people. If the knowledge that I share with people can help them in their journeys, and to have a better life because of it, then I’ve done my work.” 

Elder Nolin believes that the world has come a long way, but that there is still much work to be done to fight racism, homophobia, trans-phobia and hate. 

“Institutions need to start to realize that we are here. We’re part of the University and things have to change from the status quo,” says Elder Nolin. “We all have to start learning again. Everything we’ve learned, we have to kind of throw the bad stuff away, keep the good stuff, and start looking forward to how we’re going to behave in the future.” 

For Elder Nolin, Pride is about being proud of being a human being, first and foremost, and she has a challenge for the UM community: 

“To all the people that work at the University, to all the students that attend, I challenge each and every one of you to stand in front of a mirror, look into those eyes that are looking back at you, and repeat these three little words: I love you. Without looking right or left, up or down, straight into those eyes. Most people can’t do it – it takes practice. It took me three weeks to be able to do it.  

I hope people will take the time to look in the mirror. Once you realize you can love yourself, you can love your neighbour. That’s why we’re all here. To learn how to love our neighbour.” 

The Indigenous Student Centre offers sharing circles for the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community and allies during the academic year. Check out the Indigenous Events Calendar in fall for programming details. 

This year’s theme is Seven Generations Strong to show how the success of our youth is tied to the wisdom and strength of our Elders and Knowledge Keepers. To honour and celebrate the success of our youth, this year’s gathering will begin with the launch of the EleV Partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. 

We sat down with Elder-in-Residence Carl Stone to learn some of the history behind Elders Gathering at the UM, his involvement and to learn about what to expect by attending the two-day event. 

How it started 

Elder-in-Residence, Carl Stone

Elder Stone was a part of the original planning committee for the inaugural Elders and Traditional Peoples Gathering in 2002 at the UM. 

“(As a student), I came in with a lot of Indigenous knowledge. In fact, I questioned whether I should come to university because I was afraid that it would tamper with the traditional knowledge that I had.” Elder Stone shared that Elders eventually encouraged him to go to university because they believed it would make him stronger. He shared that an Elder once said to him “They need you. They need what you know. They need that there.” 

Conversations were happening about bringing in traditional knowledge to the university. While speakers were coming in to speak about traditional knowledge or other Indigenous topics, there was a lack of intention and the involvement of the Indigenous community on and off campus. These conversations started taking place approximately two years prior to the first Elders Gathering.  

“I recall that I shared my story about going to the youth and Elder gatherings that were happening in late ‘70s and early ‘80s, where we had people like Tom Porter, Ernest Tootoosis, Phillip Deere and Eva McKay. Those Elders really influenced us back in the day. They influenced us young people to take a stronger look at our own identity, culture and spirituality. Based on that experience, when we were talking about bringing Elders Gathering to the university, I suggested we pattern it after that. I said the simplest form is to bring Elders in and have them talk about the culture to the young people.” 

Others involved in the initial planning included: Kali Storm, then-director of the Indigenous Student Centre, Roxanne Shuttleworth, professor Fred Shore, professor Peter Kulchyski and other students from the Department of Native studies.   

Learning from each other 

Over the years, firekeeper teachers became part of the Gathering, sharing teachings about fire and how it relates to men. Elder Stone explains that in the Anishinaabeg culture, it is the men who are responsible for the fire and the fire-keeping during ceremonies. He mentioned that the Cree have different views on fire-keeping and it involves both men and women. He learned about this difference at an Elders Gathering. 

“That’s a perfect example of why we were having the gathering. It’s so that we can teach each other and learn about each other’s culture, spirituality and traditional teachings. When I say ‘traditional’ teachings, it means those teachings that we have originally as a people that are not from Europe.” 

Why the gathering is important 

Over the years, many people have referred to the Elders Gathering as what woke them up to who they are and to their culture and identity. “That was one of the primary reasons we wanted [to hold] the gathering, because we saw a lot of [Indigenous] students coming to the university basically being ‘Indigenous white folk’, if you will, and not taking pride in who they were,” says Elder Carl. “They were pretending to be someone else. The whole intent and idea behind the Elders Gathering was bringing that kind of knowledge and imagery for people to see, not just our own Indigenous people, but the people at the University of Manitoba.” 

For Elder Stone, it’s important to remind people of the history and why the Indigenous Student Centre continues to host the Elders and Traditional Peoples Gathering because if we forget and move further away from its original intent, we risk losing its essence and having it turn into something like an academic exercise rather than the opportunity for community growth and contribution to the identity as Indigenous peoples, their spirituality and traditional teachings. He hopes that other people will see Indigenous people who are still connected with their ways of life from thousands of years ago and not see Indigenous people through an anthropological lens.  

“Although we’re saying a lot of it in English, they will be hearing the languages that our people speak and they’ll know and understand; for example: Gizaagi’in. I just told you that I love you in the language. Europeans didn’t bring “the good book” here to teach us love. We already had it. For thousands of years, that’s how old our languages are and that’s how long we’ve been telling each other we love each other because it’s in our language. Nobody came here and told us this is how you love. In fact, it actually did the opposite. They taught us to judge the ‘old ways’ by calling it devil worship and [they] started telling us to hate each other rather than love each other.” 

Attending the gathering 

On Oct. 13, Elder Stone will be conducting the Pipe Ceremony along with Elder Wanda Murdock at 8:00 a.m. at Migizii Agamik – Bald Eagle Lodge to open the Elders and Traditional Peoples Gathering in a good way. He will also be sharing his knowledge and thoughts about what it means to be a man in today’s world and what that means for Indigenous men.  

If you want to connect with Elder Stone and other Elders and Traditional Peoples, the Indigenous Student Centre welcomes everyone to attend this free event for the opportunity to build community and to learn from each other. Along with the listening circles with Elders and Knowledge Keepers, there will be art sessions and Indigenous walking tours. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation will also be hosting an open house and lunch will be served on both days. 

For the schedule and further details, please visit the Elders and Traditional Peoples Gathering webpage. 

The Class of 1925 would also be astonished to encounter the new cohort of Master of Human Rights (MHR) students experiencing their own orientation down the hall – the first class to do so in-person since 2020. Similarly, the MHR students were treated to introductions to Treaty and Indigenous rights, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Career Services and Counselling Services.

Greeted first thing on Tuesday morning by Dr. Richard Jochelson, Dean of Law, and new Elder-in-Residence, Wendy Whitecloud, law students heard about the importance of taking care of mental health and reaching out rather than struggling alone.

“A law student takes on the burden of professional ethical responsibility – law is a service profession. This entails civility, respect and honesty, but it comes with a duty to learn,” said Dean Jochelson. “Part of learning law is learning about the grievous harms that Canada has caused and continues to cause to Indigenous peoples, and also that amelioration and remedy can be fostered through law (as well as through social transformation). However, as a prerequisite, the leaders of tomorrow must stay well and balanced. Our orientation is geared towards students understanding that these issues are interconnected, and that to best serve the public, self-care is vital.”

Dr. Jennifer L. Schulz, Associate Dean, Juris Doctor program, brought home that yes, law school is hard, but yes, we are here to help. “We have made real efforts to create excellent student experiences and to generate a warm, inclusive, mental-health-supporting environment for our law students. We are so pleased to have them back in the building!” she said.

The Honorable Mr. Justice Richard Chartier, Chief Justice of the Manitoba Court of Appeal presided over his last annual Welcome Ceremony prior to his retirement this fall, wherein he handed out the Law Society of Manitoba’s Code of Conduct to all first-year law students.

The Manitoba Bar Association and the Law Society of Manitoba welcomed the students with a champagne reception and invited them to take advantage of the benefits of MBA memberships which the law school pays for each student annually.

Senator Mary Jane McCallum encouraged first-year law students to work towards reconciliation as they become lawyers.

Wednesday began with an intimate and incredibly riveting visit from Senator Mary Jane McCallum, who shared her experiences with Residential Schools and impressed upon the students the important role all lawyers have in working towards furthering reconciliation.

Students then toured the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, followed by a lunch hosted by the Manitoba Indigenous Law Students Association. The afternoon included a special talk on mindfulness for lawyers given by Professor Thomas Telfer from Western University Law.  Finally, David Ness from the University of Manitoba’s Student Counselling Service introduced the students to the in-house counselling the Faculty of Law has put in place especially for all law students.

Then it was down to business with first years attending their first-ever law classes on Thursday. A tour of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights closed the week on Friday.