Expression of hope for Canada Day

Pre-contact seeds to be planted on campus

A selection of pre-contact seeds.

Dr. Linda ManyGuns, PhD, Mount Royal's associate vice-president of indigenization and decolonization, has given the university seeds from the period before contact between Indigenous Peoples and an outside culture.

Today we reflect on what it means to be Canadian, conscious of our country’s troubled past and imperfect present. With hope for a more equitable future, we commit to expressions of citizenship that can uplift us all.

This Canada Day we reaffirm our commitment to indigenization and decolonization. Dr. Linda ManyGuns, PhD, has given MRU plant seeds from the period before contact between Indigenous Peoples and an outside culture. These will be planted at four sites on campus to represent the four directions of the medicine wheel. The seeds, which include tobacco, sweetgrass and pre-contact foods, will be for use with visiting Elders, students and employees, and will remind us of the country we want to be.

July 1, 2021