Post-secondary recognition: new Indigenous-themed robes for U of M leaders

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This article was published 05/06/2023 (917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Indigenous students will see their culture represented onstage at the upcoming University of Manitoba convocation.

The Winnipeg-based school’s president and chancellor will attend this week’s graduation events at the Fort Garry campus wearing robes designed with traditional Ojibwa motifs.

The robes were revealed to the public at a news conference Monday at the Chancellor’s Hall, following a private blessing ceremony.

“I designed the robes with Ojibwa flower motifs, very, very strong roots going down into the land. The red circle symbolizes (missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls) and the orange symbolizes the children that never made it home (from residential schools),” artist Jackie Traverse said.

The prairie crocus was chosen for the design because it is the provincial flower of Manitoba.

Traverse said the inclusion of traditional Indigenous regalia at convocation is important because it helps mark a departure from an era when Indigenous people were mostly excluded from higher education.

“More of our students are starting to graduate. More of our people are starting to graduate. It’s about time we get to represent our nations and our culture.”

U of M president and vice-chancellor Michael Benarroch said the robes help to convey a message of inclusion.

“There have been students… who wanted to wear their traditional robes to convocation, and I think this sends a strong message that that’s OK at the University of Manitoba. We will accept that — and not only will we accept that, we will honour it,” Benarroch said.

Speaking about the private ceremony, held before the news conference, chancellor Anne Mahon said Indigenous elders were present, and they informed the president and chancellor about the responsibility of wearing the robes and their significance was discussed in detail.

“Two elders each held the robes and placed them on us and those elders likened it to receiving a star blanket,” Mahon said.

Benarroch added it was important to commission the robes as a step on the road to reconciliation, saying they symbolize recognition of Indigenous communities and by the chancellor and vice-chancellor wearing them, the university is celebrating Indigenous culture at convocation.

The robes are to be worn by the president and chancellor at all U of M convocations going forward. No further designs have yet been commissioned by the university.

graham.mcdonald@freepress.mb.ca