Gathering of knowledge keepers at U of M brings ‘generations together’

The University of Manitoba is hosting a record number of visitors, ranging from schoolchildren to seniors, at its 20th annual gathering of knowledge keepers.

A sacred fire was lit on the Fort Garry campus shortly before sunrise Thursday to mark the occasion.

“This gathering is to bring many generations together so that we can spend time with one another and learn from each other,” said Vanessa Lillie, director of cultural integration, Indigenous, at U of M.

More than 700 people have registered for the 2026 Elders and Traditional Peoples Gathering. There are representatives from all over the province, as well as Ontario, B.C. and as far as the U.K.

Lillie described the energy on campus as joyous as the two-day event got underway, citing “lots of visiting, laughter and community.”

What began in 2002 as a standalone initiative run inside the Indigenous studies department via fundraising efforts has become a campus-wide event sponsored by the U of M.

This year’s theme is: “ancestral voices guide us.”

“The Indigenous community relies heavily on the guidance and wisdom of our elders and they have worked really hard to regain and relearn many of our traditions, our culture, our ceremonies, our language and they’ve left a really strong path for us,” said Lillie, whose family is from Peguis First Nation.

“It’s really important that younger generations learn those histories, those stories and reclaim culture and ceremony for ourselves.”

Public school and post-secondary students, as well as university staff members, academics and community members are participating in storytelling and traditional teachings.

Presenters are speaking on topics including Indigenous voices in colonial archival collections and the history of two-spirit people.

Deb Chaboyer, a knowledge keeper-in-residence for the College of Nursing, is leading a session about the healing power of nature.

“If you start to pay attention, you will be able to find something small every day that’s remarkable. It can be as simple as a butterfly,” Chaboyer said.

“Being present in your life is actually one of the most necessary psychological components to healing there is.”

The hypnotherapist describes herself as “two-eyed seeing Red River Métis,” given she promotes Indigenous ways of knowing and has a Western-style post-secondary education.

She is one of 14 presenters. Roughly 250 elders and knowledge keepers are expected to visit U of M during the event.

Lillie said she is looking forward to formal sessions and informal conversations that will take place at the gathering, the largest of its kind in U of M history.

The director attributed the growth of the gathering to the “steady and gradual” increase of First Nations, Métis and Inuit students at the university.

Indigenous students represent about 10 per cent of the overall population at U of M, up from seven per cent in 2015.

There were 3,292 Indigenous students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs this fall.

Forty-two per cent of these learners are studying social work. Other popular programs include art, education and law.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca