The 12,000-square-foot shared gathering space at the University of Guelph features a mix of glass, stone and brick with lush foliage, plus four original Indigenous paintings.
Melissa Perrault and Ryan Gregory of the University of Guelph led a project to rename the science atrium as Waasamowin, which means to be bathed in light.The post-secondary school’s atrium has been renamed to Waasamowin, which comes from the Ojibwe language meaning to be bathed in light.
Melissa Perrault, a neuroscience professor at the school, was one of two people to spearhead the project.“We’ve worked on many different initiatives including orientation handbooks. There’s going to be art going into the second-floor lab wing of the building as well,” Perrault said. Perrault, along with Ryan Gregory, were told by Anishinaabe Elder Rene Meshake that the space will tell you its own name, as they started the journey in renaming the atrium in the name of Indigenization.The 12,000-square-foot shared gathering space, which mixes glass, stone and brick with lush foliage and natural day light under tall ceilings, was blessed by Meshake in a ceremony on April 10.
“They are absolutely breathtaking, and I can only describe it as a feeling of immense gratitude and joy being able to see that they’re going to be up there permanently.”Boy’s body pulled from Lake Ontario after friend, passerby tried to save him After coming to the U of G in 2017, her goal was to create resources and supports for Indigenous students in order to provide them a welcoming, inclusive and successful academic experience.As far as what’s next for the space, she said there is still more work to do.“We installed a residential school memorial marker outside of the Summerlee Science Complex and it would be lovely if we could put a reflection garden around that, so that is one thing that we want to do,” she said.
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