A picture from the opening day of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council’s Residential School and Family Gathering. (Gary Vidal/Facebook)

By Ian Roach

FEASIBILITY STUDY

Meadow Lake Tribal Council receives federal money to explore building two cultural centres

Nov 14, 2022 | 5:06 PM

The Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) is receiving $142,313 from the federal government to help with the pre-design of two cultural centres in Northern Saskatchewan.

One of the centres will be built in the north to service Dene communities and the other will be in the south to support Cree communities. The announcement of the funding was made Monday morning.

The funding is in response to a need identified in the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. That report calls for all Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people to have a safe place for meaningful access to their cultures and languages. The federal government also says spaces like this are key for Indigenous communities to move forward on self-government.

Indigenous architect Alfred Waugh, a member of the Fond Du Lac Dene Nation of Saskatchewan, will be working with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council. Waugh is one of the few registered First Nations Architects in Canada.

In a media release on the government of Canada’s website, Meadow Lake Tribal Council Vice Chief Richard Derocher said he is happy to get the initial funding.

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“The project will assist our nine communities to develop initial plans for cultural facilities that will help celebrate, recover and strengthen our Cree and Dene language and cultural heritage,” Derocher commented. “The buildings will be designed in part to meet net-zero carbon standards, which is a modern reflection of our environmental stewardship ethic. We look forward to welcoming guests of all ages from our region, our province and beyond.”

The plan is to create facilities that will have accessible indoor and outdoor spaces for events, cultural gatherings, cultural teaching, and ceremonies. The design of the buildings will reflect Cree and Dene culture and the layouts will be designed in a way to support women and youth, including two-spirit community members.

The two cultural centres will provide accessible indoor and outdoor spaces for events, cultural gatherings, cultural teaching, and ceremonies. The building designs will reflect and celebrate Dene and Cree cultures through architecture, displays, and building layouts and will be designed in particular to support women and youth in the communities, including Two-Spirit community members.

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