UNBC unveiled a new campus entrance sign today, as a part of a formal MOU signing with the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation.
In traditional Dakelh language, it means ‘Northern House of Learning’. A new staff is also flying the Lheidli T’enneh flag inside the bus loop on campus.
“These are symbols, symbols are incredibly important because they represent, behind those symbols, evidence of our partnership and our commitment to each other.” said UNBC President Dr. Daniel Weeks
The MOU marks a formal commitment to “open discussion, positive negotiation and a problem solving approach.”
With today marking Orange Shirt Day – a day created to remember what happened to First Nations children in the residential school system, Lheidli T’enneh Chief Dominic Frederick said the timing could not have been better.
“While we should have done it 20 years ago, it doesn’t matter. We are doing it today, today is the proper day, today is the right day to do it.”
When he took over as President of UNBC is 2014, Weeks said he saw a great need for a formal agreement with the Lheidli T’enneh. He says more signage will be rolled out at all their campuses featuring traditional indigenous languages in the future.
But things take time, Weeks noting that it’s hard to create direct translations from English to Dakelh .
“So they have to get together as a team and it’s a discussion… thankfully it didn’t include a word like ‘microwave oven’, which does not exist in the language – but this is an incredibly challenging this to do.” Weeks said
The agreed principles of the MOU can be found here.
