BY ISABELLA BOURQUE

The ASO is always hosting fun, exciting, and educational activities around campus available for everyone to participate in. Another evening of the Workshops in Building Capacity for Reconciliation Education session is TONIGHT at 6:00 p.m. in the Mayer Community Hall at the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre.

 In addition to the workshops, our Knowledge Keeper Bruce Cutknife will be telling winter stories in the Wahkohtowin Lodge on Feb. 5 at 6:00 p.m. The following evening there will be a drum circle on Feb. 6t at 7:30 p.m. and Bannock Taco Day on Feb. 7 in celebration for International week! (Psst… if you have never tried bannock tacos, I wholeheartedly encourage you to stop by the cafeteria because they *might* just change your world.)

Things to look out for later this semester are the Moccasin Making Workshop and the Dream Catcher Making Workshop (I highly recommend both!). The moccasin making workshop will be held on the first three Wednesdays in March: 13, 20,  and 27 in the ASO and the cost to register is $175 per person, which includes all materials you will need as well as 9 hours of instruction from Elder Myrna Yellowbird. Registration deadline for moccasin making is March 1!

Dream catcher making will be on March 30, and it is free for students to participate.

Pop-up advising sessions are continuing to happen every Tuesday from 1 – 2 p.m. in the ASO (so come by and hassle Erika about your classes and grad requirements (; …). The pop-up academic success sessions also happen every Thursday from 1 – 2 p.m. Talk to Sarah about study habits, time (and stress) management, or any other questions you may have!

One of the most exciting things to happen here at Augustana is now Indigenous students can smudge in the ASO any time they wish without notice! This pilot project is to help balance the needs of our Indigenous students by having access to smudging as they please within their community space on campus in the ASO.

On Jan. 30, the Augustana Club Fair represented all of the clubs here on campus, including, for the first time, The Indigenous Club! The Indigenous Club is a brand-new club here at Augustana that fosters Indigenous learnings and activities for all Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, staff, and faculty. The club will be hosting meetings and events once a month that focus on topics such as beading, sewing, bannock-making, and language-learning. If you are interested in joining or attending the events, be sure to get in contact with president Emily Peterson or vice president Aurora Tupechka. During the club fair, they enticed passers-by to do some Metis finger weaving.

The evening of Jan. 30, we had our monthly community meal of taco-in-a-bag-on-a-plate with Elder Myrna Yellowbird, followed by a beading session. These evenings are my favourite because we all feast while having conversations around the tables. It really enforces a sense of community and support!