Wampum belt to represent Indigenous people and Loyalist College bond

By Tamara Pilon

BELLEVILLE – The Loyalist College community is helping to make a special wampum belt to represent the bond between Indigenous people and other cultures at the college.

The beginning of the wampum belt being made in the Indigenous Resource Centre. Photo by Tamara Pilon, QNet News.

The two-row wampum  “represents the commitment made… at the school,” said Nikki Auten, an Indigenous studies professor.

The purple lines represent the ships from each culture, the canoe for Indigenous culture and a ship from all other cultures. Because these lines never touch, it means these cultures will not tell the other how to run themselves, Auten said.

This wampum belt is a replica of the one made between the Indigenous people and European settlers before Confederation and will still hold the same meaning, but for the college community instead, she said.

The belt will be three feet when it’s finished, said Auten. The hopes are that it will be done by  convocation in June and hung in the front entrance to be viewed by everyone.

The belt is being worked on every Monday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and anyone is welcome to work on it.