{"id":28569,"date":"2026-10-21T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T16:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/?p=28569"},"modified":"2026-10-15T14:48:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T21:48:41","slug":"iy-set-makes-space-for-indigenous-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2026\/10\/21\/iy-set-makes-space-for-indigenous-students\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00cdY, SET makes space for Indigenous students"},"content":{"rendered":"

Camosun and the team at Ey\u0113\u0294 Sq\u0203\u2019lewen Centre for Indigenous Education & Community Connections are bringing the well-being of Indigenous students into focus with a series of pop-up events that take place on Mondays at the Interurban campus and Tuesdays at the Lansdowne campus.<\/p>\n

The program is known as \u00cdY, SET, a phrase that means \u201cto better oneself\u201d in SEN\u0106O\u0166EN, the ancestral language of the W\u0331S\u00c1NE\u0106 people, whose traditional, unceded territories the campuses sit on. The name \u00cdY, SET was given to the initiative by Indigenous student support staff and SEN\u0106O\u0166EN scholar SDEMOXELTEN (Ian Sam) of the Tsartlip First Nation, who helped to build the early iterations of this project last year as a way to foster community among Indigenous students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea was to have a recurring event weekly at each campus so that students could not only feel that sense of belonging, but for it to be easily added within their schedule so that once a week they knew that they could come gather, have a hot lunch,\u201d says Camosun Indigenous special projects lead and events coordinator Levi Glass.<\/p>\n

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Ultimately, the initiative is a place for Indigenous students to gather and feel comfortable, but Glass assures that no one is excluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s sort of the basis for the event, setting up a space for Indigenous students to gather,\u201d he says, \u201calthough frequently, the students have opened it up to all students. Other international students have often come, especially as invitations from the [Indigenous] students that do come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00cdY, SET will feature workshops focused on an array of Indigenous-focused areas, highlighting and linking themes like traditional beadwork and sustainability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, certainly everyone\u2019s welcome for the workshops. If you think of yourself as an ally, you\u2019re certainly welcome,\u201d says Glass. \u201cWe did one [workshop] in partnership with the Metis Nation of British Columbia. Melanie Teunissen works there as a cultural coordinator, and she did a beading workshop with us at Interurban,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was beading the \u2018every child matters\u2019 pins in anticipation of Orange Shirt Day, and it\u2019s likely that we do another one with her just before Remembrance Day, beading poppies at both campuses\u2026 to go from the disposable poppy to a beaded, precious one.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The workshops, as well as the smaller, quieter events, are organized in such a way that even those who are unable to attend are not left out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelanie has given us\u2014and will in the next one\u2014a bunch of kits for people who aren\u2019t there to take home,\u201d says Glass. \u201cI know that when I was a student, my schedule was quite frantic and busy, and if I knew that something was happening weekly, I was more likely to go to it. But it\u2019s also not always a big thing; it\u2019s not always like there\u2019s such a focus. You could just come and work on your homework and have coffee and have soup and just be. Have it as your base.\u201d<\/p>\n

With this initiative coming to life across campuses, Glass points out that there are also other ways for students to find community and support at Camosun.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other thing I might mention is that there\u2019s a \u2018request an elder\u2019 info page and graphic going out, and that\u2019s another thing that maybe students\u2014even non-Indigenous students\u2014could be aware of that they can access if they wanted to meet [with] an elder, whether they were doing research or were going through a difficult time. There are so many resources at the college, whether it\u2019s through counselling or student services or also through Ey\u0113\u0294 Sq\u0203\u2019lewen, with our academic advisors, our elders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00cdY, SET\u2019s roots in the Camosun community are deep, with the ideals of one of the college\u2019s own held at its heart. The late Skip Dick was a Songhees Elder and a beloved member of the Camosun community who worked with the college to promote Indigenous education and cultural understanding in these halls for over 50 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to carry the idea that Dr. Skip has talked about: the college being like a home away from home for Indigenous students, and I think that sort of idea of feeding and creating this welcoming space. We want this place to be a home away from home for everyone to feel welcome. These spaces are also for students to support other students and meet each other\u2026 It\u2019s more about us bettering each other and creating that space where we can get together and share knowledge, break bannock, sit together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Camosun and the team at Ey\u0113\u0294 Sq\u0203\u2019lewen Centre for Indigenous Education & Community Connections are bringing the well-being of Indigenous students into focus with a series of pop-up events that take place on Mondays at the Interurban campus and Tuesdays at the Lansdowne campus. The program is known as \u00cdY, SET, a phrase that means […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[362,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-october-21-2026","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t