Rebuilding Indigenous communities through traditional knowledge – TVO

How architecture can reinforce Indigenous culture and give communities a greater sense of ownership

Jul 10, 2017

For Patrick Stewart, using architecture to create comfortable spaces for Indigenous communities, and teaching students to do the same, is a point of pride. Sitting in his bright downtown office at the McEwen School of Architecture at Laurentian University, he beams when the adjacent hall begins to hum with life as students troop in to work on final projects.

Architecture is a way for Stewart and his 14 colleagues at the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada’s (RAIC) Indigenous Task Force to represent and address the needs of Indigenous communities, and, he says, it empowers them to create spaces of their own.

Stewart, a member of B.C.’s Nisga’a Nation, is one of three RAIC members teaching at the McEwen School.

David Fortin, a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, is working on a research project about how to define Métis architecture on the Prairies, a task made more difficult trying to apply a single definition to a diverse group.

Read More: http://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/shared-values/rebuilding-indigenous-communities-through-traditional-knowledge