New renderings have been revealed for the planned Mukwa Waakaa’igan Indigenous Centre of Cultural Excellence at Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, previewing a futuristic nod to the past while extending the conversation around an issue that’s been at the forefront recently as Pope Francis makes his long-awaited public apology tour across Canada. 

The project is being headed by Moriyama & Teshima with Smoke Architecture, an Ontario studio focused on First Nations and Indigenous communities. The team says they intend it to serve as a showcase of the “truth-telling” work their client, the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association (CSAA), has pursued in shedding light on the injustices that took place during Canada’s fraught residential schools era. 

Per the architects: “The architectural design has been articulated through consideration of Indigenous teachings, from building form to material selection. The new Cultural Centre's architectural expression comes from the land, rising up through three paths that represent the past, present, and future, and standing above the residential school. This lifted position provides visitors a stronger, more dominant, and dignified vantage point from which to look upon the site's history.”

"On the ground floor, the Eastern entrance provides the spiritual access to the building, symbolizing renewal and rebirth from the forest. Program in this area includes teaching spaces that connect to the outdoors, providing students with richer learning experiences rooted in nature. Along the West, transition spaces are provided as a buffer between the former residential school, leading into indoor gathering and ceremonial spaces."

"This connection to nature at every level engages the visitors’ experiences with extensive views towards the lake and forest, and provides places for land-based learning and ceremony and the inclusion of plants, our relations for the Indigenous peoples, in our everyday experiences."

More importantly, the center will become home to the 24-year-old Aboriginal Healing Foundation. It will also contain the CSAA’s archive. Other parts of its layout are said to be derived from lessons put forth in The Sweetgrass Path, which orients people along the three paths of Memory, Present, and Future. 

Algoma University President and Vice-Chancellor Asima Vezina says it will “provide a safe space” for dialogue about those three directions. Echoing the President's wishes in an earlier statement, Moriyama & Teshima said: “Our aspiration is to mark a step forward in the reconciliation process.”