The ThunderBlogs

Wood shavings lightly gathered on the concrete floor around Luke Parnell’s feet on Tuesday as he carved a small wood figure with its hands wrapped around its knees. A cool breeze entered the room through a partially opened bay door. Outside three words illuminated in red: Aboriginal Gathering Place.

The gathering place recently opened and is part of the Emily Carr University of Art and Design on Granville Island.

Parnell, who is half Haida and half Nisga’a, said it was his second day using the space. Parnell is taking a Master of Applied Arts at Emily Carr. He worked in a small studio space at the back of the open space gathering spot.

Brenda Crabtree, aboriginal program manager at Emily Carr, said boxes and furniture were moved into the space a couple of weeks ago and the official opening has yet to take place.

Crabtree, a member of the Spuzzum Band, said studies done by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development found Aboriginal students often feel isolated in post-secondary settings and students who had a designated space to go to felt a better sense of belonging.

“We were looking at sort of a holistic perspective of what would enable us to increase our recruitment retention and completion rates for Aboriginal learners and we have certainly found that having even the smallest of spaces to provide a sense of cultural community for them makes a huge difference,” said Crabtree.

Crabtree said although measurable things such as enrolment and graduation numbers for Aboriginal students are looked at frequently, immesurables need to be looked at such as self-esteem and feeling safe. She said this space was funded by a grant from the Ministry of Advanced Education.

Black sofas and chairs formed a circle at the end of the gathering place that overlooks False Creek. Beige drums served as coffee tables. Crabtree said she made them and they’re pow-wow drums. A small table that looked like a piece of a cedar tree trunk rested next to a low red chair with rounded edges.

Large windows filled the space with sunlight.

A small computer lab and a couple of offices used one side of the space.

Crabtree said there will be school and community events held in the space, but the space is meant to be primarily for Aboriginal students.

Parnell said he’ll continue to use the space.

“There’s a masters studio but you’re not allowed to carve wood in it. Anything else I’ll do up there, but any wood carving I’ll do down here.”