Indigenous Graduate Student Association – Annual Report 2024-2025

Tan’si, Dàąt’e, Aba Washded, Boozhoo, Aniin, Welcome!

This past year, the Indigenous Graduate Students' Association (IGSA) focused on building community, sharing cultural knowledge, and improving our visibility across campus. We were proud to host several social events, including bannock-making workshops and beading circles. We also collaborated with other campus organizations, co-hosting events such as the Protocol Teachings Workshop with Elder Heather Poitras on March 25 and George Desjarlais' Newayak Kisikohk Mobile Planetarium on April 1. One of our most significant initiatives was the Creation Story Series with Elder Jerry Saddleback in January 2025, which featured weekly sessions where community members gathered to learn nêhiyawak origin stories and share meals.

To better serve our membership, we launched an email newsletter and strengthened our on-campus presence. In December 2024, we introduced weekly updates to keep members informed about funding opportunities, job postings, relevant courses, volunteer positions, and upcoming events. Following renovations in the Tory Building, our office was relocated to the Education Building—a more central and visible space for students. Although we were unable to host regular office hours during Winter 2025, we maintained engagement through posters on our office door and by placing the Campus Food Bank’s Snack Station outside, which helped draw attention to our space. We also invested in improving our office by purchasing a shelving unit to store materials for workshops and protocol program.

In April 2025, the IGSA launched our protocol program which provides protocol materials—prints and tobacco—to graduate students working with Indigenous communities, free of charge. Open to all graduate students, regardless of background, the program aims to promote respectful engagement and cultural understanding. We hope to continue to grow this program by offering semi-regular protocol teaching workshops, particularly for students who are new to working with Indigenous communities.

Despite these accomplishments, we faced several challenges this year. The resignation of our presidents in November 2024 created some disruption in our operations. We also struggled with limited capacity among our executive team, which affected our ability to promote opportunities beyond the newsletter. These factors, combined with an ongoing lack of awareness about our organization and its services, contributed to lower-than-expected turnout at some of our events.

Moving forward, we are committed to addressing these challenges by increasing outreach and engagement. We plan to dedicate more resources to promoting our events and services through multiple channels and to using our funding to support initiatives that directly benefit our members. Our goal for the coming year is to strengthen the IGSA's presence on campus and better serve the needs of Indigenous graduate students through more consistent programming and improved communication.

We extend our sincere gratitude to all our members for your continued support, the generosity of the many Elders who shared their knowledge, and the dedication of our executive team who made this year’s initiatives possible.

Hai Hai, Masi cho, Chi Miigwech, Ka wapamitin, Marsi, Thanks,

The IGSA Executive