Free program supporting Indigenous students wraps up at Cambrian College

A free, four-week program helping Indigenous students adapt to post-secondary life is wrapping up at Sudbury's Cambrian College.

The Indigenous Transition Program has existed since 2021 as a way to educate Indigenous students about supports on and off campus and how to incorporate cultural practices into college life.

James Tregonning, Indigenous transition coordinator, said individuals arriving from remote communities can experience culture shock. The program is aimed to try to alleviate that.

"They're introduced to the community here at Cambrian College, so they feel that they're not abandoned," Tregonning said.

"They don’t feel that there's nobody around. That’s scary, for an Indigenous student first coming from a northern reserve coming to an institution, a post-secondary institution."

The program was separated into four gateways based on the Medicine Wheel. Tregonning said learning the Grandfather Teachings and Medicine Wheel teachings, while applying them to post-secondary life, has been a focus.

"They know Grandfather Teachings but they don’t know how to apply them to post-secondary life, so when they're in residence for the first time, when they're coming to a class for the first time," Tregonning said.

"When there's a lot of students, which is very much different than a northern reserve, so understanding these cultural principles and applying them is really important."

Students had the opportunity to participate in an Indigenous cooking class, where they picked and harvested some of the medicines, such as Labrador and cedar. Students also had the opportunity to identify area herbs.

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Kyle Trudeau was enrolled in the program and will be taking electrical engineering at Cambrian. From Wiikwemkoong, he said he learned how to bead for the first time.

"I smudge every day when I come into class," Trudeau said.

"I open up, I talk. I'm not really one to talk much but since I came into the program I open up a lot more, I share my feelings and stuff so it's uplifting."

A total of 18 participants were enrolled in the program this year, arriving in Sudbury from areas like Moosonee, James Bay, Thunder Bay and northern Quebec.

The program began July 31 and ends Aug. 25.