Anyone who attended or watched a Convocation ceremony at Dal this spring may have noticed splashes of red amidst the usual sea of black gowns.聽
Among the students adding a crimson hue to the crowd was Kristan Belanger, a Mi鈥檏maw student and three-time Dal grad from Glooscap First Nation. While Belanger is no stranger to crossing the stage at Dal, last week marked the first time she did so draped in an Indigenous stole.聽
The stole 鈥� a red, scarf-like garment covered in symbols 鈥� was newly introduced this year for Indigenous students.
"Being able to walk across the stage wrapped in the stories, the strength, and the identity of my family and my community really reminded me and hopefully others in the crowd that I didn't walk the path of academia alone," she says. "Frankly, I would have never been able to make it to where I am today without the support of my entire community behind me."
聽I would have never been able to make it to where I am today without the support of my entire community
Belanger鈥檚 most recent ceremony marked the completion of her Master of Information degree from the Faculty of Management and follows previous degrees in political science (BA鈥�19) and law (JD鈥�22, with Certificate in Indigenous Law).
Belanger waves as she crosses the Convocation stage.聽
She says the stole serves as a visible reminder that Indigenous students persist and achieve across all programs at Dal 鈥� significant in an academic space 鈥渨here our presence is often ignored or erased.鈥�
鈥淗aving the visibility of the stole can help reclaim some of that space for ourselves,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t also hopefully sends a message to future Indigenous students that they also belong here, that their voice matters and their success is possible within academia.鈥�
Pride, achievement, representation
While the neutral black graduation gown has long served as a canvas of sorts, with students adding their own pops of colour and stylistic flourishes, the stole 鈥斅爈ike the kente sashes often worn by students of African descent 鈥� provides a more formal symbol of recognition and representation.
"It's different when you're watching the students walk in and you see someone wearing the stole and realize, 'Oh, that's an Indigenous student,鈥欌�� says Michele Graveline, one of Dal鈥檚 Indigenous Student Advisors. "It's great when students own that聽in a visual way, the institution sees and those witnessing see that Indigenous students are here, graduating."
Belanger shown in the red stole at her ceremony in the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium alongside fellow Management grads.
Indigenous students at Dal can also receive a medicine pouch along with their parchment during their ceremony, a tradition that鈥檚 been offered since 2016. While the stoles must be returned by students with their gown, the pouches are a gift to be kept.
Graveli