Nicole Johnston Strengthens her Cultural Roots with the AGP

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Nicole Johnston in the Aboriginal Gathering Place in February, 2022. (Photo by Perrin Grauer / Emily Carr University)

by Perrin Grauer

The artist, ECU student and Aboriginal Programs facilitator reflects on her commitment to learning, teaching, history, and to the contemporary work of Aboriginal material practice.

When Nicole Johnston walked into the Aboriginal Gathering Place (AGP) on her very first day as a student at Emily Carr University, she wasn’t even sure what she was looking for or who she would meet.

Nicole, who is from the Squamish Nation, says she’d had little firsthand experience with Aboriginal material practice or culturally specific education.

“We only learned about Indigenous history twice during my whole K to 12 education, and I felt that. I felt like, ‘I need that in my schooling experience.’” she tells me. “Even in my nation, we had a lot offered to us, but I still felt like there could always be more. Growing up, I didn’t feel like I knew my culture as much as people around expected me to, so I was eager to keep learning here.”

Full article here: https://www.ecuad.ca/news/2022/nicole-johnston-strengthens-cultural-roots