What can be done to support Indigenous experiences of the built environment? Join landscape architect Naomi Ratte and architect Jason Surkan to learn more about the projects they are pursuing as the inaugural Indigenous-led Design Fellows at the CCA. Over the course of the week of February 20, Naomi and Jason will engage with CCA staff to create moments of learning and dialogue and to share their respective research on land rehabilitation for the Peguis First Nation and on historical Métis housing. The seminar will include a response by Jonas Henderson, Inuit Futures intern at the CCA.

Naomi Ratte is a consultant and landscape architecture intern with NVision Insight Group Inc. She supports projects related to territorial park design, interpretive planning, and traditional knowledge studies, including interviews with community knowledge holders, in the Canadian Arctic. Her Master of Landscape Architecture work focused on exploring past narratives and imagine ways to form new stories and connections in her community’s original territory at the mouth of the Red River, near Selkirk, Manitoba.

Born and raised near Kistapinânihk/Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Jason Surkan is a son, grandson, great-grandson, step-father, uncle, and brother. His maternal family ties are from the Red River Métis community. Jason is a registered member of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan and a registered Architect in the Province of Saskatchewan. Jason owns and operates SOLO (Situated On Land Office) Architecture on Treaty 6 Territory in the Lakeland Area. His work is focused on the interconnected relationship between Indigenous people and their traditional territories.

Jonas Henderson was born and raised in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. He traces his roots back to the community of Qaqortoq in Southwestern Greenland. Henderson is in his final year of civil engineering at McGill University and plans to pursue a master of architecture and, one day, establish his own practice.

To attend in person, join us at CCA.

To attend online, click here.

Questions in French will be welcome.