The Wabanaki Student Centre is usually filled with students sharing stories and food on Wednesdays at noon.
During the COVID-19 Level 3 lockdown, the centre was barren and the students that once sought refuge in the warm community it provided were now isolated and in need of comfort.
In partnership with the St. Thomas University experiential learning program, the Wabanaki Student Centre gave away 20 lockdown relief bannock mix kits to do exactly that.
Rachel Burke, STU alum and Indigenous experiential learning coordinator, came up with the idea to ease the stress of students who felt alone, stuck and tired.
“Why not offer them something simple that only requires a couple of extra ingredients that they can do at home with their friends or family members and get some fun back into their lives?” said Burke.
The kits provided students with a package of pre-made bannock mix from Jenna’s Nut Free Dessertery. The mix allows students to make their own bannock, a traditional Indigenous fry bread, at home with the addition of water and oil.
As the Indigenous experiential learning coordinator, Burke said part of her job is to bring more Indigenous items and programs to campus and share them with a wider community. For Burke, this means providing opportunities beyond Indigenous studies courses.
“I have a responsibility to help Indigenize campus when I can and get creative with it,” she said. “It doesn’t necessarily need to be academic. Baking some bannock is just as cultural as taking a Native studies course.”
For third-year STU student and St. Thomas Student Reconciliation Committee member Stevie Demerchant, the bannock kits provided her with memories of the Wabanaki Centre’s Wednesday community lunches.
Demerchant would enjoy bannock at the lunches through Trenton Augustine, STU Indigenous student services coordinator, who used bannock for taco shells.
She said adjusting to isolation during the lockdown, after returning to campus in-person the previous term, was extremely hard since she lives alone, but the bannock kit and the memories it provided gave her a sense of relief.
“When I started cooking [the bannock], it gave me those little memories of being with Trenton, being with the whole crew at the Wabanaki Centre and having our fun lunches and it just makes me feel like home,” said Demerchant.
Demerchant said bannock was always a part of her life as her mother is the “reigning champion for the best bannock” at the Woodstock First Nation reserve. This meant that Demerchant’s home often hosted large dinners shared with her loved ones..
“Feeding people is loving people,” said Demerchant. “When we have these lunches and when we have these bannock mixes being handed out to students, it’s not only that sense of community and home, it’s the sense of pride and being able to put forth that step to learning.”
