Carleton now has 42 smudge-friendly spaces on campus, including the entire Architecture Building and Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre.
Smudging is a tradition common to many First Nations and Métis communities which involves the burning of one or more medicines gathered from the earth. The four sacred medicines used in First Nations and Métis ceremonies are tobacco, sage, cedar and sweetgrass.
As per Calls 7, 9, 17, 24 and, more specifically, 28, from the Kinàmàgawin Report, and the Indigenous Spiritual Practices subsection of the Ontario Human Rights Code, it has been a priority for Carleton to reduce the barrier of engaging in Indigenous spirituality and ceremony on campus.
To ensure the use of traditional medicines does not trigger smoke and heat-detecting alarms, various locations on campus have been assessed and have been designated as pre-approved spaces by Environmental Health and Safety. This means that in these spaces, there is no longer a pre-approval process requirement for smudging. For all other spaces on campus, please continue to request approval at least one week in advance.
On Wednesday, September 27, 2023, Carleton’s Senior Management Committee approved an updated policy that formally recognizes the unique relationship that many Indigenous cultures have with traditional and sacred medicine. Over the next week, Facilities and Management Planning will install signage in all smudge-friendly locations to indicate where smudging can occur without pre-approval.
If you would like to know more about the practice of smudging, please reach out to the Centre for Indigenous Support and Community Engagement.
Friday, September 29, 2023 in 360, News
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