Whether you grew up in an Indigenous community or you’re beginning to embrace your culture, you are welcome at Waterloo. Click on the image to view the photo gallery.
In the Indigenous Living Learning Community, you'll live in a smudge-friendly dorm room and have easy access to our Waterloo Indigenous Students Centre (WISC). You'll be able to connect with a group of other Indigenous students to form meaningful relationships. Your peer leader will be another Indigenous student who can support your experience as a first-year student and help you to access Indigenous supports on and off campus.
Shatitsirótha (reigniting the flame). Through cultural activities like soup and bannock lunches, elder sharing circles, and craft and learning workshops, the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre (WISC) is a welcoming and inclusive space where you’ll find community and friendship among other students, staff, and professors.
Each year we host the Gidinawendamin/Ska’nikú•lát (We are all related) Pow Wow to honour and celebrate Indigenous cultures through drumming, dancing, food, and crafts.
The Ceremonial Fire Grounds offer a sacred space for ceremonies, land-based learning, and Indigenous teachings. The Medicine Garden is available for you to learn how to grow, harvest, and practise with Indigenous medicines.
Elders and Knowledge Keepers foster a safe, respectful, supportive, and culturally sensitive environment where you can thrive. They value and honour the unique learning journey of Indigenous Peoples by offering their diverse experiences and ways of knowing through a variety of teachings, perspectives, connections, and support.
Indigenous professors and staff are here to welcome and support you throughout your time at Waterloo.
United College, located right on Waterloo's campus, is home to the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre (WISC) and the Indigenous Residence Community.
Waterloo's chapter of American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) fosters a culturally safe gathering space for Indigenous students, professors, and staff in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) and STEM-related fields. Here, two Indigenous students and a supporting professor attend an AISES gathering.
