Coast Mountain College students in Terrace, northwest British Columbia, have completed their first full academic year living in Wii Gyemsiga Siwilaawksat Student Building.

Designed to empower Indigenous students to flourish in post-secondary education, the college expects the accommodation to be at 100% capacity by September.  
Credit: Brit Kwasney / www.britkwasneyphoto.com.
Approximately 48% of the student population at Coast Mountain College is Indigenous. The campus sits on the traditional territory of the Tsimshian Kitsumkalum people, serving six different Nations – Haida, Haisla, Nisga?a, Wet?suwet?en, Gitxsan, Tsimshian, and 21 distinct First Nation communities. 

?We designed Wii Gyemsiga Siwilaawksat to be a safe and inclusive space for everyone, encouraging cultural expression and human connection between students and their families, who come from a vast cross-section of communities. Collaborating with local artists and designers has added a rich layer of storytelling to the space that roots the student housing in its community,? says Karen Marler, Principal-in-Charge, hcma.  Credit: Brit Kwasney / www.britkwasneyphoto.com.
Wii Gyemsiga Siwilaawksat translates from local First Nations language Sm?algyax into English as, ?where learners are content and comfortable?. The original project brief was developed by the College using a decolonized, indigenized approach to engage and understand the needs of its communities.   
Indigenization is the proc...