Starting in September, Karen Courchene, also known as Kookum Karen, will lead a series of drumming circles at Migizii Agamik. As U of M’s Grandmother-in-Residence, Courchene also provides students with support to help them navigate university life. 

In the drumming circles, Courchene said students will have the opportunity to learn Anishinaabe ceremony songs, such as those sung at sweat lodges and memorials. 

“I’m just inviting anyone who wants to come and learn ceremony songs. They are specifically Anishinaabe songs, only the songs that I know,” Courchene said. 

“[To] anyone who wants to come and listen [or] learn, you don’t have to have a drum. You just have to have a desire to learn the songs, and then you might find out, ‘hey, I’m a good singer,’” she explained. 

Courchene added she did not start the circle because she was a good singer, but it was part of her duty to connect students with traditional teachings. She commented that Indigenous students often enter U of M without a connection to their cultural identity due to Canada’s colonial history. 

“I share teachings that I have learned in my life […] If you don’t have your own sense of your identity, then the narrative that’s built by others becomes your narrative, and often the narrative that’s been built in Canada is not a good one around Indigenous people. If you’re not rooted in your traditional teachings, then Canada is telling you who you are.”

Courchene, whose traditional name means Blue Thundercloud, moved from a reserve to attend U of M in 1979. During her studies, she met a student advisor who helped her find her voice.

“I was just a little 18-year-old girl who didn’t have a voice, and the only thing I had was a belief that I was smart, and then I found the student advisor,” said Courchene. 

“He helped me to be okay with being smart, first thing and foremost, and [to] be okay with raising my voice. And then in the hard moments, just to be there and listen to me when I vented […] Often I was the only Indigenous student in those classrooms, so it was often lonely and could be difficult.” 

Courchene returned to U of M last year to help students succeed, now with first-hand experience of being an Indigenous university student. In addition to drumming circles, the Grandmother-in-Residence lives up to her title by being an encouraging voice to students. 

“[I am] a support person, someone you can come and talk to, someone you can find comfort [in]. Maybe even a cheerleader, because that one person who made a difference for me, gave me a sense of my identity, a sense of what I was capable of. He cheered me on,” Courchene said.

Courchene takes on the role of a grandparent for students at the U of M. “If I think of my grandmother and what she did for me, I’m hoping I can do a little bit of that for the students here.”

The first drumming circle of the academic year will take place on Sept. 19 in Migizii Agamik’s Circle Room at 2 p.m. Contact isc@umanitoba.ca for further information.