Brock Chancellor Shirley Cheechoo heads a list of special guests to campus on Tuesday Oct. 4, for two significant events that will further define the University’s soul and culture.

At 10 a.m., a special ritual will officially open the Healing Garden that was completed this summer in the planted space on the north side of the Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex.

Tuesday’s event comes almost exactly a year after Cheechoo helped plant the symbolic white pine tree that is now in the centre of the Healing Garden.

Healing gardens are typically green spaces that provide refuge, a place to find inspiration and empowerment, and where people can pause and reflect on the path forward. The outdoor setting and natural plantings create a therapeutic environment that helps people offset stress and connect to nature and thus to their spirituality. Brock’s garden is meant to symbolize the University’s commitment to Indigenous students and issues, and be a focal point for positive discussion.

Then at 11 a.m. a special dedication will take place near the Glenridge Entrance to campus, where earlier this year the traffic roundabout and Greenhouse Lane were renamed Suzanne Rochon-Burnett Circle to honour the Métis broadcaster, artist and journalist who became a national icon and advocate for many causes, including Indigenous education, arts and business groups.

Rochon-Burnett, who passed away in 2006, established a Brock scholarship in 1996 for Indigenous students in communications and business, and in 2002 she received an Honorary Doctorate from the University in recognition of her contributions to Canadian cultural life. She was also a member of Brock’s Board of Trustees from 1995-2001, and has been followed in that role by her daughter, current Brock trustee Michele-Elise Burnett.

At noon, the final event of a day of celebrating Indigenous culture will take place in he northeast corner of Market Hall, with the grand opening of the new location of Brock’s Aboriginal Student Services office.

Members of the Brock community and the public are invited to attend all of these events.