A welcoming home on campus for First Nations, Métis and Inuit students at Brock University has received a new name. The unit formally known as Aboriginal Student Services has been renamed as Hadiyaˀdagénhahs First Nations, Métis and Inuit Student Centre.

Hadiyaˀdagénhahs (pronounced “Ha-dee-ya-da-gen-hahs”) is a Cayuga word that means “they are helpers.” It was selected in consultation with Indigenous knowledge carriers and Assistant Professor of Education Stanley ‘Bobby’ Henry, a Cayuga language pedagogy researcher. Once the name was chosen, consultation was completed with the Aboriginal Education Council (AEC) in May as well as with the Two Row Council in September.

Held Friday, Sept. 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the first event in the newly renamed centre (TH 145) will welcome members of the Brock community to create heart-shaped messages that will appear in a participatory memorial. A second session will be held at the same time Tuesday, Sept. 20.

The Heart Garden aims to remember those who suffered in residential schools as well as through other forms of colonial violence and will be displayed in front of the Rankin Family Pavilion on Friday, Sept. 30 for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.