The Indigenous Culture and Wellness Centre has been an idea and desire of the urban Indigenous community in Edmonton for quite some time. In order to ensure that the Centre was developed, planned and built to serve Indigenous Peoples in Edmonton, it was decided that the project had to be co-led by the Indigenous community living in Edmonton along with the City of Edmonton. 

Jaimy Miller, the City of Edmonton’s Director of Indigenous Relations shared some insight into co-leading this project. 

“We are trying to build bridges between Indigenous and settler/western Canadian ways of managing projects. With the TRC Calls to Action, UNDRIP and some of the other major milestones and documents, we’ve adopted these items and we’re trying to demonstrate our commitment and honour Indigenous Peoples’ ways of doing. In directly working together, we are co-creating visions for the Indigenous Culture and Wellness Centre and we have been able to engage the broader community thanks to the Indigenous Circle’s wisdom and spirituality. This has been vital to the success of the project thus far.”

The Steering Committee consists of urban Indigenous Community members in Edmonton, the City of Edmonton, as well as EndPovertyEdmonton. The team brings many strengths - everyone comes with honesty and a genuine curiosity to try to understand each other. Everything is done with respect and in good faith. The committee doesn’t always agree - however they talk it through and with honesty, patience and humility, the group always seems to find a common ground to keep moving forward. There are City of Edmonton project managers and administrators who are very well versed in their areas of expertise, and the steering committee experience has allowed them to consider new ways of doing through the perspectives of the Indigenous members. Indigenous community members have been extremely patient with the group to better understand the City’s needs through policy, procedure, and have provided valuable insight to the processes.

“One of the things that has been an incredible reminder for me is - as an Indigenous Person and Peoples, is that we put Creator first,” Jaimy said. “When I think of how we work at the City, we like to compartmentalize. We have tasks that define each stage and how we move through each step and hierarchy. But for Indigenous Peoples, there’s a much more holistic perspective to the work we do. This includes bringing your whole self to the work  - mental, emotional, and spiritual self. That reminder has been very beneficial to me and how I can continue to work in ways that are meaningful for the community.”