Applications are open for the third annual ḴEL,ḴELOŦEN ȻE S,ISTEW̱ education fund award. The ḴEL,ḴELOŦEN ȻE S,ISTEW̱ Fund is an annual award of $5,000 to an Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit, or Métis architectural or engineering student in Canada.
The fund’s mentorship program provides all applicants access to working professionals that provide industry relationships and support pivotal career choices. On the other side, this program creates a network for Indigenous technical professionals to draw from and collaborate together. Eligible students must identify as an Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit, or Métis persons from Canada, be working towards a career in engineering or architecture and be enrolled in post-secondary studies for the 2023-2024 academic year.
“There are very few Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis professionals working in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Many engineering and architecture firms work with Indigenous communities but few have Indigenous people working within their organizations. Our partners recognize this and want to help Indigenous people pursue careers in our industry”, says Kear Porttris, committee chair and Métis engineering graduate.
Established in June 2021 by Diamond Schmitt, AME Group, Gwaii Engineering, Number TEN Architectural Group, AES Engineering, RJC Engineers, and the Victoria Native Friendship Centre; the ḴEL,ḴELOŦEN ȻE S,ISTEW̱ Fund aims to bring more Indigenous voices into architecture and building design, imbuing these industries with Indigenous values, perspectives and ways of knowing, being and doing.
The naming of the post-secondary education fund acknowledges the territories of Lekungen, W̱SÁNEĆ and Malahat Peoples. To honour the local Nations the team worked with the SENĆOŦEN Language-Revitalization Group to name the award and begin in a good way. What emerged through conversation was this phrase: ḴEL,ḴELOŦEN ȻE S,ISTEW̱. The English translation is “a dream for what becomes of you.”
The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2023.
