FNHL Staff
Indigenous Graduation Celebration Spring 2026
By FNHL Staff on May 25, 2026
On Saturday, May 23rd, the First Nations House of Learning hosted its biannual graduation celebration at the First Nations Longhouse to honour participating Indigenous graduates from the Spring Class of 2026.
New Bridge Through Sport site
By FNHL Staff on May 10, 2026
Check out this recently launched Bridge Through Sport website, which replaces the original site released in 2015. There you will find information on a key Musqueam-UBC partnership in support of Musqueam youth.
FNHL Statement on 16th Anniversary of ‘Red Dress Day’
By FNHL Staff on May 5, 2026
Today, May 5th, is National Day of Awareness for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two Spirit People (2SLGBTQI+), also known as “Red Dress Day,” a term coined to reflect Métis artist Jaime Black’s “REDress Project” in 2010, which included displaying red dresses as “an aesthetic response to this critical national issue.” FNHL […]
Reconciliation Pole & θəʔit
By Kevin Ward on May 27, 2025
In April 2017, UBC installed a symbolic art piece: the Reconciliation Pole. It represents the history of Indigenous people in Canada before, during, and after the Indian residential school era. The Reconciliation Pole, installed on the southern end of campus near the Forestry building, encourages everyone who comes across it to learn more about the […]
Victory Through Honour
By Kevin Ward on May 27, 2025
Learn the story behind this pole and its connection to the UBC Thunderbird name. Outside of Brock Hall stands the Victory Through Honour pole, a significant gift connected to the Thunderbird name. On January 31, 1934, the University’s varsity sports teams became known as the UBC Thunderbirds. A high-ranking, mythical, powerful creature, the Thunderbird is […]
Truth before reconciliation
By Charles Menzies on December 16, 2024
An attentive audience gathered over the dinner hour in Sty-Wet-Tan, the grand hall of UBC’s First Nations Longhouse, on Nov. 14, 2024. The event was a panel featuring noted lawyer and author Michelle Good and historian Sean Carlton. They were joined post-break by UBC’s own Andrew Martindale who spoke about the technical archaeology supporting the […]
‘Thank you’ gathering for Verna Kirkness, Ni-Jing-Jada (“Longhouse Lady”)
By Kevin Ward on July 2, 2024
On the eve of National Day of Indigenous Peoples, about 100 friends, associates, and admirers of Cree scholar and lifelong educator, Dr. Verna Kirkness, CM OM, came together from across UBC Vancouver and beyond to celebrate her career and legacy, and to say ‘thank you’ before she returns to Manitoba in July. The First Nations […]
Welcome to FNHL’s new website
By FNHL Staff on May 28, 2024
Welcome to our new website! After many years of maintaining a low online profile, our unit recently decided to create a website to educate and inform First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students, staff, and faculty about our array of services and activities, including our many campus partnerships, as well as the institutional leadership and representation […]
Our Stories
By Kevin Ward on April 30, 2024
Go here to find stories about FNHL, Students, Youth, and Giving.
Indigenous Grad Celebrations
By Kevin Ward on April 30, 2024
Learn about past and upcoming Indigenous Graduation Celebrations.









