News & Events

Ryerson and Aboriginal Student Services (RASS) are receiving a spiritual honour.

Today at 8:30 a.m. in the upper gym, the members of the community are attending the celebration and presentation of the Eagle Staff, a staff spiritual in nature that’s covered in fur and hung with eagle feathers. It’s the traditional flag of First Nations people and takes precedence over all other flags. Ryerson is the first and only university in Ontario to receive one.

The presentation of the Eagle Staff by the aboriginal student population recognizes the partnership between Ryerson and the aboriginal community in offering a high standard of academics/disciplines to the First Nations population from across Canada. The staff, considered a community staff, also acknowledges the leadership Ryerson and RASS have cultivated in creating strong support systems to enrolled aboriginal students. The Eagle Staff presentation is an event that happens once in a lifetime.

Made especially for Ryerson, the Eagle Staff is a five-foot wooden pole with a deer antler on top and the cloth has the Ryerson colours. Thirteen eagle feathers representing each calendar moon are attached.

Ed Sackaney, traditional counsellor and in-house elder at Ryerson Aboriginal Student Services, knew when he first started working at Ryerson that this was the place to accept an Eagle Staff.

“The Eagle Staff represents a celebration of our mutual strength in maintaining the theme ‘we stand in unity’ with the whole Ryerson family,” Sackaney said. “I’ve worked in the post-secondary system for the past 20 years and Ryerson has done an exceptional job creating programs and partnerships that continue to develop with the aboriginal community.”

Fourth-year journalism student Kiel Longboat will present the Eagle Staff to President Sheldon Levy and Monica McKay, RASS co-ordinator. Sackaney chose Longboat to carry the staff because of his identity as a two-spirited person. Historically, two-spirited people in First Nations communities held important roles and identified as spiritual beings who housed two energies: male and female. The modern meaning has changed that identity to signify people who are aboriginal and lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

“This says a lot about what RASS stands for – a safe place for aboriginal and queer people,” Longboat said. “RASS was the first place I felt fully embraced and holistically accepted. RASS isn’t about just tolerance but acceptance too. This is very significant to me because it’s been a journey of learning what two-spirited means and developing my identity to realize I carry those two energies. It’s very affirmative and validating for my development.”