Smudge held for the Flavelle wampum belt (Video)

Elder Cat Criger explains the significance of the smudge.

Professor Douglas Sanderson invited Cat Criger, the University of Toronto’s Traditional Aboriginal Elder in Residence, to hold a smudge for the wampum belt in the lower staircase of Flavelle House. The belt will be transported and displayed in the Birge-Carnegie building at Victoria University, the law school’s transitional space during the Flavelle renovations and the construction of the Jackman Law Building.

Sanderson’s family and friends, as well as some staff members, participated in the smudge, the burning of sage, to honour the wampum before its journey out of Flavelle House. Another smudge will be held upon its return in about two years’ time.

As Sanderson explains in this video, the wampum is a copy of a belt given in 1613 to the Dutch as part of a very early treaty agreement. It was made by our alumna Jean Teillet while she was a law student here, and she donated it to the law school, as well as the protective case. The design is an old traditional one and the two purple rows represent the two nations: European and Onkwehonwe. The rows of white symbolize peace, friendship and mutual respect.

Watch Cat Criger start the smudge and talk about its significance.