Outside Courtyard
"The courtyard includes a circular outdoor classroom," says Eladia Smoke, Lead Architect of Smoke Architecture. "Here, when the sun casts a shadow across a line in the pavement at noon on days with a full moon, you can see the Anishinaabemowin word for that moon, which recalls what we are doing out on the land during that time of year, connecting us back to the life systems that support us."
This is a bookable (through the Eighth Fire Office) outdoor classroom, where Anishnabemowin words indicate the four levels of creation and in which Indigenous languages are centered – providing an opportunity for community members and learners to engage in language learning without the benefit of English translation.