Under One Sky is a vibrant and caring community hub with a vision to revitalize, celebrate and embrace all Indigenous peoples and cultures. We provide inclusive services and spaces that welcome all Indigenous people.

We provide culturally informed programs to the community in health and family supports, early childhood education, Maliseet language classes, cultural teachings, land-based learning, Indigenous cultural diversity training, and community events.

Founded in 2004, Under One Sky is a registered not-for-profit organization based out of Fredericton and is the province’s most significant service provider for off-reserve Indigenous peoples.

Longhouses are traditional structures that are found in Mi’kmaw and Wolastoqey cultures on the East Coast. These longhouses were places of gathering, nurturing, respect, and ceremony for extended families and communities. People would be welcome and could connect with friends and relations to seek and offer support, advice, companionship, and rest.

A·wit·gati - meaning a place to gather and find wellness as a community - is our vision for a contemporary longhouse. Awitgati honours this vision and strives to address this sacred responsibility. The plans for the longhouse are an innovative response that addresses the priorities of our community. It will be a place for community building and passing on our culture and traditions from one generation to the next.

The Awitgati Longhouse and Cultural Centre will be a 21,000sqft community centre located on the 300 Block of Union Street, Fredericton. The budget for the centre is $18.6M and will be provided in full (100%) by Infrastructure Canada under the Green & Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program launched in 2021.

TIMELINE for the project is as follows:

2017-2020: Community engagement, needs assessment, and visioning

Winter 2021: Feasibility study, conceptual designs, community consultation, operating model, cost estimate, property acquisition initiated

April 2021: GICB program launched

May-June 2021: Proposal preparation, schematic designs, cost estimates, construction and net-zero-carbon modelling, community consultation completed

July 2021: Application to Infrastructure Canada’s GICB program submitted

January 2022: Property acquisition completed

July 2022: Funding provided (100%) from Infrastructure Canada

Spring 2023: Break ground for construction of facility

Winter 2024/2025: Construction complete

Spring 2025: Awitgati Longhouse and Cultural Centre opens to public with over 30 programs and services operating

Awitgati will be the first net-zero-carbon community building in New Brunswick, one of the highest green building standards in North America. The building will feature several green building and clean-tech innovations, including a geothermal heat exchange system with over a dozen vertical wells drilled on-site along with an extensive rooftop photovoltaic array system. These innovations will allow us to provide 50% of our electricity needs and 90% of our heating/cooling needs from on-site renewable systems, resulting in a 40% reduction in carbon emissions relative to comparable buildings.

In the spirit of inclusion, a core principle of Under One Sky, the centre will welcome and be accessible to people from all backgrounds, identities, ability levels, and nations. The location of the facility in the urban core is central to where our staff and primary user groups live, work, and play. The site can be reached by the active transportation networks that are adjacent to the property, as well as by public transit along Union Street. Awitgati will be designed to Accessibility Certified Gold” (RHFAC v.3.0) from the Rick Hansen Foundation which exceeds Canadian accessible design standards

The longhouse is grounded in Wolastoqey and Mi’qmaq principles and values and offers a contemporary interpretation of the traditional Wolastoqey and Mi’kmaq longhouse designs and materials. The longhouse assumes the form of a turtle shell, representing Turtle Island. The programming of the building is divided up into a collection of pods that are assigned with the 7 Sacred Teachings. These pods are connected by an interior passageway that is reminiscent of a flowing river. The building is arranged symmetrically around a circular pavilion, inspired by the medicine wheel, that opens to the East and contains a sacred fire. The landscaping of the site will incorporate the elements of wind, water, earth, and fire as gardens surrounding each pod.

The Longhouse brings a boundary breaking approach to what a community centre can be. The programming takes a holistic view that reflects how Indigenous communities interact, encompassing all ages and stages of life. The centre will include sections and rooms for: early childhood education classes, childcare, a health clinic, birthing centre, counselling offices, business incubator spaces, activity room, conference room, community and commissary kitchen, dining room, cafe, adult education classrooms, arts and culture workshop, gallery and exhibit spaces, catering kitchen, and a ceremonial hall/performing arts room.

The building is centered around an exterior courtyard with a ceremonial fire. The courtyard contains gathering spaces, public art works and a children’s play area. The courtyard transitions into more natural spaces including a medicine garden, private spaces for contemplation, and a natural stream. The site is located between a transit route and an active transportation network (cycling and walking trails) and is destined to become an iconic landmark and vibrant destination in the community.

There are 29,380 Indigenous people living in New Brunswick. Seventy-four percent of whom live outside of First Nation reserve communities, often in urban centres. Indigenous people can become disconnected from their traditional territories, communities and culture. Like all communities and cultures, Indigenous people seek opportunities to connect, to gather, to participate in our own cultural practices, to pass on our traditions and knowledge from one generation to another, and to share our rich traditions and values with our neighbours.

In Wolastoqey and Mi’kmaw culture, our communities traditionally gathered in our long-houses. At present, our urban Indigenous community has no place of our own to gather and embrace our culture and receive and share in the teachings and knowledge from our own people.

When complete, our new Longhouse will provide a range of Indigenous-led, culturally informed services and programs to all Indigenous peoples, regardless of nationhood or status. Awitgati will be a public space for intercultural dialog, reconciliation, and learning for all.

Under One Sky took the key findings of the community needs assessment as well as the five strategic objectives from our feasibility study and identified 2 core user groups:

1. Indigenous Peoples seeking safe and culturally appropriate services

2. General public who want to learn more about Indigenous culture by participating in Indigenous led programming and engaging in intercultural dialog

The facility and programming will contribute to Fredericton’s significance as a cultural capital, drawing on our central location near the Wolastoq River and the rich cultural traditions and talents of our First Nations community.

Awitgati will provide programs and services that reflect the aspirations, abilities, and needs of Indigenous people. Our goal is to provide full-circle services for all stages of life, ability levels, and backgrounds. Spaces are designed with flexibility in mind to ensure that the facility and programs will be resilient to changing needs and priorities of the community for generations to come. spaces and programming will be provided in these 4 priorities:

Health and Families: Under One Sky will build on its partnerships to meet the health needs of the Indigenous community by delivering a holistic range of professional healthcare services grounded in Indigenous teachings.

• Nurse Practitioner Clinic

• Mental Health Counselling

• Family Success Program

• Housing support service

• Indigenous Birthing Centre

• After school program

• Elder Supports

• Preventative Health (nutrition, diabetes, etc)

• Specialized group activities

Arts, Culture, Indigenous Knowledge: Our Indigenous community will practice, reclaim, and strengthen our culture and welcome all to participate. Sharing in these cultural practices are what carries our culture from one generation to the next.

• Visual, digital and performing arts workshops

• Storytelling, poetry and prose readings

• Performance art showcase series

• Reconciliation and other thematic displays

• Interactive cultural experiences and galleries

• Indigenous art gatherings

• Young Elders program

• 7 generations - permanent installation on sustainability

Education, Skills and Training: Under One Sky and partners will provide a range of education, training, and development programs that meet the needs of all ages and abilities. The programs will prepare people with the tools and skills needed for the future.

• Cultural Diversity Training

• Healthy Eating and community kitchen

• Indigenous Lecture Series

• Elder in Residence Series

• Indigenous arts and knowledge (beading, basket-making, weaving, canoe-building, etc.) programs

• Culturally centered STEAM camps

• Job Readiness training

• Women in STEM

Gather, Community, Celebrate: Community is at the heart of Indigenous culture. Coming together is how we realize our full potential as a society. Our gathering spaces will be inclusive and multi-generational, and create opportunities for dialog and collaboration and building relationships. It is in the power of community that we place many of our dreams and hopes for our next generation.

• Circle of Friends -community gatherings

• Children’s camps

• Treaty and reconciliation events

• Seminars and discussions

• Equity, diversity, and inclusion action groups

• Ceremonial events

• Conferences, workshops, and assemblies

• Festivals

This programming reflects the historic role of the Longhouse as well as the more contemporary format of a cultural centre. The core programming will be delivered by Under One Sky and additional programming will be provided in partnership with other local not-for-profits and service providers.

The centre will contribute to the vitality of the neighborhood, offering a dynamic range of programs and services to all whom will walk in our doors. To share a classroom with other children speaking their own language. To seek mental health support or the services of a community nurse. To prepare for a pregnancy. To upgrade their skills for a rapidly changing job market. To weave the warp and the weft of an ash basket, as our ancestors have before us. To gather for a community feast. To launch a start-up. To hear the teachings and stories of our Elders. to embrace, rejoice, and celebrate one another. To participate in the renewal of Indigenous culture.

Stakeholder input was collected from a diverse mix of clients, families, service partners, people who are differently-abled, Elders, the Indigenous arts and culture community, nearby Wolastoqey and Mi’Kmaq communities, Indigenous health researchers, cultural and capital programming experts, Indigenous social development organizations, tourism and events organizations, community organizations, and advocates from various government ministries. Over the course of this engagement, over 100 Indigenous people and organizations were consulted and provided advice.

Needs assessment began in 2017 with over 18 different workshops, focus groups, and engagement sessions. Community engagement sessions to explore Awitgati began in 2020 and included multiple town-halls, interviews, workshops, and focus groups. Participants in these sessions were mostly Indigenous.

A Gender Based Analysis + lens was used to solicit and interpret a diverse range of ideas, opinions, and feedback for what the centre could and should be.

The project is a testimonial to the power of collaboration and grass-roots community led approach. We received over 37 letters of support from a wide cross-section of community organizations, institutions, representatives, and elected officials.

The spirit of collaboration will continue over the coming months as we develop a community benefits plan with the aim to build capacity and bring together local expertise during the construction process.