Tesabidan
Tesabidan, a gathering place for learning, sharing, and reconciliation
The Tesabidan outdoor learning, sharing, and reconciliation space is a gathering space unique to the university community, and for the partners on the territory who wish to have a learning or cultural experience in the outdoors.
Its mission is both valuable, and vital: Recognizing and making Indigenous knowledges and cultures visible.
A meeting place where the university community can build relationships and reduce isolation, Tesabidan is intended to be open and accessible. This is a common space designed for passing on knowledge, for dialogue, and for bringing cultures closer together. Specifically, holding traditional ceremonies or teaching in this space allows interactions between peoples to be fostered, while at the same time enriching traditional and modern Indigenous cultural practices. Tesabidan also provides the people of Val-d’Or and the neighbouring territories with opportunities to have meaningful experiences.
In search of knowledge
From an educational point of view, this cultural space seeks to foster the implementation of best practices in teaching, using more meaningful approaches. Tesabidan also encourages aligning the traditional with the modern in terms of the communication of knowledge and learning.
Objectives
- Contribute to the improvement of relationships between communities;
- Participate in the growth of knowledge that allows for better understanding of Indigenous experiences by all students;
- Enhance the UQAT experience for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students alike;
- Foster a feeling of belonging to the First Peoples Pavilion, and more broadly, to UQAT.
Tesabidan: An evocative name
In the Anishinaabemowin language, the word tesabidan can be translated as “Let’s sit down.” During the consultative process for naming this space, Indigenous partners noted that the wording could also mean to take the time to learn and to relax. This name properly evokes the learning, sharing, and reconciliation purposes for this space.
Want to organize an event, a course, or an activity in the Tesabidan space? Send your request to the following email address: locauxvd@uqat.ca.
Partners
- Agnico Eagle
- MRC de La Vallée-de-l’Or RCM
- Air Creebec
- Association générale étudiante de l’UQAT
- Cain Lamarre
- Caisse Desjardins de l’Est de l’Abitibi
- Eldorado Gold Québec
- Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur
- Ville de Val-d’Or
- Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
- Fondation de l’UQAT
- Corporation de l’enseignement supérieur de la Vallée-de-l’Or
- Pierre Dufour, député d’Abitibi-Est
- Fondation du Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Ushkuai utei artwork
The permanent installation “Ushkuai utei” or “Birch Heart,” by Innu artist Carole Bérubé-Therrien, was unveiled on the Tesabidan site in June 2025. This artwork is part of the MADAMIKANA artistic mediation project, led by Minwashin.
« “My work represents time, memories and everything that builds us. The bark gradually peels off the tree, allowing us to see inside the windows of the past, the archives that make us who we are. These drawings are moments of transmission, memories of the Anicinabe territory."— Carole Bérubé-Therrien, Artist and Illustrator