A $5-million donation, the largest single gift ever to St. Thomas More College, will establish the Chair for Indigenous Spirituality and Reconciliation at the Saskatoon college.

The donation comes from Les Filles de la Providence (FDLP) of Saskatchewan and allows the Catholic college federated with the University of Saskatchewan to hire its first Chair in Indigenous Spirituality and Reconciliation. The Chair will conduct research and teaching activities to advance a cross-disciplinary and multicultural study of Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being. These will align with the FDLP Sisters’ respect for Indigenous peoples and their education and establish St. Thomas More as a Canadian leader for Indigenous spirituality and reconciliation. 

“It is given with a deep trust in the providence of God, that God’s providence will continue to support and deepen the relationship we have with our First Nations brothers and sisters and enable many students to value the power and beauty of First Nation spirituality and culture,” the FDLP Sisters said in a news release. “It is in a spirit of trust and mutual respect for the work of STM, including the work of Elder Harry Lafond, that has given Les Filles de la Providence great hope and joy in knowing their work in this province will continue through this Chair.”

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The FDLP has been active in western Canada for 128 years, first arriving in Prince Albert, Sask., in 1897 at the invitation of Bishop Albert Pascal, the first Bishop of Prince Albert. The Sisters’ passion was education and they originally served in small towns with French Canadian settlers. Soon, however, the Sisters bonded with other faiths and ethnicities and served among Indigenous peoples for many years.

“Work in Indigenous knowledge and reconciliation is always in practice here at the St. Thomas More College,” said Lafond, scholar in Indigenous Education. 

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“With this special gift, we will now be able to ensure that the Chair is a living entity at STM. We can open doors to actively invite Indigenous knowledge into the College spirit, curriculum, beliefs and values for students working to understand the world they live in.”

“The gift of Les Filles de la Providence to the Chair in Indigenous Spirituality and Reconciliation makes possible what STM has sought to achieve for nearly a decade: to move from sponsoring Indigenous activities to hiring a scholar who will embody an Indigenous spiritual tradition,” said Dr. Carl Still, STM president.