Shawenjigewining Hall
Shawenjigewining (pronounced: "zha-wen-ji-GEH’-win-ing") Hall is the name for Ontario Tech University’s newest building located at the university’s north Oshawa campus location.
The meaning of Shawenjigewining
Shawenjigewining is an Anishinaabe word meaning ’The Place of Kindness’. The name was first determined by Dorothy Taylor, a Mississauga Anishinaabe Elder from Curve Lake First Nation and Rick Bourque, Abenaki Algonquin Nation, Mi’Kmaq, Lakota, and Maliseet, Traditional Knowledge Keeper at Ontario Tech. While conducting a sweat lodge ceremony, Bourque had a vision of a deer and arrows crossed. He later shared the vision with Elder Taylor who interpreted the vision and the name Shawenjigewining, a place of kindness and friendship, was revealed.
A plaque with the building’s name, its meaning, and artist Luke Swinson's image of a deer, which is Shawenjigewining Halls visual identity, will be permanently displayed in the front foyer of the building. An excerpt from the plaque’s inscription reads: “Kindness is a central teaching to Indigenous people, and the deer represents kindness and enduring friendship. It is hoped that this location will become an enduring place of kindness and friendship.”
Shawenjigewining Hall also includes Mukwa’s Den, an Indigenous space that offers a home away from home for Indigenous students, and space for all students to connect and learn from Indigenous culture and resources.
About Shawenjigewining Hall
The four-storey, 7,432-square-metre building adjacent to the Campus Library and Energy Systems and Nuclear Science Research Centre completes the university’s quad—Polonsky Commons. It opened in Fall 2021 and is home to Ontario Tech's Faculty of Health Sciences, Office of Student Life, Continuous Learning, and the Ontario Tech Student Union.
Shawenjigewining Hall also includes Mukwa’s Den, an Indigenous space that offers a home away from home for Indigenous students, and space for all students to connect and learn from Indigenous culture and resources.
The building offers technology-enhanced academic, administrative and student support spaces, research labs, classrooms and faculty offices, a range of study and lounge areas, and space for student-run societies and clubs. It is an additional campus hub for collaboration and experiential learning opportunities.
