Shawenjigewining Hall

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

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Celebrating 20 years!

Ontario Tech University

Artist's rendering of new building — 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.

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.