Traditional Buffalo Winter Count Robe unveiled at Lethbridge College

A traditional Buffalo Winter Count Robe was unveiled Tuesday morning at Lethbridge College. It was part of the post-secondary honouring Truth and Reconciliation week. The robe will be used as a teaching tool for students and faculty at the college. It was designed by artist William Singer who worked on the robe over the summer months and explains what the symbols on the robe actually mean.   

“With every robe, there’s the beginning and so at the beginning, you see a sun. Next to the sun, you see some plants and a moon. So the moon and the plants represent the month of June. That was when the artwork started on the robe. And so from there, then we have a representation of Napi effigies. Napi is our crater and our trickster. And so a lot of the knowledge that is transferred in the Blackfoot worldview, a lot of them are based on Napi stories.”

An official with the college explains the importance of unveiling the robe to our community.  

“This display and this project is a great opportunity for Lethbridge College to tell their story. But to tell the story through an indigenous lens, a Blackfoot lens. And as we look at it, it’s definitely a story of reconciliation. It goes from the creation of this territory through our storytelling processes.”

The robe will be displayed on the campus for everyone to learn from but will also be brought to other commercial events including convocations and classrooms.