Reposted from: https://www.dal.ca/news/2025/06/20/convocation-traditions-indigenous-stole.html
Anyone who attended or watched a Convocation ceremony at Dal this spring may have noticed splashes of red amidst the usual sea of black gowns.
Among the students adding a crimson hue to the crowd was Kristan Belanger, a Mi’kmaw student and three-time Dal grad from Glooscap First Nation. While Belanger is no stranger to crossing the stage at Dal, last week marked the first time she did so draped in an Indigenous stole.
The stole — a red, scarf-like garment covered in symbols — was newly introduced this year for Indigenous students.
“Being able to walk across the stage wrapped in the stories, the strength, and the identity of my family and my community really reminded me and hopefully others in the crowd that I didn’t walk the path of academia alone,” she says. “Frankly, I would have never been able to make it to where I am today without the support of my entire community behind me.”
Belanger’s most recent ceremony marked the completion of her Master of Information degree from the Faculty of Management and follows previous degrees in political science (BA’19) and law (JD’22, with Certificate in Indigenous Law).
She says the stole serves as a visible reminder that Indigenous students persist and achieve across all programs at Dal — significant in an academic space “where our presence is often ignored or erased.”
“Having the visibility of the stole can help reclaim some of that space for ourselves,” she says. “It also hopefully sends a message to future Indigenous students that they also belong here, that their voice matters and their success is possible within academia.”