Building a Place of Learning, Belonging, and Cultural Continuity: The Story of Red Crow Community College

When visitors arrive at Mi'kai'sto Red Crow Community College campus in Standoff, they are not simply entering a post-secondary institution. They are arriving into Blackfoot territory. A steel stand-up headdress monument welcomes people before they even reach the doors, while a painted buffalo-hide mural anchors the main atrium. Every wall, every orientation of the building, and every piece of art honours Blackfoot identity, knowledge, and connection to land.

This vision guided the design and development of the new campus from the very beginning. After the former college — located in the old St. Mary’s residential school — was destroyed by fire, the community refused to abandon the dream for a new building. “We never gave up on our dream,” shared Dr. Roy Weasel Fat, President of Red Crow Community College. The new 100,000-square-foot campus is a statement of cultural strength, purpose, and future-building for the Kainai Nation.

Development Grounded in Community — Not Construction Alone

Larkspur was engaged as Project Director to ensure the building didn’t simply house learning, but embodied Blackfoot teachings, ceremony, and ways of knowing. From the building’s eagle-inspired footprint — with the atrium forming the head and body — to the choice to orient the entrance to the east, every decision was shaped by Blackfoot worldview rather than by architectural convention.

This commitment extended to the art and placemaking strategy. Larkspur supported an ambitious community-led art program featuring 15 Blackfoot and invited artists who created original commissioned works throughout the building. These pieces were not installed as decoration; they serve as visual storytelling, celebrating Blackfoot history, identity, values, and futurism. Elders, artists, and community knowledge holders guided the intent of each piece so that, collectively, the art forms a cohesive Blackfoot narrative across the campus.

The result is a building where culture is not referenced — it is lived.

A Campus Built for Connection, Ceremony, and Generations to Come

The new Red Crow Community College is not only an educational facility. It is a community hub and gathering place. The campus includes classrooms and labs, a teaching kitchen, cultural makers’ spaces, a library, childcare centre, museum and archives, counselling spaces, and a gymnasium designed for powwows, celebrations, weddings, funerals, and other community events.

Every program delivered at Red Crow is grounded in Blackfoot knowledge and teachings. The campus was intentionally designed to be a space where Elders can teach, where language can be heard and seen, and where generations can learn side-by-side.

The art and language program reinforces this sense of belonging — from large-scale cultural monuments, to bilingual Blackfoot/English signage, to custom iconography rooted in Blackfoot visual knowledge. Students, staff, and visitors do not have to wonder whose land they are on or whose identity is centred. It is visible, celebrated, and affirmed in every space.

A Living Expression of Blackfoot Identity and Excellence

The new Red Crow Community College stands today as a landmark achievement in Indigenous education — Canada’s first tribal college designed from the ground up to centre cultural pride, community connection, and generational learning. Its construction generated employment and business opportunities for Kainai Nation members and local Indigenous trades, and its cultural impact will continue long after the build itself.

That impact has been recognized far beyond the Blood Reserve. In 2025, Mi’kai’sto Red Crow Community College received the A4LE Outstanding Design Award from the Association for Learning Environments. The award celebrates educational facilities that have transformed teaching and learning, strengthened community connection, and exemplified excellence in planning and design. It affirms what the community has always known — that Red Crow is more than a school. It is a place where Indigenous knowledge, language, ceremony, and western learning come together in a way that honours identity and supports future generations.

The new campus features a central gathering atrium, a ceremonial round room, a childcare centre, and a gymnasium intentionally designed for cultural events including powwows, dances, community celebrations, and funerals. Every space reflects Blackfoot ways of knowing and living, fostering connection between students, Elders, families, and the wider community.

For Larkspur, this project represents what development can be when it is led by the people it is meant to serve. Red Crow is not only a learning environment — it is a living expression of Blackfoot culture and a place where community, belonging, and identity take shape every day.

Together, we build community.