Being a Good Relative: Architecture Through Wahkohtowin

Join us for a conversation with Reanna McKay, a Nihithaw artist, writer, mother, and architect from Barren Lands First Nation, as she shares her journey into architecture and the ways her practice is reshaping the profession through Indigenous perspectives.

Drawing from her work, including at Number TEN Architectural Group in Treaty 1 Territory, Reanna will explore how architecture can foster stronger relationships with Indigenous communities, amplify Indigenous voices, and support community-led approaches to design. Through the lens of Wahkohtowin - a principle centered on relationships, kinship, and interconnectedness - she will reflect on what it means to be a “good relative” through architectural practice and engagement.

Reanna will discuss her experiences in Indigenous design and planning, community engagement, land-based pedagogies, and advocacy, highlighting the impact architecture can have when it is grounded in relationships, responsibility, and respect for place. 

This talk invites us to consider architecture not simply as a profession or practice, but as a relationship - and to ask how designers can become better relatives to one another, to communities, and to the land.

Speaker:
Reanna McKay, MAA, MRAIC, Architect, Indigenous Design Co-Lead

Moderators: 
Lynn Paxson, Emerita University Professor and Professor of Architecture, College of Design, Iowa State University
Miriam Diddy, ISAPD Vice President, Region Director, Senior Planner, Pland Collaborative

More Events in This Series:
October 6: ISAPD in Our Hands: Student Chapters Shaping the Future
October 9: Not a Worry in Site: Inherited Forms and Contemporary Navajo Design
October 20: Kéyah: A Diné Responsibility to the Land
October 27: The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Built Environment

If you register for a virtual ticket, you will receive an email with a Zoom link to access the program.