International students learn aboriginal perspective on Canadian history

About a dozen aboriginal and international students gathered at the University of Saskatchewan Monday night to learn about each other's cultures.

The Aboriginal Student Centre along with the International Student Centre hosted a potluck where immigrant students were able to learn a different perspective on Canada.

Janelle Pewapsconias works at the Aboriginal Student Centre and helped create the program, called Building Bridges.

"What I would love to see is people have a different and deeper understanding to Canada, to the history of this place, she said. "I can speak from personal experience that I know indigenous people maybe have misconceptions about newcomer folks as well as newcomer folks havingmisconceptions about indigenous folks."

Jebunnessa Chapola,a graduate student at the U of S, said she knew little about aboriginal culture when she arrived, but believes it's important to learn.

"There are a lot of misconceptions about Canadian history and aboriginal people and as an immigrant woman I had a feeling that we need to learn more about aboriginal history," she said.

The potluck wasjust one of many events hosting by Building Bridges throughout the year.