The Blanket Ceremony recipients honoured at the 2026 Portage College Educational Round Dance are dedicated to the college and their community. The traditional Blanket Ceremony took place in March at the annual Round Dance held at the Lac La Biche Portage College campus. The ceremony took place in front of 300 community members and local school students.
This year’s recipients are Beaver Lake Cree Nation Elder and Knowledge Keeper Marilyn Gladue, Portage College Community Social Work program instructors Jana McKinley and Audrey Cochrane, and Portage College administrative support staff member Robbie Scott.
Each of the recipients was gifted a traditional Pendleton Blanket. The blankets, which are hand-crafted to tell a story using colours and specific patterns, were paired specifically with each of the recipients. Each blanket was smudged and prayed over before being wrapped around the recipients.
Portage College’s Cultural and Community Facilitator Robert Rayko has organized the Educational Round Dance for the last 23 years. He says the blankets not only honour the recipients but also help to send a positive and healthy message into the community.
“We want people to know about the people in our college and the community who are outstanding, who do a lot for who we are at the college,” he said.
Marilyn Gladue – Chief Joseph Blanket
First woven in the 1920s, this USA-made wool blanket has been one of our most popular designs ever since. Chief Joseph led the Nez Perce tribe native to northeastern Oregon in the late 1800s. Widely admired for protecting his people and speaking the truth, he is honored with this design, symbolizing bravery. Bold arrowheads represent the chief’s courage, strength and integrity.
Robert Rayko presented Marilyn Gladue with her blanket.
“Today I have the honour to talk about Marilyn Gladue, a Knowledge Keeper from Beaver Lake Cree Nation. She is a wonderful, strong woman. Her blanket is the Chief Joseph Blanket. It speaks a lot about her strengths and her resilience … The Chief Joseph blanket is about resilience – he led his people many miles and didn’t give up … Marilyn is a leader in many ways. As a spiritual person, as a cultural person, as a Knowledge Keeper, Marilyn has hosted many different ceremonies in her community, she has worked with Portage College, she has come and offered prayers for our students, she has supported students.
I look up to her.
She is a strong person, a strong woman. Not only a Knowledge Keeper – she is a Pipe Holder and she knows traditional medicine. She is a cultural guide. She leads her community in culture.”
Jana McKinley – Courage to Bloom Blanket
Arrow shapes in this pattern symbolize finding a good path in life, acknowledging that every path holds pitfalls and dangers, as well as opportunity. To honour the loss of missing and murdered Indigenous Native people, an hourglass shape at the base of the largest blossom symbolizes life’s spiritual journey thought the most difficult circumstances. “Courage to Bloom” is the inaugural winner of the student competition for the American Indian College Fund blanket design.
Audrey Cochrane – Northern Lights Blanket
The Northern lights are as mysterious as they are glorious. Native legends offer intriguing explanations for these shining bands of transparent color that dance across the skies. To the Fox tribe of Wisconsin, the lights were an omen of war, spirits of enemies rising up to do battle again. To their neighbors, the Menominee tribe, the lights belonged to torches carried by the manabai’wok, giant spirits of hunters and fishermen that were out spearing fish. Northern lights are most visible at midnight in the extreme north and occasionally seen as far south as America’s Gulf Coast.
A recipient of her own blanket last year, Portage College’s Teaching and Learning Facilitator Gail Haier presented blankets to Jana McKinley and Audrey Cochrane.
“I have the distinct pleasure of introducing our honorees, Jana McKinley and Audrey Cochrane, two individuals whose dedication to inclusive, student-centered education has had a profound impact on our learning community.
Jana and Audrey consistently refine their teaching strategies, course materials, and overall approach to ensure they are meeting students where they are. Their trauma-informed practice is woven into every interaction, helping students not only learn program content, but also build self-awareness, empathy, and confidence as postsecondary learners. Creating safe, supportive learning spaces is fundamental to their teaching philosophy.
Beyond the classroom, Jana and Audrey exemplify collaboration and leadership. They have readily shared course content, assignments, exemplars, teaching materials, and syllabi with peers, and have adjusted their teaching schedules and workloads whenever needed, to support colleagues and respond to shifting program demands. Their contributions are deeply valued, and they are widely respected across the College. They also frequently share their trauma-informed expertise with faculty in other program areas and have presented on numerous occasions within the institution.
Jana and Audrey’s commitment to service leadership extends far into the community. They actively volunteer with shelters, food banks, and social-support programs, often alongside students through service-learning activities. They model the values of equity, compassion, and ethical practice by bringing theory to life. In addition, they have embraced the decolonization of curriculum, contributed to the development of Open Educational Resources, and collaborated with provincial colleagues to strengthen student learning.”
Robbie Scott – The Healing Blanket
Against the blue of Father Sky, songbirds rise from Mother Earth to greet the healing rays of the Morning Sun. The birds carry messages of harmony, balance, and renewal in a design that brings awareness to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Movement. A band of turquoise symbolizes Life, with bands of red for missing Native relatives who will never be forgotten. Dine artisan Leandra Yazzie’s design brings a message of renewal, resilience, and hope.
Portage College Vice President People and Culture Carrie Froehler presented Robbie Scott with her blanket.
“tansi – my gifted name is wâpastim-iskwêw – My everyday name is Carrie Froehler. I have the great pleasure of honouring someone I’ve worked with for many years. Today we honour Robbie Scott who has given a big part of her life to the college community. For 41 years she has worked at Portage College as administrative support in the Business and Environmental programs. That’s a long time. Long enough to see many students come and go, many challenges happen and many changes along the way.
And through it all, she has been a steady and caring presence.
People often say she is the glue that holds everything together.
When schedules needed fixing or when students need help, and staff need support, she has been there, making things work the way they should. But what makes her really special is the way she cares about people. Students know her as someone who looks out for them. In many ways, she is like the Mother Hen – making sure that students are OK, helping them find their way, encouraging them when things get tough, and she has even been known to cook a few home-cooked meals.
She has always gone the extra mile, and not because she had to, but because she truly cares. Her kindness, compassion, and patience have helped many students feel welcome and supported. Some students may forget some of the details of classes, but they will remember the people who helped them along the way, and she is one of those people.
Forty-one years is an amazing gift of time, knowledge and heart. The programs she has supported are stronger because of her, and many people here today have been touched by her work.”
Blankets are an honour
Saddle Lake Cree Nation’s Ben Cardinal presided over the traditional Indigenous ceremony. He described the blankets as “the most honoured effect you can be given.”
“These individuals have shown great humility and a great way of sharing life within the college and the community,” he said. “They care; they carry that in their hearts.”
*Full video of the Blanket Ceremony and the Portage College Educational Round Dance can be found on the Portage College YouTube site.