Jason Surkan

JASON SURKAN ROUND PRAIRIE ELDER’S LODGE

Saskatoon, SK TEXT Omeasoo Wahpasiw As a 13-year-old growing up in the Treaty 6 territory near Kistapinânihk (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan), Jason Surkan saw the documentary Radical Attitudes: The Architecture of Douglas Cardinal. It ignited dreams to become an architect—work that brought him into contact with Cardinal himself, while undertaking his Bachelor of Architectural Studies at Carleton University. Surkan continues to explore: “What is a contemporary Métis architecture?”

Surkan is a member of Fish Lake Local #108, and his Métis ancestry traces back to Hudson’s Bay Company families, including men from the Orkney Islands, women from Turtle Island, James Bay Cree families, the Red River Resistance, and a great grandfather who operated a sawmill in the Montreal Lake area. His current work with David T. Fortin Architect allows him to live in his homeland, a prairie-to-boreal forest ecological zone that has provided so much for so many. His own approach is grounded by Elders such as Maria Campbell and inspired by the efforts and ingenuity of ancestors who used their environment for materials.

For the Round Prairie Elder’s Lodge, a project for the Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. (CUMFI) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Surkan began the project by living on the land. The building, now coming to completion, is literally grounded in Surkan’s experience of the place, as well as in his community- and equity-focused approach. “Architecture should respect and give back to the land on which it sits,” says Surkan.

The Lodge needed to be affordable, but this constraint did not limit its beauty and realization of a specific Métis intent. A bright façade visually references the white lime-mortar plaster of historical Métis homes in the Batoche area of Saskatchewan, contrasting with a dark plinth that references a traditional Métis practice of spring grass burning. Patterns inspired by Métis floral beadwork are cut into exterior solar window shades, which welcome in warm winter sun but shade interiors from harsh summer rays. The front entry of the building—as well as the wood cladding in several interior spaces—features a chevron pattern that is reminiscent of the Métis sash.

Surkan also drew on local materials and traditional Métis construction techniques. For the entrance canopy, round, raw pine log ends from the Boreal forest are slotted into a horizontal beam like the logs in a Red River Frame. Continuing to use local wood products, Surkan designed a fireplace enclosure that nods to Hudson Bay frame houses with their heavy corner posts, and planks slotted in and fastened with dowels. “A lot of the Métis would have flagstone in the entranceway, so we also used flagstone around the fireplace,” says Surkan.

The themes of historical Métis homes continue through to the outdoor landscape, which features a central hearth to encourage community gathering. In this way, Surkan and his team have flipped the colonial experiences of Métis visibility. In the past, says Surkan, Métis homes often took on a European appearance from the outside, while maintaining egalitarian and open spaces inside that were reminiscent of tipi life. Outside the Round Prairie Elder’s Lodge, Métis Elders will now take their place in the sun, enjoying their final journeys as proud Métis supported by one another, and by a place designed with love for the Nation.

OPPOSITE The finishes and woodwork of Round Prairie Elder’s Lodge reference Métis construction techniques, while floral beadwork patterns are incorporated into window shades and signage.