A knowledge exchange trip to New Zealand in 2024 was life-changing for Shayna Moore, a recent graduate from the College of Nursing in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences who now works as a skills education coach for Indigenous students in the program. 

Not only did she learn about the culture of that country’s Indigenous people, but she also returned more in touch with her own. 

“The first month after I came back, I learned how to make moccasins. I also learned beadwork. It really inspired me to come back and learn more about my culture,” said Moore, a member of Pimicikamak Cree Nation who grew up in Thompson, Man. 

Last summer, Moore was one of six Indigenous UM nursing students who travelled to New Zealand for two weeks to learn with and from Māori nursing colleagues in partnership with Whitireia New Zealand’s Māori bachelor of nursing program.