{"id":101424,"date":"2026-01-22T08:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T13:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=101424"},"modified":"2026-01-22T08:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T13:26:15","slug":"educational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/educational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch\/","title":{"rendered":"Educational space&#8217;s name honours late chief and \u2018matriarch\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY \u2014 A large, modern educational space in the city now bears the name of a late First Nation chief who espoused leadership and guidance. That\u2019s according to Derek Echum, the son of the late Celia Echum, a former and long-serving chief of Ginoogaming. Derek was one of many dignitaries who attended a ceremony at Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (or KKETS) in Thunder Bay on Wednesday morning to commemorate naming its \u201cinnovation room\u201d after Celia. \u201cShe was an instrumental leader for the community,\u201d Derek said. \u201cShe provided guidance for many members of the community, whether in a family role (or) a leadership role.\u201d \u201cJust providing so much stability.\u201d Ginoogaming\u2019s current chief, Sheri Taylor, told Newswatch she knew Celia and&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F01%2F22%2Feducational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY \u2014 A large, modern educational space in the city now bears the name of a late First Nation chief who espoused leadership and guidance. That\u2019s according to Derek Echum, the son of the late Celia Echum, a former and long-serving chief of Ginoogaming. Derek was one of many dignitaries who attended a ceremony at Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (or KKETS) in Thunder Bay on Wednesday morning to commemorate naming its \u201cinnovation room\u201d after Celia. \u201cShe was an instrumental leader for the community,\u201d Derek said. \u201cShe provided guidance for many members of the community, whether in a family role (or) a leadership role.\u201d \u201cJust providing so much stability.\u201d Ginoogaming\u2019s current chief, Sheri Taylor, told Newswatch she knew Celia and... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F01%2F22%2Feducational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Educational space&#039;s name honours late chief and \u2018matriarch\u2019 - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/educational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Educational space&#039;s name honours late chief and \u2018matriarch\u2019 - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY \u2014 A large, modern educational space in the city now bears the name of a late First Nation chief who espoused leadership and guidance. That\u2019s according to Derek Echum, the son of the late Celia Echum, a former and long-serving chief of Ginoogaming. Derek was one of many dignitaries who attended a ceremony at Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (or KKETS) in Thunder Bay on Wednesday morning to commemorate naming its \u201cinnovation room\u201d after Celia. \u201cShe was an instrumental leader for the community,\u201d Derek said. \u201cShe provided guidance for many members of the community, whether in a family role (or) a leadership role.\u201d \u201cJust providing so much stability.\u201d Ginoogaming\u2019s current chief, Sheri Taylor, told Newswatch she knew Celia and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/educational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-22T13:26:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/educational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/educational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Educational space&#8217;s name honours late chief and \u2018matriarch\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-22T13:26:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/educational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":707,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/educational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/educational-spaces-name-honours-late-chief-and-matriarch\\\/\",\"name\":\"Educational space's name honours late chief and \u2018matriarch\u2019 - 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