The City of Lethbridge has teamed up with the U of L to spread the Oki greeting.

Earlier this week, City Council adopted the traditional Blackfoot word, meaning “hello” or “welcome” as the official greeting for the City of Lethbridge.

Using 3-Dimentional printers, three students in the U of L’s new media program designed small stand-up desktop Oki signs.

The University’s Agility Manager, Brandy Old says this is about connecting the student experience in the classroom and moving it to actually having an impact.

“The students were able to bridge their technical skills to a meaningful project. This project is one example of how U of L students can apply their education to the real world. As advocates for reconciliation, these types of learning experiences connect our students to Indigenous perspectives and knowledge in a meaningful way,” says Old

The small 3D Oki signs were given dignitaries coming to the city for Reconciliation Week activities as well as mayors who recently attended Alberta’s Mid-Sized Cities Mayors meeting last week.

Old says these were three students, one from Hungary, who don’t necessarily have much connection with the Blackfoot story. “For them to understand the point of the project, what the reconciliation logo means and to walk through the federal government’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission was inspiring.”

It isn’t known if any of the mini-Oki desktop signs will be available for the general public.