2020 Indigenous
Youth and Community Futures Fund Project Descriptions

 

Organization Name: Seventh Fires Youth Group

Project Title: Seventh Fires Youth Group Launch

population served: Indigenous youth (at-risk and not at-risk) in South Western Ontario (Kettle & Stony Point Ontario), ages 12-15, 26+ being mentors to the younger members.

amount requested: $30,000

 

Still in its early stages, the Seventh Fires Youth Group, founded by Paige Jackson (age 16) and Aaron Saulteaux (age 18), was formed to help Indigenous youth from their community and surrounding areas to feel a sense of belonging and to connect them to their Indigenous roots through cultural teachings and events. This project consists of education programs, workshops and events designed to best help Indigenous youth to have a voice and inform them of issues facing Indigenous people and their cultural traditions (such as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, clean drinking water crisis on reserves, Indigenous mental health crisis, the deteriorating climate globally and more). In addition to the programs, workshops and events, the funds for this project will help the group to expand and reach more Indigenous youth. It will also provide young Indigenous people with leadership opportunities within the group and within their communities, with the help of adult allies as mentors.

 

 

Organization Name: Georgian Bay Anishinaabek Youth

Project Title: Anishinaabek Aadiziwin

population served: Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Metis) youth that identify as LGBTQ2S+, live in rural
or remote communities, vulnerable of becoming or are in conflict with the law, in care or leaving care, in low-income situations or come from low-income families, at-risk (i.e. navigating/facing the impacts of colonialism).

amount requested: $30,000

 

Anishinaabek Aadziwin is a project of the Georgian Bay Anishinaabek Youth (GBAY), to increase cultural and land-based learning opportunities for Indigenous youth, through multi-day seasonal workshops, otherwise known as culture camps. This project will support Indigenous youth ages 13 - 29 and will take place in and around Parry Sound, as part of the Robinson-Huron Treaty territory, on the eastern shore of Mnidoo Gamii (Georgian Bay). The focus of GBAY is to create safe spaces for Indigenous youth to build strong community and cultural connections.

 

 

Organization Name: Kenora Metis Council

Project Title: Traditional Metis Fiddling Lessons

population served: All Metis youth of all ages from about 6 (must be able to hold/play the smallest fiddle) through to ageing out (29 ) in Kenora

amount requested: $30,000

 

The youth representative on the Kenora Metis Council will organize lessons for Metis youth in Kenora to help them learn to fiddle in the traditional Metis way; a key part of the Metis’ rich history and culture. Through fiddling, Metis youth will engage with other Metis citizens and immerse themselves in a key aspect of the Metis way of life. The young people leading this project hope the lessons will develop and strengthen Indigenous youth's connection to their history, culture and community.

 

 

Organization Name: Neskantaga First Nation

Project Title: Neskantaga Young Drummers

population served: Indigenous youth aged 12-29 within the remote Oji-cree community

amount requested: $30,000

 

The Neskantaga Young Drummers project will support Indigenous youth in learning about the cultural significance and ceremony of drumming. This project will also train youth on how to build their own drums and learn how to use them. The Neskantaga youth drum making workshops will provide opportunities for community youth to get involved in traditional drum making activities. A direct result of these workshops will be the newly crafted traditional drums that will be made by youth participants. These drums will, in turn, enable these community members to develop their playing abilities by learning from community drummers. The expectation is that participants will come away from the workshops with newfound skills, increased

confidence, and a sense of pride. The organizing of these workshops will increase youth member interest in traditionally and culturally focused community activities, and ultimately pave the way for future projects of a similar nature to take place.

 

 

Organization Name: Youth Circle for Mother Earth - Bkejwanong

Project Title: Anishinaabewin Maawnjidiwaad – Culture and Nature-BasedGatherings

population served: 100 youth between the ages of 14 and 29 including Indigenous youth from Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nation), Dokis First Nation, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, as well as Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth that have been involved in the YCME over the past year from across Ontario

amount requested: $30,000

 

The Youth Circle for Mother Earth (YCME) is a new project designed to create and support a cross-cultural network of young Indigenous and non-Indigenous environmental leaders that will mobilize to help protect Ontario’s environment. The project will bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth together to participate in hands-on activities including land-based learning opportunities and sharing of traditional ways of knowing. Activities include camping, lacrosse, canoeing and other land-based opportunities that support the transmission of cultural practices and knowledge. The activities are intended to be educational, interactive, uplifting, empowering, and fun. Activities also aim to build relationships, enable reconciliation through meaningful and respectful discussions among diverse youth, increase knowledge of Indigenous culture and practices, facilitate connections to the land and waters, and contribute to the youth’s well-being and confidence.

 

 

Organization Name: Matachewan First Nation

Project Title: Mikwedan (REMEMBER)

population served: This project will serve Indigenous youth within the Matachewan First Nation community between the ages of 12 and 29 through engaging, educating and inspiring them to experience the indigenous way of life. It will also serve the whole community as the core youth group will gain the skills needed to teach and mentor other youth and adults alike. The lesson to trapping and tanning and being safe in the land/wilderness will be captured for another generation to carry. It will also serve the Lands department in the Land Use Plan for the traditional territory.

amount requested: $30,000

 

The Project is called Remembering for the Future. It is a trapping and tanning experience for Indigenous youth. The Youth-led trapping and tanning course will span over one year with courses incorporated throughout the process. The end goal is for Indigenous youth to obtain wildlife survival skills, a certified trapping license, future trapline along with the knowledge of tanning fur hides and the process of selling them. The project will also include Land-based teachings that promote reconciliation and reconnecting to the land. Youth will lead the project from start to finish with collaboration with Traditional Elders when required. The workshop will provide youth participants with the tools and resources to successfully obtain and maintain their own trapline. They will also gain the essential skills to prepare fur-bearing animals for tanning. Having the youth directly involved in this hands-on experience while on the land will promote indigenous culture and way of life.

 

 

Organization Name: Maamiwi Gibeshiwin Indigenous Cultural Training Camp

Project Title: Maamiwi Gibeshiwin

population served: Mostly Anishinaabe Youth between the ages of 18-29 in surrounding communities near Sudbury, especially post-secondary students (from colleges and universities along the North Shore all the way to Sudbury) and youth who are using the local Indigenous facilities (Native Friendship Centres, Shkagamik Kwe Health Centre, reserve rec centres, etc). Previously 85% of the camp participants identified as Anishinaabe and 15% were non-Indigenous.

amount requested: $30,000

 

Maamiwi Gibeshiwin is a 4 day Anishinaabe cultural revitalization camp dedicated to providing a safe platform for young Anishinaabe people to reclaim their cultural identity as well as non-Indigenous people to develop their allyship skills. This year, which will be the 4th year of the camp running successfully, the focus will be on food and healing through food. The camp activities will include traditional food preparation, butchering a moose and other wild meats, possibly tanning a hide, hunting and trapping and preparation of tools for food and food storage like birch bark baskets. Cultural ceremonies like sunrise ceremony and sweatlodge, and open-art projects such as moccasin-making, medicine pouch making will also be part of the camp. A special

addition to this year’s programming is a medicine-making workshop. Outcome work will comprise of an illustrated graphic novel (likely with Elton Beardy)and possibly a short documentary in collaboration with Debajehmujig theatre group.

 

 

Organization Name: Youth Odena

Project Title: Bringing Spirits Together in a Good Way

population served: Anyone willing to participate. Specifically, Indigenous youth, children, elders, parents, knowledge keepers, conductors of ceremony, traditional crafters, fire keepers, language keepers, and etc. as well as non-Indigenous children, youth, young adults, elders, and knowledge keepers who are willing and open to adding to existing dialogues within communities. Within the category of children and youth; children will dominantly be urban Indigenous or non-Indigenous from Sault Ste. Marie, while youth may be from Nogdawindamin or Larimar Homes and, therefore, in care.

amount requested: $30,000

 

Bringing Spirits Together in a Good Way (BSTGW) is a collaborative project led by Youth Odena to increase reconciliatory relationships, increase access to safer cultural spaces, and deepen understandings of ceremony as it relates to concepts of worldview, time, space, and the universe. This project will bring together multiple mainstream and Indigenous child and youth organizations; including child welfare, education, and social services. BSTGW seeks the help of the culture and ceremonies to broaden awareness, heal traumas, and create meaningful relationships with multiple communities.

 

 

Organization Name: Mississauga Nation

Project Title: Rebuilding our Mississauga Nation Youth

population served: Indigenous Youth from Mississauga Nation between the ages of 15-29 living on and off Mississauga territory and traditional treaties. Six Mississauga Nation consists of Alderville First Nation, Curve Lake First Nation, Hiawatha First Nation, Mississauga First Nation, Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation

amount requested: $30,000

 

Alternative Roots is the initial project that was created in 2013 at Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation to engage youth in cultural activities and create a safe place for them on weekends and after school. Rebuilding our Mississauga Nation Youth came out of the above project and a Nationwide strategic goal initiated in 2014, to reinstate and revitalize cultural and clan identity in the six communities of Mississauga Nation as a whole. This is a community based, collaborative looking to build Land Based Sustainability Practices, the cycle of life and sciences by calling upon elders/knowledge keepers, spiritual/ceremonial wisdom advisors and various other role models. Activities include reconnecting with the family roots through learning each other’s culture, history, customs, language, songs, dances due to the separation and isolation created through the government policies. Furthermore, the program will also focus on reclamation and wellbeing to build relationships within and across Indigenous communities and learn about and define what reconciliation means for themselves. Furthermore, creating gardens, learning to save the seeds 13 moon cycle teachings, grandfather teachings,

medicine wheel teachings will also be part of the program.

 

 

Organization Name: Indigenous Food Circle

Project Title: Mino-Wiisini (s/he eats well, likes what s/he eats)

population served: Mino-Wiisini will serve Indigenous youth living in Thunder Bay and communities surrounding lake Nipigon in North West Ontario.

amount requested: $30,000

 

Mino-Wiisini (s/he eats well, likes what s/he eats) will be a project through the Indigenous Food Circle, that will engage youth and get them involved with food sovereignty initiatives happening in their community. Focusing on knowledge sharing, youth will get the chance to experience and explore Indigenous Food

Sovereignty, land, community, culture, and traditions. Mino-Wiisini will provide youth with the opportunity to learn different ways to trap, gather, harvest and process traditional food and medicines in the region of Northwest Ontario with the help of elders and knowledge keepers. This project will give youth employment opportunities to secure an understanding of food sovereignty, holistic health and culture. Gaining life and

leadership skills by engaging with the community and members, youth can be supported by their journey of self-discovery and purpose in living the good life (mino-bimaadiziwin) in which they are able to share with future generations.

 

 

Organization Name: Dilico Anishinabek Family Care

Project Title: Region Youth-Led Gathering

population served: The Youth Council will seek to empower and connect more Indigenous youth across the region by inviting 6 representatives from various First Nation communities to participate. The project will target youth 16 – 20 years old.

amount requested: $30,000

 

The Dilico Youth Council will aim to empower 100 local area youth to connect by hosting a youth-led regional gathering. The youth will learn hands-on skills from Elders and Cultural mentors. The youth will engage in activities that will allow them to spend time learning, sharing and connecting with each other at the gathering.

Participating youth will also share teachings they receive in their home communities.

 

 

Organization Name: Youth of Pikwakanagan

Project Title: Pikwakanagan Youth Knowledge Keeper Project

population served: 60-70 Indigenous youth from Pikwakanagan First Nation

amount requested: $30,000

 

The Pikwakanagan Youth Knowledge Keeper Project is a 10-month initiative that provides support and guidance for Indigenous youth to become leaders by learning skills and knowledge to implement community-based programming. Activities include participating in community ceremonies, land-based education/healing,

and Indigenous culture revitalization and preservation, which was severely endangered by residential schools, the Sixties Scoop and on-going lateral violence. Other activities include sports, recreation and gardening.

 

 

Organization Name: Aunties on the Road

Project Title: Reclaiming Our Bodies: Culture-Based Workshops Connected to Sexual and Reproductive Health

population served: Indigenous youth between the ages of 12 and 30 living in Ottawa and in surrounding rural communities

amount requested: $30,000

 

Aunties on the Road provides full-spectrum doula services to Indigenous youth in Ottawa and surrounding communities. They seek to expand our existing services to offer monthly culturally-based workshops on topics connected to sexual and reproductive health, including workshops focused on moontime teachings, berryfasts and alternative menstrual products. Recognizing that the health care system continues to marginalize and stereotype members of racialized groups, particularly young parents, their work seeks to empower young Indigenous people to better understand their rights within such systems and to grow in the knowledge of and pride in their Indigenous identity.

 

 

Organization Name: Weave and Mend

Project Title: Weave and Mend

population served: Black Indigenous People of Colour (BIPOC) communities of T'karonto. Specifically, BIPOC and marginalized youth located in T’karonto and the Greater Toronto Area.

amount requested: $30,000

 

The Weave and Mend Collective is a group of mixed Indigenous youth artists residing in T’karonto, Dish With One Spoon Treaty territory. The collective proposes to host knowledge gatherings in Thunder Bay, Fort Francis, Quetico Park and Peterborough to learn about Ojibwe ways of knowing, being, and relating to land. In addition, the collective will produce a short film and works of art about the gatherings, which will culminate in two art exhibitions to share with the extended community in T’karonto. The artwork will focus on land stewardship, medicine teachings, language revival, cultural teachings/awareness between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and land-based knowledge.