Grantee Spotlight
The Foundation exists to ensure cultural documentation and promote the involvement of youth and Elders in cultural activities. We strive to inspire our people to proudly embrace their heritage, empower them to continue the traditions of our Ancestors, and restore the spirit of Mi’kmaq culture in Newfoundland and Labrador. This specific project focuses on hosting monthly arts and crafts workshops over zoom to bring together Indigenous youth from both on and off the island.
Our project is Season two of our podcast Spilling Labrador Tea Under Cedar Trees. Season 2 is titled: “Colonialism Around the World”, and we’ve been interviewing Indigenous youth from different parts of the world to learn about their colonial experience and cultural revitalization. So far, we’ve covered First Nations, Metis, and Inuit in Canada; then we interviewed folks from Korea and Mexico. Next up is Aotearoa (New Zealand), Zambia, and many more.
Future Artistic Minds is an affirming space where youth can explore and develop their creative practice. Having access to mentorship, equipment, and space to grow and learn has helped FAM youth artists to explore their identity, build their skills and uncover new career paths related to art
Waterways is an Indigenous-led non-profit based out of Winnipeg. We run land-based programming for Indigenous youth mainly surrounding canoeing. We are currently funded for a few projects by CRE. These include our Cross Lake, Bloodvein, and Peguis/Fisher Lake programs. We are also a trustee for Bison Local and run programs in conjunction with them for their "Back to the Water" Program.
Our grassroots youth group has organized and run a Meals on Wheels Program for Elders for the past two years. We planned a medicine gathering trip to Saskatchewan to pick Sage and Sweetgrass, as well as visited medicine men and a Sweat ceremony. Their latest project was a summer Kayak trip down Takla Lake which took 4 days to complete, camping along the way. Residential School survivors and knowledge holders came and spoke at the campfire at each camp spot, sharing their history and knowledge. A video was created to document this journey.
White Owl Native Ancestry Association (WONAA) is an Indigenous community agency that first began in 1975. We endeavour to enhance the lives of Indigenous People in the Waterloo, Wellington, and Dufferin Regions of southern Ontario through culturally appropriate counselling supports, youth and family programming, and Land-based education.
Our program supports a small group of youth within the Oneida community who are without regalia of their own and who want to learn more about the importance of the Oneida culture. This program is helping to build a sense of community amongst our youth as they will share their talents and skills with one another.
Shawish is a virtual Indigenous marketplace whose mission is to help Indigenous businesses thrive across North America. Within the online platform, Indigenous artists can create their own profiles and upload their own products. Our commitment is to support our vendors by reducing fees as much as possible. This site is perfect for any ally that wants to support First Nation Communities. Through Shawish, we as Indigenous people can continue our ancestors’ ways of life.
We hope that the film "Building Connections through Indigenous Youth Stories" will contribute to the great work happening around cultural revitalization in our community. This format of storytelling will provide a broad reaching approach to sharing our ways of connecting with our culture. Our hope is that other Indigenous youth will view the film and feel empowered to start their own journey of learning about the Mi'kmaq traditions and ways of living.
Revitalizing Our Sustenance Project (ROSP) is an Indigenous youth-led program to help provide Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth opportunities to learn about the importance of sustainable agriculture practices while feeding our community! We strive to revitalize our relationships with food, community, and the land.
Our group consists of three leaders: Trevor (Songwriter), Nic (Videographer), and Theo (Producer). We are all musicians, but our specialties are in parentheses. We created a music program to attempt to centre the art community on the reservation. We created a place where all musicians, rappers, and singers can come hang out and meet each other so that the youth know that there is an art community and that there are other youths wanting to collaborate.
The Ketegaunseebee Food Sovereignty Project is led by Aaron Jones and Angela Belleau of Garden River First Nation. The idea was conceptualized by Aaron to address food availability and accessibility by gifting community members with perennial food-producing plants such as fruit-bearing trees and shrubs. Along with gifting plants, this project aims to educate the community about growing food and inspire others to think about the future of food in Garden River.
