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To highlight the work Creation Grantees are doing in their communities, the Creation Community Grants Team sends out Q&A forms so they can share their experiences creating and carrying out their projects. Today we are featuring responses from Cheyenne of Qmunity Camp NWT.
Community: Yellowknife
Grant Type: Land and Food Sovereignty Funding Stream 2024
Q: Tell us about your group and project!
A: The 2025 2SIQTIP Gathering brought together 2SIQTIP identifying youth to celebrate identity, (re)connect with the Land and embrace culture. Many 2SIQTIP community members in Northern communities are unable to exist authentically within their identity due to the colonial violence imposed through homophobia and transphobia. Often 2SIQTIP youth will leave their home community to relocate south as a means of finding safety and living life authentically. A goal within our programming to provide space for Northern 2SIQTIP to stay connected to the Land, their culture and build community with the North. Our existence and our pride in our identity serve as a beacon of hope to younger generations; our programming is designed to support and encourage community members to be these leaders within their home communities.
The 2025 2SIQTIP Gathering focused on building solidarity and advocacy skills to inspire change within our home communities. While our programs bring together and create community within those who participate, we need to explore and get that impact to those unable to attend our programs due to lack of safety in their home community. Creating a sense of community beyond those participating in our programming allows us to nurture intergenerational relationships and invite discussions from Indigenous governments to foster safety for 2SIQTIP in the North.
Our group had been working together supporting Qmunity Camp NWT camp sessions since 2024.
Lindsay Debassige is a Two-Spirit M’Chigeeng Anishinabek born and raised in Sǫ̀mba K’è, Denendeh. They are the current Executive Director for Qmunity Camp NWT, providing on the Land opportunities for Two Spirit, Indigiqueer, and Transgender Indigenous Youth in the North. Within her work, Lindsay strives to build joint solidarity through regenerative relationships and advocates for her kin in reclaiming their birthrights to belonging in community and culture. They are passionate about creating ethical, anti-racist, decolonial spaces that empower Indigenous Peoples of the North to connect with their traditions, languages, and identities. #LANDBACK
Shaznay Waugh (she/they) is a Two-Spirit Dënesųłinë́ and white youth from Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́, Denendeh. She is a poet and artist that creates with intent to vocalize and celebrate the ways in which she resists and witnesses resistance against colonialism. Whether academic or artistic, upholding Done Nàowo in everyday life is what orients their approaches to (re)creation.
Cheyenne Haogak (any/all) is a queer, gender non-conforming Inuvialuit and Sahtu-Dene Northerner. They are currently working on a project called the Northern Laughter Movement that will empower northern youth through humour, storytelling, and building community. Cheyenne is dedicated to various art forms and wants to see Indigenous youth pursue their creative passions.
“A piece of advice I would love to share with other youth is to really dive into what your interests are and what you like to do. Being able to commit to a project that you’re excited about is what’s going to be the main driving force. It’s going to keep you motivated to keep learning how to run your project when you get stuck.”
Q: As the youth running the project, what impact do you hope it will have?
A: Our group came together for this project to allow space for us to gather and connect with our 2SIQTIP kin and honour our Traditional identities. Many youth express that being in the space authentically as themselves allows them to build a deeper connection and relationship to the Land that allows them to find peace within themselves. We often talk about how the Land loves and accepts us, no matter what, and that we never have to hide ourselves or feel ashamed for our identities as we are inherently connected to the Land.
The 2SIQTIP community faces many colonial barriers and violence to existing in Northern Canada. Each Northern region faces distinct challenges in terms of safety, legislation, and societal acceptance. For example in the Yukon there is out and proud 2SIQTIP Elders, the same cannot be said for the Northwest Territories. 2SIQTIP living in remote Northern communities face some of the most oppressive and violent realities, many of which need to leave their home communities to find safety. There is an immense lack of support, understanding and acceptance for this community, and we are continually challenging colonial violence to maintain our existence. Our hope with the June 2025 2SIQTIP Gathering was to learn more about the unique challenges our community members face, empower participants to be advocates for themselves and our kin, build leadership skills, deepen relationships within community, culture and the Land. Our ultimate hope for this gathering was to allow space for healing, (re)connection, and participants to know they aren’t alone and we stand together as kin in solidarity near and far.
Q: What is something you have learned?
A: Something that I’ve learned since being on this project is that we can really do so much with what we have, and that everybody who was there a part of the team or for the gathering is there with the same intentions. We set out to spend time together and with the Land and we not only achieved that, but we had so, so much fun. We were able to lean on each other and adjust some of our plans as we needed to make it work for us with what we had. Nothing felt like it took away from the experience if our schedule shifted, we went with the flow and everybody trusted each other.
FEEDBACK FROM PARTICIPANTS
One of the most impactful pieces of feedback came from our Two Spirit Elder, Uncle Rosie, during our feedback session. We asked the group how this space allowed them to feel affirmed in their identity. Uncle Rosie replied with, "I feel like a kid again, I feel free". It's hard to put into words the transformation and liberation our space offers to our participants and staff. As 2SIQTIP, we often have to hide and withhold pieces of our identity to move safely through this world, within this space, we just get to be, exist, exactly as we are.
