TL;DR
Techa Oaye is an Indigenous youth-led non-profit organization under the Non-Profit Incorporations Act. We are a young Indigenous collective working towards social change through our mission to showcase Indigenous youth leadership.
Details
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 Chante, Tiana, and Chaasity of the Techa Oaye – Native Prairie Restoration Project.
Community: Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan
Grant Type: Land and Food Sovereignty
Q: Tell us about your group and project!
A: Techa Oaye is an Indigenous youth-led non-profit organization under the Non-Profit Incorporations Act. We are a young Indigenous collective working towards social change through our mission to showcase Indigenous youth leadership. This leadership is showcased through the four domains of education, sports, culture and language. We want to show that we are the leaders of our nations. Our mission is to support Indigenous youth leaders between the ages 13-23. Techa Oaye has recently partnered with Kamwatanahk Land Based Learning Lab to devise an initiative to restore the native prairie grasses and ecosystems that once flourished on this land. Currently, the land is used for farming, and Techa Oaye already utilizes a portion of it to host traditional ceremonies. The goal of this youth-led land reclamation project is to benefit both the land and the community by creating a meaningful space for ceremonies to take place.
“Techa Oaye provided a comfortable learning space for our project youth leaders to sit in on various ceremonies for the first time and to build a connection to the land. We have spent our time building the Kamwatanahk Land-Based Learning Lab into a site of culture that our participants have adopted as a second home. ”
Q: As the youth running the project, what impact do you hope it will have?
A: Our goal is to revive the native prairies and create a space that can be utilized for traditional ceremonies. Youth will have access to a dedicated location for cultural programming and spiritual practices while building an increased awareness of Indigenous land stewardship.
Q: What is something you have learned?
A: Our youth leaders at Techa Oaye are passionate about ensuring that young people have a connection to land and culture. In order to achieve this goal, we are leveraging our network of youth and partnering with classes to raise awareness throughout the community. This has been a great learning experience as we have been able to mentor other youth in ceremonies and beyond.
Q: What is one piece of advice you would share with other youth who want to run a project?
A: It is important to understand the natural process of running an organization when coordinating with youth. We had to overcome a lot of obstacles and delays in our project, and they reminded us of why we do this work. The learnings along the journey reaffirmed the importance of running projects like ours.
