ᑭᑕᑐᐢᑫᐏᓇᐣ

Kitatoskaywinan

ENGLISH TRANSLATION “It’s our work and we’re doing it together.”

The Project: Empowering Youth

Empowering Youth & Protection for the Future

Youth are an important part of this project. We need our youth to connect to the land not only for their own healing and identity, but to be future leaders and stewards of the land. Through Kitaskeenan Kaweekanawaynichikatek, we are building livelihoods that will allow our young people to provide for their families through protecting the land and culture: as land guardians, lodge operators, guides, land-based teachers, cultural support workers, and protected area managers.

“We need to bring Traditional Knowledge back to our youth — teach them in school, bring them onto the land. If we teach our young people to survive on the land, they will be able to live and survive for a lifetime.”

– Daniel Redhead, SFN

“Our people have the knowledge needed to do this project. We need to teach our children and grandchildren to be out on the land. We need to teach them what big companies bring to the land: big projects bring big changes. First Nations need to be fully involved and informed on any big project activities or plans. Our youth want to go to York Factory and Churchill to learn the history.”

– Chief Betsy Kennedy, WLFN

“I was 10 or 11 when I went to York Factory. It was such a special feeling and ever since then, I’ve wanted to go back. Being in Churchill, there’s a sense of not knowing where you’re from. We aren’t getting on the land in the same way: just go to school, sports, etc.  It’s important for us to be using our bodies. Our ancestors lived off the land and were active every day. It’s so important for us to work toward illness prevention. More than just western ways of working out, but to be active on the land to continue land-based traditions and have them carry on for generations to come.”

– Antonina Kandurin, YFFN (youth)

“We need to protect the lands and waters for the people. But not only people, for the animals, birds and fish we harvest. Plants also. The survival of our people will depend on living off the land. If there are no areas set aside for us, then why are we even bothering to pass the knowledge on to the next generations if they have no lands and waters to harvest and gather off.”

– Antonina Kandurin, YFFN (youth)

“We need to protect our land for our children. To live in a better future than where we are now so that they are not forgotten. It is a better place to live than living in the city.”

– Daniel Redhead, SFN

Whatever area we choose to protect, there is need for cultural survival, to revive our language, governance, identity, traditional knowledge, and history. We need to teach the young people. We need to be able to exercise our Aboriginal & Treaty Rights. For the future, it is important to follow our customary laws, teachings, and knowledge. We need to be able to teach young people about stewardship. Our young people say they want to go to a place to learn about who they are, to feel good about themselves and who they are.

– Councillor Louisa Constant, YFFN

In This Section

Learn more about our Inineemowin language through the Inineemowin: York Factory Cree app!