Regalia making workshops - Native Canada Centre of Toronto.
This project focussed on teaching a group of 7 Indigenous students how to make their own pow wow regalia. Out of the lessons, teachings in pow wow history and dance styles were also shared. Many of these students have begun participating in pow wows as a result of this program.
Ontario Indigenous Youth Partnership Program
This portion of funding supported Indigenous youth-led governance projects and gatherings. These projects primarily focussed on Indigenous cultural resurgence, and used used a variety of creative methods to envision this practice.
Northern Manitoba Food Culture and Community Collaborative
This community-based initiative focuses on increasing Northern Manitoban Indigenous access to healthy food, with a focus on increasing access to culturally important food. The projects focus on youth skill building, creating community local food job opportunities, and fostering food sovereignty in Northern Manitoba. Through this initiative, Harbinger also funded a learning trip of 3 Northern Community Partners to take part in a collaborative Northern food learning trip, in order to build networks among partner communities.
Grow North Youth Outreach Team
This project supported 2 youth leaders form the Northern Manitoba Indigenous community of Leaf Rapids, to travel to 3 other Northern Manitoba communities to share their ideas, skills, and to provide these communities with supports to strengthen local horticultural projects.
Water First
This initiative works to increase Indigenous youth knowledge about water sciences, by training youth in the sciences of habitat and water restoration. Among their numerous projects, this summer Water First graduated 10 interns from Indigenous nations on Manitoulin Island to be certified ‘Water Quality analysts.’ This certification has been taken up by each of the participants in their home communities, three of whom are featured in the photographs of this blog.
The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada
This national organization supports a community of Indigenous organizations and funders to work in partnership and to learn from one another in the spirit of reconciliation. The Harbinger Foundation is among this community.
Meechim Farm
In partnership with the organization Aki Energy, this project addresses Northern Indigenous food sovereignty issues by growing food on a community farm in the Garden Hill First Nation community in Northern Manitoba. In addition to providing healthy locally-sourced food, this garden also acts as a hub to promote nutritional awareness and youth interest in Indigenous food sovereignty.
Misipawistik Cree Nation Cultural Centre Support
This initiative allowed for the Grand Rapids community of Northern Manitoba to repair their tents and sweat lodge at the community’s cultural centre, to support the continuation of the culture camp for the local community.
Sacred Seeds Collective
This initiative cultivates 2-spirit Indigenous youth leadership in food sovereignty and food security work in rural, diverse traditional territories, through peer mentorship and hands-on participation in traditional planting teachings and practices. These practices include but are not limited to: wild harvesting, shugar bushing, medicine processing, food planting, and food and medicine distribution to Indigenous peoples.
Canadian Roots Exchange
This initiative seeks to build bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Canada by facilitating dialogue and strengthening relationships through youth leadership programs and gatherings.
T.E.N. Music Program
This program supports Indigenous youth by providing teachings on various mental health issues, while also providing outlets for self-expression through music.
Neechee Studio
This is a free arts and culture program led by Indigenous youth for Indigenous youth that includes 8-10 arts and culture projects that culminate in a live exhibition and a publication called Neechee zine.
Izhishimo
This project provides Indigenous youth, with a focus on two-spirit youth, to learn about and participate in powow and bring two-spirit participation into powow ceremony.
Native Youth Sexual Health Network
Harbinger supports the general operations of NYSHN, an Indigenous youth-led community-based organization providing peer youth outreach for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice issues.
Decolonizing the Food System Book Club
This initiative provides a virtual meeting space where youth learn together about Indigenous food sovereignty and solidarity through the teachings provided within art, film and literature of Indigenous authors.
The Inuktitut Waiting for Godot
This initiative brought together two Inuit women from Baffin Island for a 10-day writing retreat and production development workshop to support the production of a Volcano theatre production entitled ‘The Inuktitut Waiting for Godot’, which will be performed throughout Northern Canada in 2019.
Indigenous Participation in Food Secure Canada’s Assembly
This project supported Indigenous people from Northern Ontario that are working on food sovereignty and food security issues, to attend Food Secure Canada’s biennial assembly entitled ‘Resetting the Table’ in November 2018 in Montreal.
Indigenous Food Sovereignty Gathering - Food Share Toronto
This initiative provided travel support for Indigenous participants to attend a 3-day gathering in Toronto to share learnings, experiences, ceremony, and food in support of Indigenous food sovereignty.
Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto
This initiative was a 4-day festival of Indigenous-made fashion, textiles, and craft that took place in May 2018 at Harbourfront Centre in downtown Toronto. The event provided a safe space for conversation about reconciliation, as well as a celebration if Indigenous artists and their artwork.
Bringing Books to Indigenous Communities - First Book Canada
This program provides Indigenous communities in Ontario with 1,000 curated books of their choosing for Indigenous youth working in partnership with Teach For Canada, Paul Martin Family Foundation, and Connected North.
The Wolves Den Project
This project provides land-based cultural learning to Haudenosaunee youth in order to resurge culture and strengthen their nations. It provides a safe space for youth to connect with the land and strengthen relationships within community.
Youth For Water
This initiative bridges traditional Indigenous knowledge and culture with science and environmental issues, to deliver a project that provides young Indigenous adults (ages 18-25) with an opportunity to learn about water issues and become involved in water protection and water conservation initiatives.
Onaman Collective
This initiative supported Nimkii Aazhibikong, an independent indigenous-led camp that is focused on connecting young people with elders for arts and cultural lad-based teachings including language, sustainable Indigenous practices, and restoration of traditional Indigenous land and resource protection management.
Community Connections - Centre for Indigenous Theatre
This initiative included taking a tour of several Indigenous communities throughout Ontario, including at least one remote northern community, to give the students at the centre an opportunity to exercise and develop their skills in performance and stoytelling, and to connect those stories with other youth and community members.
Debajehmujig Storytellers Land Art Program - Debajehmujig Creation Centre
This program expands the Debajehmujig Creation Centre’s collaborative training offered for emerging Indigenous artists to the Northern Ontario communities of Nippising and Wikwemikong, as well as those in Toronto. This training included land-based teachings, traditional harvesting, and medicine identification.