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Transformations

Stories of Partnership, Resilience and Positive Change

By Transformations

February 5^th, 2018

Transformations: Stories of Partnership, Resilience and Positive Change is an award-winning collaborative photojournalism project intended to increase dialogue and further understanding of international partnerships that address complex global challenges. Through individual and organizational stories we invite you to actively engage in a new narrative on international cooperation and solidarity.

This initiative is rooted in the Istanbul Principles for CSO Development Effectiveness, a set of mutually shared values guiding the development work of civil society organizations (CSOs) worldwide. These include to: respect and promote human rights and social justice; embody gender equality and equity while promoting women and girls’ rights; focus on people’s empowerment, democratic ownership and participation; promote environmental sustainability; practice transparency and accountability; pursue equitable partnerships and solidarity; create and share knowledge and commit to mutual learning; and commit to realizing positive sustainable change.

Through this exhibit we invite you to learn about the work of Canadian Feed The Children, Eel Ground First Nation, Chippewas of Nawash First Nation (Neyaashiinigmiing), Garden Hill First Nation and Aki Food in addressing food sovereignty[i] challenges, and in supporting community-led initiatives and holistic community health.

The stories presented were documented by OCIC and Allan Lissner, Praxis Pictures, in November and December 2017. We extend our deepest gratitude to all partners, and to the many individuals within these First Nations that shared their experiences and opened their hearts and their homes to us.

This initiative was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada.

our collective call to universal action

Many Canadians are aware that there are complex food security challenges in Indigenous communities. A growing number, moved by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) and its 94 Calls to Action[ii], are becoming more aware of grassroots Indigenous rights movements around the world, and are seeking out opportunities for reconciliation and transformative action.

This very specific context, coupled with the 2015 launch of Agenda 2030[iii] -- a new, universal and integrated set of global goals, targets and indicators for sustainable development -- mandates Canada and Canadians to see ourselves as part of the Global Goals, and to include Canada in the narrative to ‘leave no one behind’.

“The call to leave no one and no ecosystem behind presents an opportunity for the global development sector to embrace and strengthen partnerships within Canada and with Indigenous communities who are already carving out the solutions for themselves.”[iv]

In addition, in 2016 Canada became a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)[v]. Amongst many obligations, UNDRIP requires Canada to protect Indigenous peoples' right to self-determination in their pursuit of economic, social and cultural development, along with effective mechanisms to redress for any action which dispossessed Indigenous people from their lands or resources.

At this juncture in history it is therefore incumbent upon us all to seek to comprehend the impact of the forcible removal of Indigenous children from their families and communities to residential schools. It is time for us to listen to Indigenous Elders, survivors, community leaders and members, youth and children, alike, and to acknowledge the lived experience of loss. This includes the loss of land rights, outlawing of cultural practices and languages, and the loss of traditional practices for accessing, hunting and growing food.

Terry Little, a social worker and respected Elder in Garden Hill First Nation, explains, “We lost a lot of the traditional teachings from the Elders because children were taken away to residential school. That’s why we lost so many things in the community… How can you pass knowledge on to your children if they’re taken away?”

The adverse impact that the residential school system in Canada had on gardening practices and traditional ways of life in communities like Garden Hill First Nation -- a large and remote northern Indigenous community paradoxically given its name by European settlers in awe of the gardens they saw in surrounding every home, on their arrival -- are profound.

Community members there share that current gaps in knowledge on horticulture, and on building cabins or collecting traditional medicines, for example, have resulted in severe food insecurity, a housing shortage and high dependency on welfare systems. They explain that many lost valuable knowledge, traditions, language and culture, resulting in complex multi-generational trauma and internalized dependency on an institutionalized system.

“Some kids, they never came back,” shares Terry Little. “When you’ve lost that knowledge and you don’t know how to care for yourself or another person… that’s when the Seven Teachings come in. You’d know how to care for yourself, how to respect yourself… but they were taught a different way in residential school. This is why some turn to drugs and alcohol. It’s not that they want to drink, it’s just because they’re trying to reduce the pain they’re in.”

Ivan C. Harper, Garden Hill First Nation.

Ivan C. Harper explains the mapping process that he and Zack Flett undertook to document Indigenous traditional and inherent treaty rights through activities that they do. Elders, hunters and community members collectively identified assets in the Island Lake Region, such as animals, plants and natural resources, as well as activities, such as camping out and harvesting wood logs.

“There’s not an end to what food is out there in the wilderness, because our ancestors survived on those foods since time began for us. We’ve been here ever since. We know the migration of all the species of fish, the moose and the ducks. Our people used to migrate and travel where the game was every season. Our people were nomadic. So when our people were introduced to living in a reserve system and we weren’t allowed to leave, that hindered our traditional practices,” shares Zack Flett, Community Outreach Coordinator, Aki Food.

COMMUNITY-LED PARTNERSHIPS BUILD RESILIENCE AND LASTING IMPACT

Youth Champions build momentum as they lead a traditional dance in Kikendaasogamig Elementary School, Neyaashiinigmiing.

Canadian Feed The Children works with local partners to build resilience through community-led development. Their work emerges from, respects and reflects each community’s unique needs, challenges and leadership. They believe that supporting food sovereignty in Indigenous communities is intrinsically linked to Indigenous land and resource rights.

Canadian Feed The Children, a Toronto-based global development organization, has a history of supporting community-led development approaches that encourage healthy child and youth development. As a civil society actor they understand well the universality of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and currently support fifteen First Nations and Indigenous partners in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Saskatchewan, as well as 12 international partners in Bolivia, Ghana, Ethiopia and Uganda. Amongst the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, they focus most on Goal 1: No Poverty, Goal 2: Zero Hunger, Goal 4: Quality Education, Goal 5: Gender Equality, and Goal 13: Climate Action.

With the support of their donors, they are also actively working to expand their partnerships to support a range of activities that reconnect children, youth, parents and elders across Canada to traditional practices around food, and contribute to self-determined food sovereignty.

Canadian Feed The Children’s approach is to be child-centered, community-led and impact focused. They seek to unleash the potential of children, families and communities to pursue their own sustainable change through innovative health, livelihoods, food security, education and community engagement programs. These programs help communities and families grow more food, eat healthy, culturally appropriate food, and earn incomes to buy more food. They also help children to attend early childhood development centres, get quality primary education, and eat nutritious meals at school, so they learn better.

Canadian Feed The Children has worked diligently to increase their capacity in the international development sector in Canada by deepening their expertise in food security, climate change and innovation in development. Engaging in these important national discussions has accompanied their heightened profile as a recognized, respected change-maker, and contributor to national policy dialogue. Canadian Feed The Children has also worked to develop formal monitoring and evaluation systems that are linked to clear Theory of Change-based outcomes, and enable continuous improvement that benefits children, women, men, families and communities.

They believe in delivering results through local partners and building resilience through community-led development. They seek to add value by sharing development high impact practices with local partners, so that they, in turn, can facilitate sustainable, community-led change and self-reliance.

FOOD IS A LEVER FOR TRANSFORMATIVE SOCIAL CHANGE

Located on the Miramichi River in New Brunswick, Eel Ground First Nation (Natoaganeg) is a Mi’kmaq community of approximately 1,000 people.

Eel Ground First Nation has has worked in partnership with Canadian Feed The Children for nearly a decade, and is a model for community-led food security and nutrition programs in Canada.

According to the 2017 First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study[vi], 40% of households in Eel Ground First Nation are food insecure. Of these, 13% are severely food insecure, meaning that they regularly experience food shortages, and 31% of households on-reserve in the Atlantic are classified as food insecure. In stark contrast, 8% of Canadian households, and 20% of Aboriginal households off-reserve were considered food insecure in 2014.

In 2007, Eel Ground First Nation looked to partner with an organization to address these challenges. In the beginning, Canadian Feed The Children supported a breakfast and lunch program in the local school, helping to meet the immediate nutritional needs of students from the community. Over time, and with leadership from the Community Advisory Committee and the broader community, their partnership has expanded into the community through initiatives like cooking classes, school and community gardens, a Youth Champions program, and in the development of the Natoaganeg Food Centre - Pistamune'kemk.

In Eel Ground First Nation, the community has been organizing around food for a long time. When it comes to food sovereignty, leadership is shared not just through the project coordinator and partners like Canadian Feed The Children, but from various community members ranging from Elders to children.

Chad Duplessie, Food Security Coordinator in Eel Ground First Nation, is conscious of the value and importance of organizing around food: “Food’s a constant,” he says. “It’s a constant in the home. It’s a constant in community. It’s a constant in engagement. Especially when you take the Indigenous frame of reference, there’s a real, principle-based connection to food and land. And when you’re talking about change at the individual, social and community level, that principle motivation is very important.”

To Chad, efforts must be channeled through a community perspective. “Through this lens,” he says, “food is a lever for transformative social change.”

Erica Ward, Natoaganeg Food Centre Coordinator, and Michelle Davidson-Legere, Roots to Table Coordinator, host a moose canning workshop.

The origin of the Natoaganeg Food Centre - Pistamune'kemk goes back to leadership through a Community Advisory Committee that was established to drive the food program in Eel Ground First Nation. Members in the committee included staff from the Eel Ground Health Centre, school, parents and youth champion representatives. With support from Canadian Feed The Children, the Advisory Committee visited a food centre in Fredericton and came back with a vision to create their own.

Natoaganeg Food Centre - Pistamune'kemk, which translates to ‘The place to get food, but never more than what you would need’, opened its doors in the fall of 2016. Its name was decided by Elders in the community through a consultation process, and reflects the spirit of the Food Centre as the place to support community members in getting access to healthy food through drop-in meals, a weekly farmers market, a food centre garden, cooking classes, an Elder café and a food bank. Before Natoaganeg Food Centre - Pistamune'kemk was opened, the local food bank was housed within the band office, and members would have to be on social assistance to access it. Since the food bank moved to the Food Centre, community members feel that it has become more accessible, more welcoming, and less stigmatizing.

Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation (Neyaashiinigmiing) on the Bruce Peninsula near Owen Sound, Ontario, is home to approximately 750.

In Neyaashiinigmiing, Canadian Feed The Children has worked with the Kikendaasogamig Elementary School since 2013. The Kikendaasogamig Elementary School provides education for pre-kindergarten to Grade 8 students. Prior to the partnership with Canadian Feed The Children a diabetes screening completed by the Chippewas of Nawash Health Centre revealed that 75% of students in grades five to eight were at risk of type II diabetes. The first phase of the partnership with Canadian Feed The Children aimed to address this by implementing a school nutrition program, which provides healthy lunches and snacks, along with nutrition education that is delivered by a nutrition coordinator. The second phase of the partnership was initiated in 2015. It was designed to reach beyond the school and into the community, where 100 of the 250 households are known to use the local food bank.

Using the school as a hub, the School and Community Nutrition Program has since expanded to include initiatives intended to mobilize children, parents and elders through land-based learning. Activities such as foraging for traditional food and medicine, building and maintaining school and community gardens, parent-child cooking classes, good food boxes, and youth-led health promotion are helping to turn the tide on the health challenges the community faces.

Garden Hill First Nation (Kitiganwacheeng) is in the Island Lake Region in Northern Manitoba, with a population of about 4,200 people.

In 2016, Garden Hill First Nation, through a partnership with Aki Food, was the first community to partner with Canadian Feed The Children in their Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds 2020 expansion initiative. In Garden Hill First Nation the use of gardening and traditional food activities has eroded over time, and with transport restricted by air or by increasingly unstable ice roads, food accessibility is a serious concern. Lack of access to healthy food has direct health impacts, with nearly one quarter of the population affected by Type II Diabetes. Indigenous people in the Island Lake Region also faces challenges with a major food supplier in northern Canada which maintains a monopoly against other local food systems, and primarily sells canned, frozen, and processed food products to the community.

Nourishing Spirits: Art, Culture and Traditional Practices

Efforts to nurture Indigenous art, culture, traditional practices, languages and knowledge are common across many First Nations in Canada, and a particular priority of Elders and community leaders.

“It’s important to have knowledge of your history and where you come from,” says Terry Little.

“We have our culture and traditions and we’re trying to keep them alive. One of the things we are trying to revitalize with our young people, even our babies, is our language… If we lose our language, we lose our identity. That’s one thing we don’t want to lose. These new things that are coming, the technologies out there, have an impact on traditional teachings. Technology has taken over our world. We need to discuss how we can have a balance between culture and tradition and technology. There’s a way of working together, we have to find common ground with these things. How can we benefit from this? How can our culture benefit? Technology is a tool that we have to try to utilize in our culture, to keep it alive.”

In Neyaashiinigmiing, Indigenous artist Boshdayosgaykwe shares her Quillwork skills in a workshop.

In Neyaashiinigmiing, Indigenous artist Boshdayosgaykwe shares her Quillwork skills in a workshop with students, community members and community health workers. Boshdayosgaykwe and her mother are the two remaining knowledge-holders of Quillwork in her community in Parry Sound, ON. Quillwork is a traditional art form that uses natural materials such as porcupine quills and sweetgrass to create textiles or to embellish birchbark. Boshdayosgaykwe shares her knowledge with Indigenous peoples in a variety of ways, as a means to transmit traditional arts and to build community.

Elder Juliet Little, Garden Hill First Nation.

In Garden Hill First Nation, Indigenous artist and Elder Juliet Little laments the loss of traditional practices, such as fishing by canoe with her grandparents, sleeping in the bush, and playing with clay. Nevertheless, she is proud to share the sewing and beadwork skills she learned from her mother, which adorn the beautiful Mukluks, Moccasins and other leather and fur items she makes for her grandchildren and other community members.

In Neyaashiinigmiing, Dee Millar says: "When I asked my Gramma why she didn't teach her children Ojibway, she said she believed they wouldn't need it. She would say, "The way the world was going, I didn't think my children would need to speak Ojibway? Why would they? What benefit would it be to them?" In later years, this was something that she always regretted. However, as she got older she began teaching Ojibway to my nieces, Zoe and Hannah. When they would speak Ojibway to her, I know it made her proud!"

William T. Flett, former Chief and Band Councillor, now Ice Inspectorand Elder from Garden Hill First Nation, remembers being taken away to residential school: “I was taken to residential school when I was nine-years-old. I was fifteen when I came home. We survived. I don’t know why they took us. I want to be here.”

After spending time working in Winnipeg, William returned home, where he became the Chief and a Band Councillor and served his community for 13 years. William was then asked to take on the traditional role of Ice Inspector. Passed on over the generations, this dangerous voluntary responsibility helps ensure that community members are safe when accessing the ice road. In a community as remote as Garden Hill First Nation, the ice road allows for increased access to food, supplies and mobility.

William recalls a time when his parents were alive and there were no vehicles. The ice road in the community would be a passageway for families to go trapping for months at a time. Over time and as a result of climate change, he says his role and knowledge have changed.

William believes teaching youth their history is important. “I teach my kids how to do traditional things. My son is a trapper, my daughter can sew, and my granddaughter can paint,” he says.

Students from Natoaganeg School in Eel Ground First Nation attend a grocery store tour to learn about making healthy food choices.

THE HIGH COST OF LOW-COST FOOD

In addition to loss of land, traditional knowledge and health, food costs are a contributing factor to food insecurity across Indigenous communities. In Eel Ground First Nation the relatively high percentage of households relying on social assistance -- 31% according to the First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study, 2017 -- may contribute to the high rate of food insecurity. In Garden Hill First Nation, the majority of the food items available in winter months are packaged and canned, and sell for two to three times the cost in other Canadian cities. Inadequate access to healthy and traditional foods has forced a change in diet for many families.

“When I was growing up we didn’t have a problem with diabetes, we had access to fruits and vegetables” says Terry Little. “All we had then was traditional food like moose meat, soup and fish. I didn’t get to have soft drinks until I was about 17 years old. After that, we got in the habit of buying canned goods, which is contributing to diabetes. It was easier to open up a can of beans to eat, instead of preparing traditional foods.”

“I believe we need to go back [to traditional lifestyles]. We are hurting because the lifestyle we have been living is not our lifestyle. It’s not our lifestyle at all. That’s why we are hurting as First Nations people. They took everything away from us.

We are not eating off the land anymore, and it’s killing us. We need to teach our kids the way our ancestors lived. Everybody in the community is sick; everybody is a diabetic, because we’re not used to the diet that was given to us. That’s not our diet. Moose meat is our diet. The fish, the berries, the water, the animals. Food from the land is pure.” - Kurt Mason, Garden Hill First Nation High Teacher

FOOD AND MEDICINE COME FROM THE LAND

“The recovery of the people is tied to the recovery of food, since food itself is medicine: not only for the body, but for the soul, for the spiritual connection to history, ancestors, and the land.” - Winona Laduke, Anishinaabekwe activist, environmentalist, economist and writer.

In Garden Hill First Nation, the wealth of knowledge required to grow and maintain gardens in the harsh northern climate has eroded over time. Similarly, the practice of gathering plants, picking berries and acorns, and knowing how to store and prepare natural remedies is scarce in the community, but still high in demand. Knowledge of traditional medicines is a mastery that Alice and Murdo McDougall keep alive through study and practice. Community members come to the access traditional medicines, even now.

Alice McDougal, Garden Hill First Nation.

“My parents taught me how to survive in the wilderness,” says Alice McDougall, an Elder from Garden Hill First Nation, respected by the community for her knowledge of traditional medicines. “I learned about things we can use in our homes to be comfortable… things like mud, trees, branches and moss. And I learned about what we can eat to survive.”

“We learned from our Elders when we were kids,” explains Murdo McDougall. “We saw them pick things, and we learned… Now we collect all kinds of different plants that we need, and we hang them up to dry them. Sometimes we run out, because people come to us when they are sick and need something.”

Simultaneously, communities have also implemented contemporary health practices in school and through community spaces.

In Garden Hill First Nation, the mental health of front line workers is a priority concern. To help with this, there is an annual event for staff across the Island Lake Region to debrief and talk about challenges they face in their communities, exchange ideas and methods, and also to play games and be out on the land to clear their minds and unwind. This event is crucial in encouraging self-care, and in promoting mental health in the community at large.

Gail Francis, Special Education Coordinator at Natoaganeg School in Eel Ground First Nation, is trained in Autism intervention and disability. As a part of her work she helps support students struggling with literacy, and makes use of a multi-sensory Snoezelen Room in her school to help students unwind and release energy.

Councilor Sid Nadjiwon, Neyaashiinigmiing.

At the community garden in Neyaashiinigmiing, Community Garden Manager and Band Councilor, Sid Nadjiwon, cultivates traditional and experimental crops, including tobacco, lettuce and microgreens, such as radish sprouts. Sid also spends time researching new and traditional methods of growing healthy and efficient food, to share amongst the community. Recently he’s discovered the health benefits of Shiitake mushrooms in combating diabetes and cancer, and has begun cultivating mushrooms to distribute to Elders in the community, and at the Maadookii Seniors Centre.

John B. Fletcher, School Counselor at Natoaganeg School in Eel Ground First Nation.

John B. Fletcher, Youth Development and Mental Health Coordinator at Natoaganeg School in Eel Ground First Nation, utilizes the Integrative Youth Development™ framework, a methodology developed by Derek Peterson. In school, the approach encourages students to build resiliency and a "web of support" that consists of at least five key adults (called "anchors") in their lives. This approach has found synergy with the school nutrition program, which encourages teachers to sit with students and model healthy eating during lunch time. By strengthening student-teacher relationships, students may find an 'anchor' in their teachers.

Marlene Vogl, Mental Health Coordinator in Neyaashiinigmiing.

Marleen Vogl, Youth Mental Health Coordinator in Neyaashiinigmiing, is responsible for school visits, facilitating an equine education program, taking youth on field trips, and hosting exchanges with nearby communities. These activities encourage children and youth to talk about self-esteem, depression and substance abuse issue. They also help to empower young people to feel proud, and to seek community resources and mental health support, if needed.

FROM FOOD SECURITY TOWARD FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

“When I think about food security, I think about the idea that you don’t have to go hungry, that you can feed yourself and you don’t have to worry about where your next meal is going to come from.

When I think of food sovereignty, I think of nations of people having the ability to feed entire families in the entire region, so that they can feed themselves the next year or the year after that, or even generations from now.” - Rodney Contois, Aki Food Director

In Neyaashiinigmiing, teachers at Kikendaasogamig Elementary School saw that some students came to school with little to no food, or with junk food, and were tired and distracted. They began to work with Canadian Feed The Children to implement a breakfast, lunch and healthy snack program, which quickly improved children’s experience in the classroom and improved food security.

The Kikendaasogamig Elementary School nutrition program provides food in the classroom throughout the day for any child who wants it. The universal nature of the program reduces stigma around needing a meal, and encourages students to explore new fruits and vegetables. Breakfast trays include items such as cereal, yogurt, fruit, toast or bagels, cheese and milk. A hot breakfast is available twice a week, with items such as eggs and meat on English muffins, pancakes, sausages and fruit.

Good Food Boxes provide families with affordable fruits and vegetables, along with nutrition information, food preparation tips, and healthy recipes on a budget. The program operates on a monthly basis and serves over 100 households in Neyaashiinigmiing, with the support of community volunteers and Youth Champions that are actively engaged in promoting healthy eating. Engaging children and youth in these ways has decreased stigma around accessing this support, and has empowered youth to volunteer in their communities.

Access to healthy and culturally relevant food can create long-lasting impact in communities. Community leaders within Eel Ground First Nation, Neyaashiinigmiing and Garden Hill First Nation have identified the need for programs that complemented food security efforts already underway.

LAND-BASED LEARNING AMPLIFIES TRADITIONAL AND COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGe

Zoe, a student-gardener, tends to an apple tree outside of her school in Neyaashiinigmiing.

Canadian Feed The Children’s relationships with Eel Ground First Nation and Neyaashiinigmiing began by providing grants for school nutrition programs and subsidies to support the Good Food Box program in communities. As they evolve from a “charity” model to an approach driven by a Theory of Change, they have carved more space to support community-led land-based learning activities and consumption of traditional foods, for example, supporting community revitalization of traditional practices, language and culture, and helping to build a movement towards food sovereignty.

By coming together around food practices that once were prevalent in their communities, children, teachers, parents and Elders are strengthening their connections with the land, and with each other. As a result, new gardens have sprouted up in community centres, schools and backyards, and children are keen on learning about their natural surroundings, becoming acquainted with local plants and foods that grow in their communities, and understanding how to take care of the earth.

Sid Nadjiwon, Community Garden Manager and Band Councilor, stores 100 logs on which Shiitake mushrooms were cultivated in the summer.

The community garden in Neyaashiinigmiing was revitalized with Sid’s leadership. The garden produces traditional and experimental crops including tobacco, lettuce and microgreens, such as radish sprouts. “In terms of nutrition, you don’t have to accept what you know”. Sid explains that encouraging the community to be open to trying new foods has been challenging, but the garden has been a game changer in having access to new and diverse healthy food options for the community.

Miptoon (Tony Chegahno), a respected Elder and Species at Risk Coordinator, leads Kikendaasogamig Elementary School students In Neyaashiinigmiing on nature walks to introduce local plants, medicines and animals.

In Eel Ground First Nation, Mary Dale Haddad takes students to the Forest Classroom outside of Natoaganeg School.

In Eel Ground First Nation, Mary Dale Haddad takes students to the Forest Classroom outside of Natoaganeg School to explore the outdoors every day, rain or shine. She says, “you need to know what it feels like to be cold or to be wet to understand that you must protect yourself from the seasons.” She believes that children also build a stronger connection to the land when they play outside and learn from the outdoors.

Community hunter, Ernie Ward, moose hunting in Eel Ground First Nation.

Chief George Ginnish says that it was not long ago that his people depended on fish and game for nutrition and to survive, but that a lot of families don’t have the ability to fish or to hunt themselves now. Four or five community champions make it their annual pilgrimage to go out and supply game for the community. “We take that responsibility to provide, so at least there’s access to moose, a little bit of deer… and striped bass and salmon throughout the summer,” he says. Community hunters like Ernie Ward are seen to be a huge asset.

Consuming traditional foods such as moose, salmon and lobster, in the Atlantic, has become challenging for many families. The 2017 First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study found that on average, only about 1 tablespoon of traditional food per day is consumed by women and men in Eel Ground First Nation.

Erica Ward, Coordinator for Natoaganeg Food Centre shares that, “without Ernie, the Food Centre wouldn’t be what it is today. Not just with moose, but with fish as well. It’s as easy as giving him a call and saying ‘Ernie, we need 30 filets right now,’ and them showing up at our door,” she says.

“I’m out here almost everyday,” says Ernie Ward. “There is a lot of moose here if you know where to look… but we only go after the males, never the females; the life-givers. And if a male is standing next to a female, we won’t shoot it, because we might hit the female by accident. I usually go for the big ones because they can feed a lot of people. But some of the elders like it when I bring back a younger one because their meat is more tender.”

“It’s important for us that we are doing it in a good way and for the right reasons. We don’t do this for money. We do this for our families, and for our community, so we can all eat.”

Erica Ward notes how community hunters are passing on this knowledge to the younger generations. “In Eel Ground First Nation today, there’s not a lot of young people that know the traditions behind hunting. To offer tobacco to the creator, and to look for that sign to know when you do take that moose down.”

Piel Ward, one of the Youth Champions in Eel Ground First Nation is responsible for harvesting the moose that was recently shared through the Natoaganeg Food Centre and, for the first time, at Natoaganeg school. Erica Ward says, “The moose we’re getting at the Food Centre now is being harvested by people my age, or even younger, like Piel. Before, you wouldn’t have necessarily heard of a 12-year-old going into the forest and harvesting a moose with his father.”

Charlene Ward, a Food Centre volunteer, shares her esteem for young champions of traditional knowledge:

“When you see Piel, you can tell it’s part of his soul to absorb all this knowledge. He seems to be the leader in that knowledge sense. The other kids don’t doubt his word. They watch and listen. You don’t see that often in that age group. They all come out of their shell when he does.”

Stacey McCormack and Freda Simon serve chilli made with the moose harvested by Piel and Ernie Ward at Natoaganeg School in Eel Ground FN.

Stacey McCormack and Freda Simon serve chili made with the moose harvested by Piel and Ernie Ward at Natoaganeg School in Eel Ground First Nation

“When the community sees the kids doing what they ought to do, it inspires everyone else,” explains Chad Duplessie, Project Coordinator. “When you see the kids volunteering to serve the community meal; when you see the kids working with the elders to serve them; when you see them packing the Fresh for Less boxes; when you see them at the Food Centre cooking a meal and putting it out for the community to use; when you see them hunting moose to provide for the community; when you see them gardening … I think it’s powerful. I think the community looks at them in a big way; more than they understand.”

SCHOOL AS A PLACE OF REBUILDING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

Kindergarten students at Natoaganeg School embrace traditional activities through outdoor play.

Canadian Feed The Children’s child-centric vision means that the programs they support permeate each sphere children and youth are a part of, including the community, their household and their school. In Eel Ground First Nation, Neyaashiinigmiing, and Garden Hill First Nation, schools have taken an active role in rekindling traditional languages and culture, and re-looking at histories through an Indigenous lens. In accomplishing this mandate, teachers, Elders and other community members actively seek partnerships that are complementary to the school programs offered.

Students at Natoaganeg School learn about Mi’kmaq history, culture and traditions through hands-on methods in class.

Chief George Ginnish expresses the importance of language and culture: “In our community, we’ve really invested in language. It’s important that our kids know that they’re Mi’kmaq, and that they learn our language and are exposed to our culture.” He believes that a key area in terms of reconciliation, is supporting Indigenous languages and culture by making it available not only to First Nations children, but throughout the school system. Similarly, in Neyaashiinigmiing, Kikendaasogamig Elementary School offers Ojibway language classes and incorporates cultural education into their day-to-day curriculum.

Helen Bernard-Ward, Natoaganeg School Principal, leading students back to class after having lunch together in the school cafeteria.

Under the leadership of Helen Bernard-Ward, Eel Ground First Nation has expanded nutrition programs in the school to include a healthy food education component, and to provide equipment and a new school cafeteria. Before, the building that housed Nataoganeg school was very dark and cold and had infrastructure problems. There was no cafeteria or seating area to have food, so it was a challenge when it came to breaks or lunch times. Classes faced attendance and academic issues because some kids would go hungry all day. Given these challenges, a teacher at the school applied for a grant for a Canadian Feed the Children breakfast program, which later evolved into a lunch program.

The ‘Outside Looking In’ program lead by Queenie Seguban, in Garden Hill First Nation, is a dance program that encourages youth to attend school and keep good grades, for the chance to travel and compete in a dance competition in cities like Toronto or Vancouver. The program helps give youth a safe place to participate in a healthy activity and has shown great results in improving social cohesion, school attendance and performance.

Kurt Mason, Garden Hill First Nation High teacher and adult educator, lectures on ways that the mainstream media portrayal of the 1990 Oka Crisis fueled racism against himself and other Indigenous youth in his community and at the same time, awakened his consciousness of the power of Indigenous solidarity.

In Garden Hill First Nation Elders are working closely with the school to develop new curriculum that prioritizes Indigenous and local history, languages, spirituality, survival skills, traditional foods, arts and crafts, entertainment, diet and lifestyle. They believe that as First Nations people they need to go back to land-based education, and to teach their children how to live and eat off the land to ensure the health and well-being of their community.

Neyaashiinigmiing Community Coordinator, Dee Millar, and her son Cross, interact with elementary school students through ‘Roots of Empathy’ - an evidence-based classroom program that has shown significant effect in raising social and emotional understanding. The long-term focus of the program is to build the capacity of the next generation for responsible citizenship and responsive parenting. In the short term, Roots of Empathy focuses on raising levels of empathy, resulting in more respectful and caring relationships and reduced levels of bullying.

“Our school is, in one word, ‘family’,” says Dee. “We believe we have a responsibility, as educators, and our First Nation mindset is that it takes a community to raise a child. The students know that they’re safe here, and that we’re an extended part of their family.”

Dee sees her role as an educator and as the Coordinator of the Canadian Feed the Children-supported program as helping to create opportunities so that when young people leave Kikendaasogamig Elementary School, they leave with a sense of pride in who they are. She describes her approach to partnerships through the “stone soup” method, where everybody recognizes that they have something to give.

“In the story of stone soup,” Dee shares, “each person realized that even the small thing that they had, when combined with what everyone else had put in the soup, became a feast for the whole village. I see our community, and I don’t see it being too different from the story. Things may have happened to us as a community, as a people, but instead of being recluse, and going into our homes, and forgetting how it is to be community and family, we need to show each other we have something to give.”

Sisters Halle and Abby (left and right) demonstrate a traditional dance at Kikendaasogamig Elementary School.

Halle is a youth leader in Neyaashiinigmiing who has been involved with the School’s Good Food Box Program and in distributing food in the community through the Foodbank. She is also the head youth dancer for the Pow Wow in Neyaashiinigmiing. Even though she now attends high school outside of the community, she is always available to help out, dance, and mentor younger kids when called upon.

She shares that she and her sister created their regalia by hand after a series of deaths in their family. Their mother taught them that traditional dance and the jingle dress could help with healing, so they learned the dance to support their grandmother with her health. For them, dance was pivotal in overcoming adversity.

Halle envisions Canada as “one whole community,” much like what she sees in her tight-knit community in Neyaashiinigmiing. Her message to other youth is that, “you can overcome anything. Even though you encounter struggles, you can be anything you want.”

ABORIGINAL SOCIAL ENTERPRISE GROWS COMMUNITY AND POSITIVE CHANGE

In an effort to address food security challenges, rejuvenate traditional knowledge and tackle the health crisis, in 2014 Garden Hill First Nation initiated The Meechim Project, a gardening and agriculture social enterprise program, in partnership with Aki Food. This innovative project seeded Meechim Farm, a fertile 14-acre site in Garden Hill First Nation, that now produces over a dozen different varieties of fruit and vegetables, and runs a poultry operation.

Through a new partnership between Aki Food, Four Arrows Regional Health Authority, Canadian Feed The Children, and Garden Hill First Nation, the School-to-Farm Project works with children and youth to increase food knowledge and skills, reduce dependency on outside sources of food, and show that food can be grown in the North. This partnership is an innovative model of cooperation towards food sovereignty that is helping to grow community and positive change.

Community Outreach Coordinator, Zack Flett, at the Meechim Farm in Garden Hill First Nation.

Zack Flett, Community Outreach Coordinator says, “This idea of growing your own food — being in control of what you eat and how you produce your food — gives back the independence that First Nations people have lacked for so many years because of the dependency of the government handouts, the welfare system. I believe this [farm] is a stepping-stone towards regaining knowledge-based practices, and towards independence … going back to our traditional practices of gardening for ourselves.”

Zach shares that he’s observed more openness from people to not only learn about gardening, but also to seek and consume healthy foods. Projects like Meechim Farm have the potential to begin to close years of gaps in knowledge for First Nations People. According to him, the movement to revitalize everything in the Island Lake Region is slow, but it’s a movement that’s moving forwards, not backwards.

Meechim Farm implements new and traditional methods to grow the usual local root crops such as carrots and potatoes, beans and peas, but also experiments with different varieties of seeds and have managed to harvest unexpected selections of crops such as asparagus and raspberry trees.

“There’s a food security issue that we have here in Canada and around the world, and we will just have to come up with solutions that help us in the long run. People have this misconception that you can’t grow food in the North, but that’s not entirely true, it’s just that people have never experienced it. Until they come to see places like this [Garden Hill], they don’t know what’s possible.” - Rodney Contois, Aki Food Director

As a social enterprise, Aki Food understands the issues with food affordability in northern and remote communities like Garden Hill. Using innovative alternatives like the pop-up model, Meechim Farms has found that upcycling shipping containers for their Farmer’s Market space or for storage during the winter provides an affordable, flexible alternative that can keep costs low. This model keeps profit margins balanced so they are better able to support the community, while maintaining a sustainable model.

As a result of these initiatives Rodney says he has noticed growing interest from the community, and higher number of people accessing the farm in the past year. Farm employees have been invited to attend knowledge exchanges with partners outside the community. This has encouraged changes in attitude and a spirit to come up with innovative ideas and solutions to food security challenges in Garden Hill.

According to Tyra Cox, Canadian Feed The Children Program Officer, the positive impact of partnerships like this one is growing employment in communities. “I think the biggest change that I have seen this partnership bring the community is employment. Because there is a partnership with CFTC... and a realm of other researchers and people are coming to this community because leadership is open to them partnering and thinking about solutions, it brings a lot of employment and financial gain to residents,” she says.

Tyra explains: “when working in First Nations communities in Canada, Canadian Feed The Children’s intent is to hire Indigenous People. So at the first outset we’re not just hiring someone who is really knowledgeable about Indigenous frameworks like UNDRIP and the TRC, and who can implement those really well so that we can help ‘fix Indigenous communities’. Instead, by hiring Indigenous People we can hear from Indigenous People themselves about the change they want to see. We don’t have to follow things that govern the way that Indigenous People ought to be governed. Let’s let Indigenous People govern themselves.”

Norman Knott Jr. worked as a farm assistant with Aki Foods during the summer. Norman heard from a family member that Meechim Project was hiring for a seasonal position at the farm. When Aki Food offered him the position he says he took it right away, because he wanted to experience what it was like to work at the farm. His work ranged from assisting with the construction of farm buildings like the chicken pen, to planting and taking care of the crops.

As an employee, Norman was able to mentor other people on the farm. At the same time, he was mentored by the carpenter and farmer that that came to help build the infrastructure for the project. Norman says he enjoyed the work he did, and that he gained skills in construction, gardening, irrigation, using a tractor and water pump, and traditional farming methods, like using fish heads to fertilize corn and yield healthier crops. He says that he and his family were very proud to have a meal that he had grown and made, at the end of the summer.

Likewise, Erica Ward, Programs Coordinator at the Natoaganeg Food Centre, is extremely passionate about food and working with her community to close the food security gap in Eel Ground First Nation. She believes that everybody has the right to good, healthy food and says, “the people who walk through the door and who I work with every day are not just food bank members or people partaking in our programming, they’re actually friends, family, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, brothers. To me, this is more than just a job. I’m really trying to make an impact on my community and helping the best way I know how.” The Food Centre has become a hub that brings together the community’s collective knowledge around food, but also connects external partners like Roots To Table.

Michelle Davidson-Legere works with the New Brunswick Food Security Network and is part of the Roots To Table network. Brought in by the Foods Centre leadership, Michelle imparted a moose canning workshop where community members learned how to preserve moose meat. After sealing the meat with a pressure cooker, the moose preserves can last up to two years.

“A key element to Indigenous food security is to reclaim our traditions and to go back into the land and harvest deer, moose or to go into the river to fish. That plays a huge role in reconciliation and gaining back our culture.” - Erica Ward, Nataoganeg Food Centre Program Coordinator

Mobilizing community assets within the Food Centre space and programming is crucial in revitalizing community member’s connection to their traditions. For example, four of the moose the Food Centre has had access to came from community hunters. Erica has observed how the Food Centre drop-in meals have encouraged a change of attitude towards traditional foods for community members. Before, people accessing the food bank were hesitant to take the moose meat because they didn’t know how to prepare it or felt a distaste for the meat itself. Over time, with the drop-in meals, trying different recipes, cooking, and preparing the moose meat in different ways, that gap in knowledge has reduced and people are keen.

‘It’s reclaiming our traditions. The sacred animal that somebody goes out and harvests for the community, there’s more to it. The members are understanding that more and so appreciative of it,” she says.

This year, the Natoaganeg School Youth Champions program has attracted 12 youth that are 10 to 13 years olds. Every Friday they gather to plan, prepare and serve a full meal at the Food Centre. They are in charge of chopping, cutting, cooking the main courses, and serving the meal to their family and friends.

The Youth Champions program has been active for the last three years in Eel Ground First Nation. The first cohort graduated Natoaganeg School last year, and transitioned into high school where their access to healthy food isn’t comparable to what they grew used to in their community. With the tools they learned as Youth Champions, they have now taken an active role in continuing food activism outside of the community, by advocating for healthier foods in high school.

Charlene Ward, a beloved food centre volunteer in Eel Ground First Nation, assists the Youth Champions in the preparation of carrot soup.

Charlene has been involved with the Food Centre since its inception, and regularly volunteers there with her daughter. She helps with food distribution and organizing food at the food pantry, as well as with events, fundraising and outreach. Charlene says she enjoys her work and is happy knowing that her contributions help reduce the load of the program coordinators. The Food Centre is an important part of her life, and her active involvement has taught her how to choose and prepare healthy foods that have helped her manage her diabetes, and improve her overall physical and mental health.

Volunteering has also a positive impact on her daughter. After completing a two-week placement, her daughter was encouraged to look into culinary studies and has been inspired her to help the community. The Food Centre programs, such as cooking demonstrations and community meals prepared by the youth, have helped her gain skills she might need to find employment in the community. The youth know that at the Food Centre they’ll be encouraged and mentored by community role models like Erica and Chad, be taught cooking techniques and life skills, and be encouraged to seek out their passions.

The Food Centre has truly opened space where different people and families in the community can gather and talk to each other. Charlene notices that the seniors in the community are able to participate more, share stories, and spend time with the younger generations.

HEALTHY BODIES, HEALTHY MINDS

"This is their life. This is about the community and living and surviving and talking about food. This is life. It’s not a project. It’s not a program. It’s not a service. It’s life. And they’re all bringing their own strengths and resources — the elders with their knowledge about food; the hunters with their ability to go out and hunt; with anyone who’s able to can the moose meat or make recipes; the cook who knows how to make fantastic dishes with moose; the kids who are enjoying it and participating, in whatever way that looks like. Everyone’s contributing and making sure that everyone’s fed and enjoying their time.”- Cheyenne Joseph, Senior Instructor, University of New Brunswick & Consultant for Canadian Feed The Children

The stories and experiences shared across communities reinforce the importance of intergenerational and transformative learning that brings us closer to the land, to our food systems, and to our emotions. They also reinforce the significance of partners that are able to listen and recognize community assets, and to support community-led action towards positive change.

Carlene Keeshig and E Naad Maa Get (left and right) in Neyaashiinigmiing walk together as community organizers, mobilizing action for MMIW

Together with help from community members from Neyaashiinigmiing, E Naad Maa Get and Band Councillor, Carlene Keeshig

help organize a prayer walk across the country. The Prayer Walk, called Da-Namaamin Moseyang Giw-Ganchigaazjig Kwewag (“We will walk in prayer for those murdered women”) is a grassroots Indigenous-led action responding to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Their journey is a way to heal themselves and support Indigenous-led solutions to end violence against Indigenous women and girls. Along the way, walkers will be creating and strengthening relationships with other communities across Canada.

Tapping into community assets to drive transformative change is essential in working towards reconciliation. We need to make sure that the ways in which we work in Canada are not just continuing the damaging legacy of colonialism.

Cheyenne Joseph, Senior Instructor, University of New Brunswick & Consultant for Canadian Feed The Children, says, “In order to move forward, to make sure that we are respectful citizens of everyone in this country, what you would bring to the table is a willingness to achieve equity. As Indigenous people, we’re not asking for more than anybody else, we are asking to be treated with equity; with fairness.”

The spaces created by Eel Ground First Nation, Neyaashiinigmiing, and Garden Hill First Nation have allowed for community-led solutions to complex challenges like food sovereignty to emerge. In turn, they are revitalizing traditional knowledge and creating intergenerational opportunities. Communities in Canada and across the world are keen on connecting with partners that recognize that solutions lie within the community; partners that can share a platform to voice the issues, but also identify opportunities and solutions together.

Canada was founded on sharing resources and space. Erica Ward explains “our culture is one of the most important key factors, and our culture is sharing. Whether that’s storytelling or sharing food, or sharing information.”

Abby and Halle Johnston, Neyaashiinigmiing Youth Champions.

Tyra Cox’s vision for Indigenous youth is that they will be empowered, that they know about their culture and traditions, and that they know they have something to live for:

“I hope that as Indigenous People we keep making mass amounts of brown babies, and they’re really empowered and they know that they have this culture and this tradition, and that they have something to live for and that they’re the voice against these industries that are driven to either displace them from their land, displace them from their mothers or displace them from good, healthy, nutritious lifestyles that they deserve. I hope that at a certain point that tide changes and that Canadian Feed The Children and Aki Foods and the community itself are leading the change,” shares Tyra.

In Garden Hill First Nation, crowds of girls and boys gather at the local arens in the evening to play hockey and meet with friends.

Matthew Monias, in Garden Hill First Nation, uses music as a way to positively channel his energy and share his creativity. Through the N'we Jinan Tour, Matthew participated in the creation of “Help You See,” a professionally produced music video featuring himself and several of his schoolmates. N’we Jinan is a nonprofit organization that brings a mobile recording studio into schools and community centres to create an environment where youth can express themselves musically and creatively under the guidance of a professional music producer. Since its conception, N’we Jinan has travelled to 21 First Nation and Native American communities.

Matthew Monias sings Garden Hill High Schools’ “Help You See”

“I was born blind in a tiny community

built up depression with no opportunity

dug a little deeper to find what was true to me

found my vision inside what the future sees

taking a chance through expression

walking the path I was destined

music has given me hope

every inch of my soul has me counting my blessings

Gonbuhguhgeen

don't give up, let's choose to live

Kitiganwacheeng

Garden Hill, let's shout and sing

speak right to my heart

to get the best of me

put some light where the dark is

and let our voices help you see”

"When you have an organization that is truly invested in partnering with an indigenous community, meaning they’re not coming with the solutions and the pathway that they want the community to follow. You end up with a true partnership where an organization says ‘we have a resource and an asset that we’d like to share with you’ - money, people, time - and you have a community that says ‘we have got solutions, here are our community priorities’, we need some assets, and [when] those two line up with each other; you end up with a beautiful partnership that really speaks to reconciliation." - Cheyenne Joseph, Senior Instructor, University of New Brunswick & Consultant for Canadian Feed The Children

FOOTNOTES

[i] La Via Campesina defines Food Sovereignty as the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.

[ii] The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) has a mandate to learn the truth about what happened in the residential schools, and to inform all Canadians about what happened in the schools. The Commission documented the truth of what happened by relying on records held by those who operated and funded the schools, testimony from officials of the institutions that operated the schools, and experiences reported by survivors, their families, communities and anyone personally affected by the residential school experience and its subsequent impacts.

The TRC issued a document identifying 94 Calls to Action to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation.

[iii] In September 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by world leaders at an historic UN Summit. Subsequently, in January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) officially came into force. Over the next fifteen years, with these new Goals that universally apply to all, countries are called upon to mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities, tackle climate change, and ensure that no one is left behind.

[iv] "Indigenous-led partnerships in Canada: Leaving no one and no ecosystem behind" published in the HuffPost, Development Unplugged platform, February 2018.

[v] The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a document that describes both individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples around the world. It offers guidance on cooperative relationships with Indigenous peoples to states, the United Nations, and other international organizations based on the principles of equality, partnership, good faith and mutual respect. It addresses the rights of Indigenous peoples on issues such as: culture, identity, religion, language, health, education and community

[vi] First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study (FNFNES). Results from Eel Ground First Nation, New Brunswick. University of Ottawa & Assembly of First Nations. April 2017