CALS692 Blog #1

In the short time that I have been in my new role as Head of Climate action for the Victoria Native Friendship Centre and Lead of the IndigeMind Climate Action program I have been confronted with the realities and complexities of building an idea and vision from the ground up. It is not an easy feat and along with the inevitable obstacles comes the deeper understanding of the need for programs such as the one I am helping bring to life. There is a growing acknowledgement that traditional ecological knowledge and western science are both invaluable in the fight against a changing climate. Furthermore, the “founding [of] Indigenous Environmental Education programs within Indigenous Knowledge systems is one of the most important ways of strengthening culture, promoting environmental protection, the realization of sustainable local economies, and supporting students through healing and decolonizing” (Simpson, 2002, pp. 16-17). The current climate action movement, as I like to name it, calls for more Indigenous voices throughout climate action across every discipline, sector, institution, and governing body. IndigeMind was created for this reason and, specifically, to foster the next generation of Indigenous youth climate action leaders.

The IndigeMind program is the evolution of another program my colleagues and I ran out of the VNFC for a couple of years called Mind Medicine. We focused mainly on the mental health of Indigenous youth ages 13-18 and ran programs that aimed at self exploration, reconnection, and managing anxiety and stress. Although we were funded by the YMCA and given a very psycho-educational curriculum to teach to our youth, we soon realized that we needed to Indigenize Mind Medicine and its overly colonial curriculum. As noted by Fast et al. (2021) “the benefits of land-based learning range from centring Indigeneity and confronting settler colonial forms of education to regenerating intergenerational teachings and increasing the spiritual and cultural well-being of participants” (p. 121). We moved away from the textbooks and took the participants out onto the land. What we observed on the land was incredible. The simple observational exercises we led and discussions we held unveiled the true beauty of being out in the natural world. Simply put, when the kids were out in the trees and on the trails without their phones they were different. They opened up not only to the environment that surrounded them but to their true inner self. The pressures of our world left them and so did the immeasurable traumas that so many of them have faced. From this IndigeMind was born. It was birthed from the unavoidable need for more land-based and Indigenous-centric youth programming. 

In just two weeks time we will begin our first IndigeMind cohort. We have partnered with an eco-clothing company called Ecologyst in downtown Victoria that will be outfitting our cohorts from head to toe in high quality rain gear that will keep our participants dry during our programming days as they will run rain or shine. My colleague, Nadia Salmaniw, who is from the Haida Nation, will be leading the ‘blanketing’ ceremony of the youth as they get gifted from Ecologyst.

In addition to our partnership with Ecologyst we have also partnered with an organization called Stewards of Sc’ianew led by Director, Christina Armstrong from the Sc’ianew Nation. Our first cohort will be based on Sc’ianew land where Christiana will help with the organizing of traditional knowledge keepers and elders along with planning the locations of our first two ecological restoration projects that will involve invasive species removal and the reintroduction of native plants and traditional medicines. It is an exciting time and one I will continue to reflect on in future blogs. 

Onwards. 

References

Fast, E., Lefebvre, M., Reid, C., Deer, W. B., Swiftwolfe, D., Clark, M., Boldo, V., Mackie, J., & Mackie, R. (2021). Restoring Our Roots: Land-Based Community by and for Indigenous Youth. International Journal of Indigenous Health, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.32799/ijih.v16i2.33932

Simpson, L. (2002). Indigenous Environmental Education for Cultural Survival. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 7(1), 13-25. https://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/article/view/271