Stacia Kean and Raimi Osseni from the Emerging Leaders Committee of CCEDNet delivered a workshop on “Aboriginal Youth and CED in Canada” at this year’s annual CCEDNet Conference in Winnipeg. The theme of this year’s conference was “Indigenous Models of CED.” In order to highlight a few successful models of CED projects run by and for Aboriginal Youth, they presented three models (please see PDF attachment for PowerPoint presentation):
– Fort Whyte: peer learning, youth working together and gaining skills (teamwork, friendship), knowledge (where food comes from) and money.
– Ndinawe: youth-led board, transformative experience for youth (see http://www.uptownmag.com/2009-06-11/page4120.aspx)
– Garden River First Nations: cultural activities/ projects
The workhsop involved some great discussions around the specific needs of Aboriginal Youth. From the participants experiences, some of these needs identified were:
cultural identity
social connection
feeling of hope for the future
tools
space, voice and forum
The attendance also mentionned the programs of the Institute of Peacebuilding (youth, diversity, anti-racism), of Ka Ni Kanichihk (which means “those who lead” in the Ininew (Cree) language) and IRCOM house. The memorandum of The Winnipeg Youth Peacebuilding Project (2008) was also included in the discussion as a positive example of CED programs for Aboriginal youth, their objectives are:
– to create space to share and dialogue about values of respect,responsibility, honesty and caring in youth from diverse backgrounds and worldviews.
– to promote the skills and abilities of youth and partnerswithin the project as they work to build peace in their communities.
– to provide a fun, interactive environment where connections can be made and enduring relationships can be built.
Overall we received some very positive feedback from the workshop, and will look forward to including the feedback into our work with the Emerging Leaders committee.
Thank-you to everyone who helped put this workshop together!
Stacia Kean and Raimi Osseni
Emerging Leaders 