K to A: Canoe Quest Seeds of Love, Leadership and Truth

The community around Nisto Awasisak Memorial School lost one of their youth leaders, so a canoe quest in tribute of this youth leader was done for the youth to visit and see their traditional lands and rivers as a way to deal with the pain and bring hope back into their lives. Through this initiative, new coping skills were developed for dealing with loss. “The youth that were grieving have found new ways to cope and have found this canoe quest to be helpful in their healing journey to their traditional territory.” “They were searching for guidance and found it on the land and on the river. The youth saw things they could not explain but when the [E]lders speak of the past lessons taught by their grandparents, the youth understood what they saw, for example: ‘When an Eagle visits you while you grieve, it is a loved one who has come to visit you.’”

Additionally, the youth engaged in various traditional activities such as “canoe races, archery tournament, fish derbies, fish fillet, and survival cooking.” “The [E]lders taught the youth how to make miniature cabins and how to sew purses from recycled material.” “The traditional medicine man was able to come and teach the youth about the medicinal plants. The young girls said they ‘enjoyed picking medicine for the [E]lders.’ The medicine man taught us how to pray and identify the medical plants and which season to pick them.”