Resources in chapter Involve Youth

First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii regions of British Columbia are actively revitalizing their cultural traditions through programs that transfer knowledge from Elders to youth and support stewardship activities that leverage traditional ecological knowledge. By working to sustain traditions, First Nations are supporting their community members’ multi-generational retention of unique knowledge that supports long-term stewardship of their lands, ocean, and culture. 

Ni Hat’ni Dene is a network of Łutsël K’é Dene First Nations members, ​young and old, who serve as the stewards of Thaidene Nëné.​ They assert the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation's Indigenous rights and authority in Thaidene Nëné through their presence and activities on the land and water. Ni Hat’ni Dene crews practice a traditional subsistence lifestyle, maintaining the integrity of cultural sites, conducting environmental monitoring, and interacting with visitors to Thaidene Nëné. 

SEAS uses educational experiences to help First Nations youth connect with the landscape and culture of their traditional territories. Each program is uniquely suited to the community's priorities, needs and opportunities for engaging youth in stewardship learning and activities. Programs integrate traditional and cultural knowledge with western science approaches, and typically have both a school component and a summer internship component. Interns are often paired with Guardian Watchmen for some portion of their summer training.

This is a Nunatsiavut program that focuses on bringing together youth and harvesters to enhance a community freezer program in Nain. The program responds to priorities in Nunatsiavut while addressing outcomes of the Inuit Health Survey. The overall goal is to help build the resiliency of youth in the face of widespread social, environmental, and cultural change. It is about building connections (social and environmental) and reaching out to youth to enhance the mental, physical, and spiritual health of youth through intensive, long-term engagement and programming.

Misipawistik Pimatisimēskanaw (“life path”) is a program that was created to revive the nēhinaw way by offering culturally relevant teachings to help Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids) youth reconnect with their culture, rebuild connections to their ancestral land, promote healthy living, and provide an education. The ultimate goal is for the youth to grow strong (ta-sokikapawi-t) and know who they are, to understand their strengths, weaknesses and responsibilities in life.

The K’ómoks Guardian department prides itself in undertaking significant outreach throughout K’ómoks territory. Each season the team spends time at local schools teaching them about the Nation’s historic and current relationship to its lands and waters. The amount of time the Guardians have spent interacting with schools has created significant interest from youth. The Guardians have been so successful in inspiring K’ómoks youth that they have been able to hire all their existing staff from its summer student program. Guardians connect Elders and younger generations so youth can learn traditional ways of hunting, gathering, and processing foods.

Dehcho K’éhodi means ‘Taking Care of the Dehcho’ in Dehcho Dene Zhatié. The Dehcho K’éhodi Stewardship Program is a regional on-the-land program for stewardship activities in the region. The foundation of the stewardship program is to (1) to be guided by the Dene Laws & Values; (2) to support & strengthen the Dene language; and (3) to enable youth-elder mentorships, so future generations of Dene can learn their culture and how to be on the land.

This programming is the  first ever land-based education program on White Bear First Nations, a community of Nakoda, Dakoda, Cree and Saulteaux peoples in southeastern Saskatchewan. Students explore Indigenous practices and traditions and gain school credit. Some of the skills the students are learning range from tipi-raising, canoeing, trapping, hunting, preparing the meat, tanning hides, picking berries, and harvesting traditional medicines.

You can take a look at the resources page on the YOLO (Youth On the Land Opportunities) Community network website and filter for those specific to Guardians and youth.

Communities running Supporting Emerging Aboriginal Stewards (SEAS) youth on the land programs on BC's Central Coast developed "The SEAS Toolkit in partnership with Nature United. The SEAS toolkit is a resource for planning an on-the-land Indigenous youth program. Note that this toolkit was developed based on the unique culture and territories of First Nations on the BC Coast and you may need to adapt some of the language and activities to fit your specific context.