A PATHWAY FOR CHANGE FROM THE CHILDREN OF TOMORROW
Welcome
TAKE A MOMENT
We are the Children of Tomorrow. We have been tasked by our Chiefs to develop the Yukon First Nations approach to climate action as the Yukon First Nations Climate Action Fellowship.
The Fellowship has been on a journey of Reconnection since January 2021. Together, we have explored our cultures and identities, and have upheld our responsibility to present our understanding of the climate crisis and mental health crisis. Our Reconnection Vision is our pathway for change, where Reconnection transforms the ways we live, learn, and work through being in good relationship with ourselves, each other, and the Land. ∆
Our hope is that your Reconnection journey can begin as you read and experience this document. Take a moment to reflect on your journey and the experiences that have brought you here.
∆
In this document, the term ‘Land’ is encompassing of ALL life on Earth (plants, animals, insects, soils, waters, rocks, and more…)
In writing this, we resist the norm of rigid documents. We can be aware of how the words shared here are digested and felt by our mind, body, heart, and spirit. As you read, you may start to envision a renewed way of living and knowing life. We ask you to honour those aspirations and consider your role and responsibility to the children, Land, and life of tomorrow.
Slow down & Reconnect
Opening Prayer
PRAYER FROM NIKA SILVERFOX-YOUNG NORTHERN TUTCHONE
Please guide me as I travel through this world to be the best that I can be for you. Guide my voice to be strong to speak the truth. Open my heart with wisdom and love. Strengthen my voice to speak for the Children of Tomorrow. Strengthen my voice to speak for the salmon that swim in our rivers. Strengthen my voice to speak the knowledge and love of Elders. Protect me on my journey.
Thank you.
We Are The Children Of Tomorrow
We are 13 young people from lands that many people know today as the Yukon and northern British Columbia, Canada. We come from all walks of life. We are Wolf moiety, we are Crow moiety; we are Land guardians, hunters, parents, cousins; we are artists, mine workers, youth workers, storytellers, activists, students, beaders, language revitalisers, entrepreneurs, and leaders.
In February 2020, Yukon First Nations signed a Climate Change Emergency Declaration, which called for the creation of a Yukon First Nations Climate Vision and Action Plan. Yukon First Nations Leadership declared that this Plan should be youth-led as, “it is their future at stake and they will inherit the decisions made now.”
Reconnection Vision is our response to this task. It is an offering to continue the journey of Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow. We are those Children of Tomorrow, working today for a better future for all.
We are the climate. We are the change. We are the future. And the future is today.
“Axh toowú latseeníxhisatee.” “You all are my courage.”
“Hënähshe. Ntr’ëdëtth’ëk.”
“Ganohkhii. Nikhoodhàdhàach’eii.”
“Kūnahde. Denīt̀sʼą̀̄.”
“Hunahheeyh. Nuhdzįįtth’ek.”
“Hunji. Yetsʼin dinthí.”
“Yaa x̱ʼanayla.át. Yee x̱ʼéix̱ tusa.áx̱x̱.”
“Kwanįjê kʼeʼ. Ghàjenììtthʼą̀ʼ.”
“Gūdehdéh. Nehdzedétsʼik.”
“You are speaking. We are listening.”
In 2020, this is what Yukon First Nations Leadership told us as young people. Reconnection Vision is our response.
Ryan Kyikavichik
1 VUNTUT GWITCHIN FIRST NATION CROW CLAN
Jennifer Mierau
2 TR’ONDËK HWËCH’IN FIRST NATION CROW CLAN
Kadrienne Hummel
3 FIRST NATION OF NA-CHO NYÄK DUN WOLF CLAN
Nika Silverfox-Young 4 LITTLE SALMON CARMACKS FIRST NATION WOLF CLAN
Jared Dulac - Kamära 5 KLUANE FIRST NATION CROW CLAN
Dustin McKenzie-Hubbard
6 CHAMPAGNE AND AISHIHIK FIRST NATIONS CROW CLAN
Robby Dick - Nagodigá
7 ROSS RIVER DENA COUNCIL
WOLF CLAN
Mats’ä̀säna Mą Primozic
8 CHAMPAGNE AND AISHIHIK FIRST NATIONS WOLF CLAN
Carissa Waugh - Ékè Éwe
9 KWANLIN DÜN FIRST NATION CROW CLAN
Jessi-John Whalen 10 KWANLIN DÜN FIRST NATION WOLF CLAN
Jewel Davies - Yekhunashîn - Khatuku
11 CARCROSS/ TAGISH FIRST NATION DAK`LAWEIDÍ CLAN
Geehaadastee - Shauna Yeomans-Lindstrom 12 TAKU RIVER TLINGIT COUNCIL YANŸEIDÍ CLAN
Skaydu.û Jules 13 TESLIN TLINGIT COUNCIL DAK`LAWEIDÍ CLAN
TIMELINE 2019-2023
Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation declares climate emergency: Yeendoo Diinehdoo Ji’heezrit Nits’oo Ts’o’ Nan He’aa.
Yukon First Nations Climate Action Gathering: Yukon First Nations sign Declaration of Climate Emergency.
Fellowship begins online (COVID-19): Beginning of a year of local and international knowledge keepers sharing teachings over ‘Virtual Campfires’ and through RIVER’s Reconnection Symposium.
Whitehorse/Kwänlin Gathering: discovery of 215 children at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, Kamloops Residential School.
Wéinaa / Atlin on-the-Land Gathering at At-xeegi Tlein / 5 Mile Point camp on Taku River Tlingit First Nation lands: Prioritising healing and wellbeing.
Reconnection Space with Youth and Elders at Nänkäk Ch’ëholay (Land of Plenty) camp, on Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in lands.
First in-person Gathering at Inn on the Lake at Marsh Lake / Tàkádàdhà / Sāa Tl’áh Ni: birth of Reconnection is Climate Action philosophy.
Working Retreat at Vista near Tàa’an Män on Ta’an Kwäch’än lands: preparing Draft Plan for engagement. Fellows’ recruitment.
Ongoing grief, hardship, struggles. Community engagement.
Design sprint for Reconnection Vision: prepping final plan.
Multiple engagement sessions with knowledge holders across Plan’s Vision areas.
Draft Reconnection Vision and Action Plan released for engagement.
Fellowship Graduation ceremony during 50 year celebration of Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow.
Release final Reconnection Vision and continue to work towards creating a better tomorrow.
THE MEANING OF OUR EMBLEM
FELLOWSHIP EMBLEM - CARISSA WAUGH - ÉKÈ ÉWE
In September 2021 I was asked to make a logo for the Fellowship. I was kind of nervous and had no idea what to do until one night during one of our virtual campfire meetings. I could see it all coming together and immediately got beading. I wanted this logo to tell our story!
I chose the caribou hoof and a salmon because these animals are such a big part of the Yukon and climate action here. We all have some kind of connection to them. Yukon First Nations people have long been deeply connected with salmon and caribou. As Fellows, we even got matching tattoos of caribou hooves, and mid-way through the Fellowship, Nika (another Fellow) found the Northern Tutchone translation of my traditional name - Ékè Éwe – it means ‘caribou hoof noise’. I also wanted to include the four traditional colours: red, white, black and yellow.
The swan represents a lot. Swans are sacred and have medicine. For a few of the Fellows, there are some significant stories behind the swan. The background is multiple colours of green to represent the northern lights, which became symbolic to us in April 2021 when we had our first in-person gathering at Inn on the Lake. There was one night a few of us stayed up late around the fire. Emily (from our Steering Committee) said “one day we are all going to be Elders sitting around the fire like this,” and right after she said that the sky lit up with the brightest northern lights! They danced around and it felt like everything was how it’s supposed to be. Such an amazing moment. The berries represent soapberries. During our Atlin gathering, some Fellows went and picked soapberries and brought them back to camp to make soapberry ice cream.
I chose orange to represent “Every Child Matters.” In May 2021, when the first 215 children were found, we found ourselves together at an in-person Fellowship gathering. It was a very hard weekend for us but it was so nice to be with everyone at that time. For the rest of the year, it seemed like we were together as a group for every other notable day for Residential school healing. When we travelled to Dawson City for a Reconnection Space, we were driving together on Orange Shirt Day, all gathered wearing our orange shirts. When we travelled together to Fredericton for the AFN National Climate Gathering, it was during the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
This spider web represents the traditional story that Matsʼä̀säna Mą shared with us throughout the Fellowship – the story about how the spider taught humans how to make a fish net, thus saving them. It’s such a fun and valuable story, and Matsʼä̀säna Mą is an amazing storyteller, so we get her to tell it every once in a while.
I feel incredibly honoured that I got to tell our story with my beadwork. I feel like I have become more confident with my beading journey with this Fellowship, and this emblem is a great reminder of how far I have come.
Invitation
Reconnection Vision is a societal shift guide, a toolkit and a story that comes from our truths and lived experiences.
The worldview of Reconnection Vision illuminates that the norms we are accustomed to were not designed for Reconnection. There is work to be done, and we are asking you to embark on this journey with us that at times will be uncomfortable as we begin to experiment and cultivate space for Reconnection.
Reconnection Vision invites us to:
∆ Consider our positions and responsibilities in community and society.
∆ Commit dedicated time for ourselves and within our organizations to read, sit with and reflect upon the philosophy of Reconnection, the Reconnection Seeds and the Visions for Tomorrow.
∆ Question and confront the norms of disconnection within our society, especially as they become more apparent and recognisable.
∆ Persevere through uncertainty and embrace the discomfort and teachings of transformation.
As a guide and toolkit, Reconnection Vision supports us to think about our connection in the web we’ve created, and gives us tools for breaking down today’s barriers to Reconnection so we can walk towards our Vision for the future. Fundamentally, it is a re-education and decolonisation guide that can be applied anywhere.
As a story, Reconnection Vision is a gift that leads by example to help guide us forward, together, in a good way. It is an act of reciprocity to future generations and an invitation, to you, to join our journey.
We invite you to become part of our pathway for change.
Philosophy
PHILOSOPHY OF RECONNECTION
KUSI KWÄNDÜR - SPIDER STORY
DISCONNECTION TO RECONNECTION
RETHINKING “CLIMATE CHANGE”
BECOMING WHOLE PEOPLE
RECONNECTION IS CLIMATE ACTION
THE PHILOSOPHY OF RECONNECTION
The Reconnection Vision honours our Indigenous cultures and worldviews. Our cultures are powerful because their values and teachings reflect the values and teachings of the Land. Skills such as sewing, harvesting, building, and making art allow us to reclaim self-reliance and our sense of self-worth. Stories we hear today offer teachings that we may gain through self-reflection ten years later. Song opens our hearts and connection to creation. Harvesting food and medicines support our health and our return to being part of the Land and Water.
Language creates a whole new understanding of the world. Learning our languages is directly tied to Land stewardship. Language allows us to communicate with the Land, spirit, and each other as a whole person. Our Indigenous languages are sophisticatedly connected to this Land and the history of what this Land has experienced. Our languages are like a Pandora’s box that hold our stories, ceremonies, laws, ways of governance, identity, and so much more that we can’t explain in English. Language roots us to the Land in an intimate and connected way like a centuries-old tree. We need to be able to think, express ourselves, and make decisions in our languages. Too much is lost when we think and express in the English language only.
We begin with a special Long Ago Story, Kusi Kwändür, a Southern Tutchone story about how Spider taught our Ancestors how to make fishnet. We reflect upon this story throughout the Reconnection Vision. We do this to demonstrate how our cultures and non-human relatives continue to guide us.
THAT’S WHEN HE SHOWED HIM WHICH WAY TO SET THE NET
maghą nan zha ultäy lhu maku dadal
EARLY TOMORROW MORNING WHEN YOU CHECK THE NET THERE WILL BE LOTS OF FISH
ultäy lhu k’edínyel̨ nenu k’e aghāy dakuchʼe
YES IT’S A FISHNET, HE TOLD HIM, “YOUʼRE GOING TO NET MANY FISH,”
hak’e hanäw “meyenjia mą ich’enäw?”
THAT’S WHEN HE SAID, “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”
hak’e hanäw, dak’àan k’e “Aju mą nch’en?”
THAT’S WHEN THE MAN SAID, “NO, WHO ARE YOU?”
“I am, kusi ích’e anu kusi íchʼe kwaka, ích’e a’an jąw kʼanída achemęl niʼenäw ayet tsʼu gada atl’u yenitthʼäy “awww nan ch’i na yenu gunischiss” yeʼen nachʼetlʼäw ayet
“I AM SPIDER, I SAW YOU FROM MY SPIDER WEB ON THAT TREE.” HE SAID. HOLY SO IT IS YOU! THANK YOU. THEN HE WENT BACK.
FROM DISCONNECTION TO RECONNECTION
A philosophy comes from a worldview - a set of beliefs we use to navigate the world.
The philosophy we use to understand a problem determines the types of solutions we can imagine to address it.
Climate change is commonly understood to be long-term changes in temperatures, weather patterns, and related degradation of the environment caused by human activity.
In response to this understanding, the current approach to climate action is to treat just the symptoms of climate change (e.g. rising carbon dioxide emissions).
We believe quick fixes that respond to these symptoms that are rooted in consumption, such as electric vehicles and solar panels, don’t go deep enough.
We want to treat the root cause of climate change: DISCONNECTION.
If we continue to focus on climate actions built from the same worldview that created the climate crisis, we cannot expect society to change.
We have normalized living, learning, and working in disconnected relation with all parts of ourselves (spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical), each other (community, colleagues, and partners) and the Land (all life, energy, and spirit).
Disconnection is causing the climate crisis and mental health crisis.
The imbalance of the Land reflects the imbalance within ourselves.
We are making mind dominated decisions and have numbed our heart and spirit.
In turn, we are living and making decisions with only half our true human potential.
Only by addressing the root cause of climate change - our disconnected relationships with ourselves, each other, and the Land - can we change the trajectory for future generations.
CARBON TUNNEL VISION
ORIGINAL GRAPHIC BY JAN
KONIETZKO, ADAPTED
RETHINKING
“CLIMATE CHANGE”
We are living in an era of Disconnection.
This time is an anomaly in history.
Today, the story we are told about climate change comes from a dominant worldview that narrowly defines the problem as one of increasing carbon dioxide emissions leading to degradation of our environment.
We, the Children of Tomorrow, understand climate change as being about something much deeper: our current state of Disconnection.
What do we mean by Disconnection?
We have become disconnected from the Land and knowing our place as part of her;
We have become disconnected from each other and our sense of belonging as part of community;
We have become disconnected from ourselvesfrom our emotions and spiritual insight.
We must remember that we have not always lived this way. Over the past ~14,000 years, in what is now known as the Yukon, our First Nations Ancestors lived in deep relationship with place and community. We were “Part of the Land, part of the Water.”- Deisleen Kwáan (Teslin Tlingit) Elder Virginia Smarch ∆
Laws that governed our people were sourced from the Land, from being in deep relationship with place;
Ceremonies grounded us in our responsibility to those relationships;
Languages reflected our familial relationship with our ancestral Lands, Waters, and Animals;
Teslin Tlingit (Deisleen Kwáan) Elder Virginia Smarch in McClellan, C. and L. Birckel (1987). Part of the land, part of the water: a history of the Yukon
Time on the Land strengthened skills needed to be in good relationship;
Stories passed on our laws and the importance of these relationships from generation to generation.
Only recently have we come to live within systems rooted in colonization and a Disconnected worldview that understands humans as separate from Nature.
Today’s Disconnected systems enforce values such as individualism, hierarchy and authority, and the prioritization of the wants of some humans over the needs of all other Life. These systems have led us to live, learn, and work in a way that does not prioritize or enable being in good relationship with ourselves, with each other as community, and with the Land.
This Disconnected way of life has led to a state of vulnerability and sickness for us and for the Land. Today, we call this condition ‘climate change’.
The imbalance in our Lands is a reflection of the imbalance within ourselves due to the Disconnected way we live, learn, and work.
Climate action built within a system that sees ourselves as disconnected from each other and the Land is unhealthy and unjust for all humans. We are intrinsically interconnected to everything. Our First Nations and Indigenous cultures understand this and have been able to hold onto this connection, despite generations of colonization. The knowledge and tools of our cultures can help us to reconnect and go forward in good relationship with the places we live and the people we are from.
Reconnection is what is needed for true climate action.
Indians, Vancouver; Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre.
BEADED TIMELINE:
RECONNECTION
BECOMING WHOLE PEOPLE, BEING IN GOOD RELATIONSHIP
In our way, as Yukon First Nations people, being in good relationship is central to how we have lived, learned, and worked for millennia. Good relationships include respect, equity, reciprocity, listening, honouring, supporting, love, empathy, patience and humor. We share this relationship-centred way of being with many Indigenous peoples around the globe.
The first step to being in good relationship is to understand what it means to be in good relationship with ourselves, and to be a whole person. To be a whole person, we must honour all parts of our being: our spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental selves. Our First Nations culture provides many teachings to nourish our whole person.
Holding Ourselves in Balance as We Walk Towards Wholeness
How is becoming a whole person relevant to climate action?
Whole personhood is a central tenet to realizing our Reconnection Vision. For us to reclaim balance with the Land, we must first restore balance within ourselves. We acknowledge that many of us do not understand the hurt of this imbalance in ourselves and our relationships, nor do we understand how connected it is to climate action.
Our systems (including education, health, extraction, energy, and economy) prioritize mind-dominated decisions and approaches. In turn, we are making imbalanced decisions that are reflected in the imbalance of Earth (rising sea levels, increased wildfires and floods, loss of species, etc.).
We believe that when we draw on the knowledge from our whole person - our emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental selves - we will make better decisions for the Land and for future generations .
The work of Reconnection is to bring us back into good relationship with all parts of ourselves, each other and the Land.
Your Ancestors do not wish this pain on you.
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Illustration: Holding Ourselves in Balance as we Walk Towards Wholeness. Adapted from “Peacemaking Circles: From Crime to Community,” book by Barry Drummond Stuart, Kay Pranis and Mark Wedge.
PATHWAY FOR CHANGE: RECONNECTION IS CLIMATE ACTION
We offer Reconnection IS CLIMATE ACTION as a pathway to transform the ways we live, learn, and work.
Reconnection is the individual, community, societal, and global journey of returning to being in good relationship with ourselves, each other and the Land as a means to becoming whole people .
We share OUR STORY to demonstrate the power of Reconnection.
We illustrate Reconnection BARRIERS - the norms of our society and systems that actively drive disconnection and prevent Reconnection.
We are guided by 10 Reconnection SEEDS - actions for our society to overcome our Reconnection barriers and shift us from our current path of imbalance towards our Vision of a better tomorrow.
We offer TEACHINGS - the understandings we have gained through our Reconnection journey.
We share our Reconnection VISION as a beacon to guide us so we may live, learn, and work in good relationship with ourselves, each other, and the Land.
WELCOME
PHILOSOPHY SEEDS
VISION
GRATITUDE
Seeds
HEAL OURSELVES WORK TOGETHER
RE-EDUCATE
SLOW DOWN
LISTEN TO THE LAND
UPHOLD CULTURE
STOP PLANNING, START DOING
CENTRE COMMUNITY
TAKE RISKS, SHARE POWER
GROW LEADERS
OUR STORY: RECONNECTION SEEDS
Telling Our Story
The story of the Children of Tomorrow is an active example of the power and transformative potential of Reconnection. It is evidence that we are all capable of change right now.
We cannot prescribe a one-size-fits-all Reconnection pathway. Each individual, community, and organization will have a unique journey. Instead, we share the experience and teachings of our story, our two-year Reconnection journey, as an example of our philosophy in practice. Through our story, we illuminate the systemic structures that represent barriers to Reconnection. We identify Reconnection seeds that guided our approach to overcoming these barriers. Rather than a traditional policy plan, we uphold our Indigenous ways by offering our story and the teachings of our experience to acknowledge and honour the variety of pathways that represent the individual and collective work of Reconnection that is for each of us to define and be responsible for.
“When we walk on the Land, we know we are walking in our ancestor’s footsteps.”
Sògòsene edenahtʼį̄
TAGISH / “TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF”
HEAL OURSELVES
A spider constantly works on its web as it becomes easily tattered. Similarly, a fishnet must be frequently mended. Staying connected takes time and energy. We need to know how to mend our web to be whole.
In February 2020, Yukon First Nations Leaders gathered and declared a Climate Emergency. They decided the youth must lead climate action, as “it is their future at stake and they will inherit the decisions made now.” Prior to this, a member of our Steering Committee (SC) had a dream and knew it was a group of youth who would form the Yukon First Nations Climate Action Fellowship. In Fall 2020, the SC and Elders developed a recruitment approach to build the Fellowship. Rather than assessing individual accomplishments, selection focused on balancing the group in gender,
Indigenous language group, clan, introversion/ extroversion, and life experience. Over 30 women applied while the SC had to actively recruit young men.
Our Fellowship represents the experience and diversity of Yukon youth. We arrived with anxiety, addictions, insecurities, feelings of shame for not knowing our culture and language, a longing for our community, and a sense of imposter syndrome. The Fellowship felt like something we weren’t worthy of. We also came with leadership, strength, wisdom, determination, and vision, though we may not have realized it then. With the love, purpose, and belonging of the Fellowship family, we were able to begin healing.
TEACHINGS QUESTIONS
Being strong, grounded, and whole is the foundation of Indigenous ways of being. Our culture is inherently healing.
We have normalized repressing trauma and operating in survival mode in our society. We can also normalize healing and wholeness. Everything we do can be trauma-informed.
The shame and stigma around mental health and expressing emotion prevents healing. Being true and sharing our healing journey with others can support a culture of healing.
The importance of mental health is not prioritized in our daily lives, our jobs, or at school.
Academic, professional, and personal settings trigger trauma responses (i.e. fight, flight, freeze, fawn) through imposed norms such as deadlines, tests, 37.5hr work weeks, financial stress, power imbalance, mechanistic procedures and communication.
Self care is community care. When you are healthy, it transforms everyone around you.
Collective and group healing is powerful as we create safe space together, in addition to our individual healing efforts. 1 2 3 4 5
How do we create and normalize healing in how we live, learn, and work?
What does a healthy, balanced life look like?
How can everyone learn healing and wellness skills? From babies to Elders?
“Blood memory is in the evolution of people. It’s in the hardships we’ve gone through in residential school. It stays in our blood and that is how we know that we have to keep surviving and keep going with the Land in hard times. When there was a hard, heavy winter, we pushed ourselves to keep looking for food - the cold teaches us that we need each other.”
- KADRIENNE HUMMEL
Deyéh kénḗhdḗl!
KASKA DENA / “WORK TOGETHER”
WORK TOGETHER
Spider shared his knowledge of harvest with the couple withtrustandpatience.Hetaughtthemtoworktogether.
The Fellowship partners: The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Yukon Region, the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN), Yukon University and Revitalizing Indigenous Virtues for Earth’s Regeneration (RIVER), with support from the Youth Climate Lab, Northern Council for Global Cooperation, Yukon First Nation Elders, Yukon First Nations and others, worked together as the Fellowship Steering Committee (SC). The SC strived to work together in equity, with little hierarchy, where no one partner had sole control over the project. The arrangement sought to break down silos, ensure project autonomy, build trust between partners, develop a Fellows-first decision-making approach, and enable change making throughout the project. To prepare for the Fellowship, The SC piloted RIVER’s Illuminating Worldviews course, where underlying assumptions and impacts of the
dominant western worldview were explored through circle dialogue. All meetings and spaces in the Fellowship began with prayer or poetry followed by check-ins. This grounding practice built trust and an understanding of how everyone was arriving to the space. It nurtured patience and compassion for individual experiences and became a space to support each other. We all carry so much. Together, we took training in conflict communication and resolution as well as trauma-informed care.
We represent 10 of the 14 Yukon First Nations, as well as the transboundary Taku River Tlingit First Nation. We are from unceded and SelfGoverning Nations, and represent seven Yukon First Nations language groups. Our families extend into BC, Alaska and NWT. We often looked to Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow for guidance, and recognized the strength of our unity as people of the Yukon. Our experiences and hardships transcend borders; we are family and no imaginary line can change that.
To work together in relationship
TEACHINGS
The inability to work together in good relationship is a major impediment to climate action and social transformation.
Relationships need to move at the pace of trust. This takes significant time and energy and our ways of working and learning need to reflect that. Checking in, grounding in ceremony, equality in circle spaces and sharing experiences together promote good relationships where we listen, learn and are teachable with intent.
Our communities struggle with lateral violence, in-fighting, government break down, the impact of residential schools, anxiety, addictions, low self-worth, and other mental health challenges, all which impact our ability to establish healthy boundaries, communicate, and develop the skills required to be in good relationship.
All organizations need to assess their ability to be a good partner and operate in good relationships. Many institutional procedures and policies run counter to Reconnection. They emphasize internal protection, competition with other institutions, maintaining control, or ensuring positive public perception. Initiatives are often redundant, inefficient, siloed, and lack trust, openness, or communication.
The Spirit of the Final Agreements is to create a Yukon where all people work together in respect and equality towards the intent of creating a better tomorrow for the generations to come.
QUESTIONS
How can we honour and recognize our colleagues as whole people in professional settings? How can we show up as our whole selves instead of sitting with our ‘hats’ on?
How can we normalize working and learning in circle?
How can we make time in work and school to communicate and understand each other?
Our Ancestors’ families rarely fought because they had to work together to survive. They respected each other and had tools such as potlatch, gifting, and peacemaking to overcome disagreement. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Many colonial tools divide us, such as borders, traditional territories, Unceded and Self-Governing Nations. We must work hard to reconnect our true relations. We are strongest together.
“Two caribou with its horns entangled, struggling to free themselves is how I see two cultures colliding. Western cultures and Indigenous cultures. They have to learn to work together to get untangled.”
- RYAN KYIKAVICHIK
Nagoovoohanachaa
RE-EDUCATE
Thespiderdidnotjudgethecouplefornotknowinghow to set net. Instead, he offered them a skill so they could take care of themselves and find more balance in life.
The Fellowship officially began online in January 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The Steering Committee crafted an emergent curriculum based on a whole-person approach that evolved in response to our interests and direction. Instead of rigid scheduling and narrow focus on technical understandings of climate change (i.e. emissions, policy, and electric cars), we were connected with local to global transformative leaders and thinkers. The first session started with ceremony, including a song that came from a dream, then prayer, then our stories. Though we were from different parts of the Yukon, we quickly learned our hurt was the same. We shared trauma, judgement, addictions, and anxieties. In school and society, assessment and individualistic success took precedent over
our wellbeing and connection with our culture and community.
One particularly impactful presentation was with Dr. Lee Brown on emotional competency. Our young men reflected on how anger was the only emotion they felt supported to express, while our women described feelings of overwhelming anxiety. We came to understand how our society and education denied us the tools and support to express and understand our emotions and each other.
After one year, many of us were transformed. One said, “I have the confidence to make life changing decisions so I can do my part for others.” Building confidence was a theme of the Fellowship; we went from self-doubt and insecurity to presenting our Vision to Ministers, leading our communities, changing our career paths, being positive role models for youth, and enjoying small quiet moments for ourselves.
GWICH’IN /“RE-EDUCATE THEM”
In nurturing safe space to educate
TEACHINGS
Current approaches to education focus primarily on the mental and measurable. Children are taught to sit, read, and count while nurturing emotional competence and social wellbeing are secondary to academics.
We are taught what to think instead of how to think. Standard educational approaches are based on assessment, measurable judgement, competition, and repetition and do not promote critical thinking, confidence, or self-worth.
We must be well to learn. One cannot learn if they are traumatized. K-12 and postsecondary institutions are often not safe for students and can be traumatizing. Educational institutions need to be trauma-informed and prioritize wellness and healthy relationships in learning.
Rigid educational structures and focus on intellect in K-12 institutions leads to a lack of development of emotional competency and the skills needed for wellness in adulthood. Many adults struggle with mental health because they never gained the fundamental tools for wellness and self-accountability through their education or society. Learning new ways of being is for all ages, not just children.
In Indigenous education, the community supports children and youth to listen, make mistakes, observe, then do and redo in a safe, nurturing space until they are confident to do things on their own. The whole community is part of a child’s learning and growth journey. Everyone is a teacher and a learner.
QUESTIONS
How can we create opportunities to learn about emotional competency and whole personhood for all ages?
How do we reimagine the intent of education beyond testing and assessment, towards focusing on each person’s growth and confidence?
How do we elevate Education as crucial and central in climate spaces and decisions?
There is power in the Land and ourselves that will reteach us everything we need to know to thrive through our language, skills, songs, and stories. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Education is crucial to climate action. What and how we learn informs our worldview. We cannot transform if we persist to teach and learn from the same worldview that has led us to crisis.
“Language revitalization is the backbone of our traditional knowledge transfer system and needs to be prioritized and upheld just as much, or even more so than the Eurocentric education system.”
- SKAYDU.Ȗ JULES
Khe’ ts’o’
GWICH’IN / “SLOW DOWN”
SLOW DOWN
The couple moved from a cycle of being constantly busy to a new cycle where they had more time and more wealth.
We met in person for the first time at our Marsh Lake gathering in April 2021. As soon as we were together, we were laughing. The agenda was light, with one activity in the morning and one in the afternoon. Time flowed as it needed to. We adjusted activities without worry as we came together through song, ceremony, art, dreams, and the Land. Elders and Knowledge Keepers guided us in story, art, and energy work. We were safe to speak our truth, to explore spiritual guidance, belief in the Ancestors, and had many experiences that let us know we were on the right path. From this sacred space emerged the philosophy of Reconnection is Climate Action.
At our second gathering in May 2021, the 215 children were discovered in unmarked graves in Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc at Kamloops Residential School. The planned agenda was put aside and instead we gathered in circle, prayed, sang in ceremony, and then joined the community vigil. Our journey has cycled through ups and downs. We had periods of hard mental work, times fully focused on healing, and moments of fully stopping. We were not expected to show up at every meeting; instead we understood that the Fellowship space and family was there for us no matter what our struggles were. If life got too big, we could step away. The world is a busy place, matched with our busy minds. But a busy mind creates a worried heart, and a worried heart can’t make decisions.
As we slow down and cycle in ceremony
Humans are spiritual. Regular ceremony grounds us in responsibility, belief, balance and connection with spirit. We all have the right to believe in the way that makes sense to us.
How can we live within the Land’s energy flows and cycles, as our Ancestors did?
How can we create openness for spirituality in our societies in a way that honours the global diversity of belief?
Our Ancestors lived within and harnessed the spiritual, energetic cycles of the Land. They had medicine and power that still exists within us and the Land today.
Our lives today are too fast and busy. We cannot heal, listen or have clarity when we are constantly on the move and overwhelmed. We need to be comfortable and welcoming in stillness so we can realign with the Land’s cycles.
Energy is intended to flow through all life in cycles. Energy stuck in our bodies, communities and the Land is harmful and causes sickness, such as the climate and mental health crisis.
Returning to the Land’s cycles is one of the most important things we can do to return to balance. We have natural cycles and rhythms that are purposeful and needed. Many peoples around the world still honour natural cycles.
It is hard to break and create new cycles. Just as our communities are stuck in trauma cycles, our society is stuck in cycles of dependency, routine, and control. Rigid agendas, daily schedules, strict timelines, and fiscal deadlines disregard the needs and cycles of people.
We are allowed to slow down, and we are allowed to stop. Give yourself grace to be present and to simply be. Enjoy small moments. Your intuition is valid and right. Trust your body. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
How can we slow down our busy lives and normalize a healthy pace that includes regular stillness and adequate time for reflection and certainty?
“The crackling of the open fire brings my mind to ease. Brings stillness to
my being. And stillness to everything around me. I watch as blades of fire dance to the shifting of air and light. As I sit, I remember quietness, as things tend to be noisy in the world. I remember to be still, so movement may happen. The movement of emotions, mind, and my spirit.”
- RYAN KYIKAVICHIK
Gūkēyeh tsį̄ʼ dḗhdél!
KASKA / “GO ON THE LAND”
LISTEN TO THE LAND
The Land taught us everything and can teach us again. In the Southern Tutchone language, the root of the word fishnet, chemèn, is the same as spider web, kusi mèn.
Our third gathering was on the Land in Taku River Tlingit First Nation Territory at At-xeegi Tlein, 5-Mile Point Camp in August 2021. We came together to determine how to bring Reconnection to our communities. We had a hilarious time setting up wall tents with the wrong set of poles! Our amazing Tlingit hosts toured us around Jánwu X’áat’i (Theresa Island). We learned to fillet, smoke, and jar salmon. For some of us, it was the first time. We made soapberry ice cream, held daily ceremony, played music, told stories and had time with Taku Elders and community members. Days were for exploration and creation, and evenings were for planning. We decided our
work going forward would prioritise being whole people and that we would bring Reconnection to others through a series of community-based Reconnection Spaces. This time on the Land was sacred. We arrived full of noise, with busy minds and unsettled hearts. It took time with the Land to regain grounding and presence. Once quieted, we were able to access the teachings and wisdom held by the Land and ancestors as we envisioned the future.
Later in the evening, we enjoyed a sauna and swim in Atlin Lake. The presence of Atlin Lake had no concept of ego or timelines. As part of the headwaters of the Yukon River, Atlin (Wéinaa) connects us all, and the whole Yukon. Water was central to our journey. We always came back to the spiritual, healing, life holding power of Water.
and water
So we may listen and know the land
TEACHINGS QUESTIONS
Everything, including the rocks, animals, and trees, is alive, has daily experience, and has agency.
Our Ancestors could speak with and learn from the Land. They worked a lifetime to do so, and we must do the same. They tended, harvested and cultivated the Land to generate more life. They cleared beaver dams to keep salmon paths clear, burned to create grasslands, and pruned berry bushes so more boughs could return.
The spirit and power of the Land travels up through the ground and is expressed and wielded through the songs, ceremony, and determination of Indigenous people. The Land holds our memory. We must relearn how to listen so we can make decisions and speak for those with no voice.
Our souls find us through the Water. Water is life, energy, and medicine. We must protect Water.
The Land and Water provides everything we need: our food, medicine, home, and wellbeing. It only asks to be respected and cared for in return. Time with the Land naturally returns us to our internal rhythms to regulate, to feel calm, and to feel peace.
The Land is not easily accessible in our current way of living. Being in good relationship with the Land requires time and money and is a privilege. We make decisions for the Land based on maps and models that do not reflect its reality, dignity, and needs. No one has the right to make decisions about a place unless they are in relationship with its character and being.
Land Guardians and other roles where people are able to intertwine their livelihood with the Land and Waters are the future. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
How can we make time for all people to have a relationship with the Land?
How can we depend on the Land without taking too much and instead maintain and enhance the life of the Land?
How can our systems and how we make decisions and view the Land transform from mindsets of control and extraction to cycle and cultivation?
“Having ceremonies, asking the salmon or caribou to come home… Getting back into dialogue with them... That is what we would do with any of our relatives.”
- CHILDREN OF TOMORROW
H Ä N / “IN THE PAST WE CARRY OUR WAY”
UPHOLD CULTURE
The spider taught the people a new, or perhaps forgotten, way of fishing. The couple needed skill and resilience to be successful in learning a new way.
In September 2021, we hosted our first Reconnection Space at Nänkäk Ch’ëholay (Land of Plenty) camp in Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Territory. We worked in partnership with Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in to organize and host the camp within five weeks. The camp was incredibly fulfilling and well attended by Knowledge Keepers, Elders, community members, youth, and leaders. Programming was slow and included drum making, plant medicine, and traditional foods. A notable moment was the growth of a few young teenagers who were uncertain about the camp when they arrived but by the end, began opening up, asking personal questions and were curious about how to be more involved. The weather was cool and for a period it rained.
The Nänkäk Ch’ëholay Reconnection Space marked a new chapter in our Reconnection journey. Up to this point, we were focused on our wellbeing and growth. Now, we were stepping up to lead others in Reconnection and we quickly realized how much strength and skill is required to hold space for others. Not all of us were prepared. At the same time, we faced an internal conflict that challenged our sense of safety and illuminated how much the Fellowship meant to us. There was a growing tension between our healing journeys and the task of developing the YFN Climate Plan that we had promised to deliver. This was when we realized the immense challenge of practicing our culture in the modern world. We sought to walk with a Yukon First Nations worldview but were constantly confronted by systems and a society that actively diminished the values of love, connection, and wellness. We learned and grew a tremendous amount.
To reclaim and hold up our way
TEACHINGS
Indigenous cultures provide tools, understandings and teachings to actively transform our worldview so we may walk as whole people and live in good relation. We have much to celebrate as Indigenous people; we have come so far and have much to realize and hope for.
Our Ancestors’ language, stories and actions were purposeful and had meaning. There were stories for place names, harvesting techniques and all of our skills. Nothing was wasteful or done without intention, even their words.
English is very individualistic, unwholesome and dividing. We need to be able to think, express ourselves and make decisions in our Indigenous languages. Our Language brings us back to being whole and interconnected with the Land and our communities.
Everyone has a right to creativity. Indigenous ways teach us to express ourselves through art, song, storytelling, and ceremony. Our skills for self-reliance such as sewing, crafting, building, and harvesting will be critical for the survival of future generations.
Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and community champions must be leaders, teachers, counsellors, and caregivers. They are overwhelmed, can feel alone, and are often undervalued. Life experience and cultural knowledge are equivalent to a Bachelors or PhD and should be valued as such.
Many Indigenous people do not feel worthy of sharing their knowledge and experience due to colonisation and assimilation. As a result, our young people struggle with guilt and shame in not having the opportunity to know their cultures.
There is great strength in our Matriarchal clan-based society, including teachings which the male-dominated world can benefit from.
QUESTIONS
How can we support and ensure wellness for community champions?
How do we equitably balance multiple worldviews and ways of doing and being (including Matrilineal, heart, and spirit-led approaches) in how we live, learn, and work?
How do we create the space and time that is required to relearn and value skills and hands-on doing so that we can reclaim our self-reliance?
“Language is the spirit of our people said out loud. An art form spoken with intent to call us back to our ways when we stumble off trail. Our language calls us back to who we are - as people.”
- RYAN KYIKAVICHIK
nasní
TLINGIT / “DO IT”
STOP PLANNING, START DOING
The fishnet was a technological revolution. Adopting a new way took time and trust, but it lead to meaningful and lasting change that has endured to today.
Over Winter 2021/22, we focused on writing the Draft Reconnection Vision and Action Plan (RVAP). Meanwhile, we faced internal conflict, lost friends and family to tragedy and the opioid crisis, experienced trauma, grief, and saw the return of one Fellow to serious addiction. Gatherings were cancelled and we supported each other as we struggled to stand. Together, we wrote in panic to meet the March fiscal deadline. The Steering Committee spent significant time fighting external administrative norms to put us first, acting as a shield to protect us from processes that did not understand the importance of healing as part of our work. Sometimes this balancing act worked, but it was clear that institutional systems were not made for our success. The draft plan was the primary deliverable with a hard funding deadline that could not be adjusted. By the time the draft
was completed, we were all completely burnt out, detached, and needed a rest.
The uniqueness of the Fellowship is that we, the Fellows, are the true deliverable. Over the two year Fellowship and planning process, we went from being uncertain about our lives to becoming confident change makers and leaders who know our role and are determined to give back to our communities. If we were coerced through a program that did not honour our experience as youth, then this Vision would not be what it is. Instead, it would have been another document for the shelf. The Reconnection Vision is a tool, but in terms of its impact, it is us and those who we work with that will lead and bring this way of being to others.
As the Fellowship progressed, we built stronger relations with funders and challenged organizational partners to assert that the Fellowship is not just about planning for climate action, we are actively doing it.
Change driven by relationships and healing is urgent - we cannot wait for another plan when the people we love are dying. Our youth are not prepared to accept ‘no’ or ‘wait until’ when they see a path to do things sooner, and in their own way.
TEACHINGS QUESTIONS
Many institutional processes and outputs are about planning, analysis, documentation, and reporting. Often, these have little impact and end up as forgotten documents that simply sit on shelves.
If a Yukon First Nation person was walking along a trail and came across a moose, they wouldn’t say, “I didn’t plan to harvest that moose today, so I’ll just keep walking.” They would take the opportunity, and we must do the same. Predetermined processes and deliverables identified in proposals and plans deny emergent approaches, and actively prevent unexpected opportunities for change.
Process-based project approaches, rather than outcome-based approaches, can create active transformation by focusing on the experience and teachings of the journey, rather than just the outcome.
Significant energy is given to validating, proving, and documenting why something should be done when that energy could be used to just do it. We need to stop saying we should, and just do it.
The relationship and means of communication between funders and project administrators is critical. We cannot just report on metrics; we need to share the story of how and why money is spent if we are to create more nimble financial processes.
How can we reframe our understanding of productivity and success? How can we measure action through means other than documentation?
How can we fund emergent and opportunistic projects with deliverables based on process rather than output?
How can funder-recipient relationships evolve to better communicate the impact and outcomes of change-based projects?
“Just try.”
- RYAN KYIKAVICHIK
Our society is cautious and risk-averse, and this limits our capacity for change. We have emphasized analysis over doing, and therefore we are stuck in the same processes that created our climate and mental health crises. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Kèey shìit
UPPER TANANA / “IN COMMUNITY”
CENTRE COMMUNITY
Once spider taught the husband and wife to make fishnet, they were able to adapt the fishnet to suit the needsofthelocalcommunityandLand.Communities, nations, the world, were able to uphold this new way.
Over two years, we worked together with various people: from Deputy Chiefs and Council members of our First Nations, to wildfire crews, to language champions, to youth program leaders.
In June 2022, we released the draft RVAP which presented our Reconnection is Climate Action philosophy and sector-specific visions. It received an overwhelming positive reception from communities and beyond. We engaged by inviting dialogue, presenting to various groups and attending summer events. We all wanted to be part of helping our communities heal and thrive. However, much of the work, particularly in bureaucratic and political spaces, did not feel
meaningful. When we tried to bring the teachings of the Fellowship to our various roles, we felt disappointed as we learned that most of our work places were not ready to support us.
Early in the process, we met with a technicallyoriented working group to discuss our approach. Upon leaving, we were surprised at how we did not feel safe or heard; the questions we received from the group attempted to ‘fit’ our perspective, experience, and philosophy into the dominant view of climate action focused on reducing carbon emissions. The Steering Committee began screening invitations to ensure audiences were well-informed and ready to meaningfully engage with our philosophy.
Where our communities lead,
1 2 3 4 5
TEACHINGS
Resource and development projects (i.e. mining, energy, roads, infrastructure) can be community driven, and can be in partnership or primarily owned and operated by a First Nation. We must work together from the project idea to its operation and remediation. Partners must consider the needs of the community so projects give and support, rather than cause harm. Some communities may need more time to participate.
‘What we heard’, town hall and online engagement approaches are often one sided, create polarization and do not create meaningful, safe spaces to build relationship and continuity in projects. We need to create space to work together and listen across multiple perspectives to find shared paths forward through the engagement process.
The youth voice is critical in community and decision-making. This requires safe, open space to share and be meaningfully involved. Many administrative jobs do not feel meaningful or connected to community. Youth want positions where they feel they are able to grow and make a difference.
The pain of our communities is felt by all. Whitehorse and our smaller communities have internal struggles, are in crisis, and face issues with capacity. Many institutional services that are supposed to help are harmful, especially for our most vulnerable. We need communityled solutions to support our people.
Our First Nations Governments can support each other in healing and in realizing the vision of our Final Agreements. We face many of the same challenges, and we cannot realize our full-power until we heal and work together.
As Yukon First Nations, we have a culture of serving future generations and intergenerational leadership. Our mandates and plans need to be envisioned and created for future generations, not just the next 3-5 years.
To continue the work of the Fellowship, we need a central organisation or hub that upholds the philosophy of Reconnection at all operational levels. It can offer resources and events such as spaces, writing, research, on-the-Land camps, storytelling, wellness, creativity, and exploring and sharing new approaches to how we live, learn, and work.
QUESTIONS
How can our institutions create a culture of healing, love, purpose, and belonging?
How do we uphold and support our youth to find meaningful roles within our institutions and communities?
How can First Nations be significant partners or owners of resource and development projects from the onset?
“A silent war is being fought everyday. The enemy is depression, addiction, colonization, suicide, and disconnection. The sad part is, it’s the young who fight this enemy.”
- RYAN KYIKAVICHIK
NORTHERN TUTCHONE / “RESPECT”
TAKE RISKS, SHARE POWER
Spider shared his knowledge, his power, with the husband and wife. The couple trusted spider and took the risk to try something new, which led to great reward in the discovery of a different way of harvesting that was efficient and productive.
In Fall 2022, we hosted a series of online sectorspecific engagements with community members from diverse backgrounds and a wide range of experiences. Our conversations explored the philosophy and vision presented in the draft RVAP, followed by dialogue around the opportunities and barriers to Reconnection within each sector. It became clear that one of the greatest impediments to Reconnection and societal transformation is institutional bureaucracy. The limitations of administration were discussed in every session along with what could be possible if the inefficient, redundant, unnecessary, and overly burdensome levels of bureaucracy were addressed. In this era of control and protection-
based administration, we require bold leadership that will take risks and explore how to share power, as well as financial and administrative accountability with our communities and future generations.
The governance structure for the Fellowship was unique where a tri-partnership with several external partners was responsible for providing capacity and finances to operate the program. No one organization had sole authority over the project. The Fellowship program was a pilot for transformative change through partnership and exploration of new approaches to autonomy, healing and process-based policy development. One of the greatest assets of this project was the ability to justify doing things differently because the true authority was held by us, the Fellows, as YFN Leadership voiced clearly at the outset of this project, “the youth must lead climate action for it is their future at stake and they will inherit the decisions made today.”
Our accountability to Indigenous people, the Land, and future generations needs to be treated with the same importance as financial accountability.
Taking risks and sharing power requires trust and communicating in good relationship. One of the greatest barriers to transformation are fixed and risk-averse institutional structures, processes and work culture, including that mindset of “this is how it’s always been done.”
Change requires central institutions such as the Government of Canada and Yukon Government to reconsider their role by taking risks, relinquishing control, creating flexible administrative conditions, and creating pilots of moving resources to organisations capable of change, such as the third-party sector (NGOs and grassroots organisations), and First Nations governments.
Hierarchy and top-heavy administration can be inefficient, diminish relationships, and create inequity. We can restructure and explore the limitations of liability, and work to delegate authority and greater degrees of autonomy to create more circular government structures.
We must hold up and share the stories of how projects and organisations are creating change in how we work. We can share our success and challenges with each other to support our collective transformation.
In Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow, the vision was for economic self-reliance. Yukon First Nations have the ability to create a circular, communitydriven economy that upholds our culture and creates more wealth (based on Indigenous understandings of wealth) for future generations.
To achieve our Final Agreements, we had to adopt the dominant government structure to establish our Yukon First Nations governments. The work of today is to transform our government structure and cultures to reflect the teachings of our way.
QUESTIONS
How can institutions evolve to better support transformative spaces and organisations that operate under flexible and opportunistic administrative procedures?
How can we find security, not fear, in new understandings of accountability for finance as well as community, the Land, and future generations?
How can we create trust and good partnerships to share authority and accountability?
“We are constantly battling for our lands to be protected, if we gave up now, what would our Children have?”
SOUTHERN TUTCHONE / “CHILDREN THAT COME BEHIND US, GOOD WAY AND SMARTLY, GROWING TO LOOK AFTER
THINGS HERE ON”
GROW LEADERS
It takes bold courage and leadership to be a changemaker, to trust in new ways and share it with others. Spider empowered us to change and lead.
In our first two sessions as a Fellowship, we learned about Hopi Elder Thomas Banyaca’s visit to the Yukon to share the Hopi prophecy with our Elders and leaders. The Hopi prophecy states we are at a crossroads. We may continue our path of imbalance that will lead us to destruction or if we “return to spiritual harmony and live from our hearts, we can experience a paradise in this world.” He told our Elders that to survive, we must believe, and the wave of harmony to rebalance the Earth will begin in the North and move South. The stories of Elder Banyaca’s visit gave us a deep sense of responsibility to do our part in the Hopi prophecy, to believe and lead from the North.
During our May 2021 gathering, Yukon First Nation negotiators told us their story of February 14, 1973, when leaders presented Together Today
for Our Children Tomorrow to then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. It was on this occasion that Chief Elijah Smith declared, “we are not here for a hand out, we are here with a plan that will cost the Canadian taxpayer much less than if the present government policies and programs continue.” 50 years later, we created the Reconnection Vision as a pathway for the next 50 years that will also cost the Canadian taxpayer much less than if we continue on our current path of destruction.
In February 2023, we had our graduation ceremony during the 50 year celebrations of Together Today. We presented the Reconnection Vision and after we were given an eagle feather and told to be firm and soft, like the feather. We stood in a circle with our leaders and community around us. They sang our sacred song and put regalia on us. They said, “For the suffering you have done, to do this, we got your backs. You’re going to go out and represent your people in a good way. And we are here for you, always. We got your backs.”
TEACHINGS QUESTIONS
Our First Nations self-governments have the ability to radically change how we govern and make decisions in the Yukon. We also have the teachings of our culture to guide that change.
How can we train and uphold leaders to make decisions as whole people?
As true leaders from the north
Blazing a new trail is lonely. It is important our leaders have support and the ability to mentor others and ensure succession planning.
Leaders are operating and making decisions from a state of overwhelm and burn out, and they need support.
Yukon First Nations are world class leaders - it is part of our culture. The culture, legislation and leadership of the Yukon makes it an ideal place to become global leaders in societal transformation. Our First Nations Final Agreements provide a framework and expectation for partnership, honouring our worldviews, and putting the Land and future generations first. We already have everything we need to lead change.
There are all kinds of leaders, such as those who are elected, those who support the community, our Knowledge Keepers, and language champions. As Indigenous people, we are raised to be mindful of ego and greed, and to humbly serve our communities as leaders.
Our leaders do not know everything. They need opportunities to grow and learn too.
The Youth are going to lead us through the climate and mental health crises. They need the support, wisdom, and love of our communities to stand tall and walk forward. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
How can we support leaders blazing the trail in our institutions, especially those who are trying to uphold First Nations values?
How can we share our Yukon story to support others to lead in a good way?
“We
are the Children of Tomorrow...We strive to lead with our hearts, to check our egos, to believe in ourselves, to make collective decisions, to listen, and to uphold our values as First Nations people. We strive to put our Land, children and future generations first, to constantly learn and to grow when we are humbled. We will consult with our Elders, communities and Youth and ensure we are well in mind, body, heart and spirit so that we may make good decisions and lead as whole people from the North, for our world.” -
WELCOME PHILOSOPHY SEEDS VISION GRATITUDE
Vision
WELLNESS
HOUSING
FOOD
ENERGY
EXTRACTION
ECONOMY
GOVERNANCE
EDUCATION
RECONNECTION VISION
Here, we present our Visions for Tomorrow in the form of poetry to make space for expansive dreaming into the future.
Our Reconnection Vision was created with all Yukoners in mind and to uphold the vision set out in Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow. In the Yukon, we are fortunate to remain strong in our culture and worldview. Whether we are self-governing, unceded or non-Indigenous, part of our Yukon way is to work together. This plan is for everyone. We need to learn to move forward together in a good way, where all cultures and worldviews are held with the same integrity, respect, and honour as one another. Our vision sees us united and living in good relationship with ourselves, each other, and the Land.
“Dreams can inspire a whole generation. Children must be left to dream. Feed those dreams with love and wonders of a better tomorrow, then sit back and watch as the horizon comes with a light of hope.”
-RYAN KYIKAVICHIK
WELLNESS
We will understand that wellness is rooted in the quality of our relationships with ourselves, each other, and the Land. We will understand whole person wellness.
We will have great knowledge of the medicines that our Lands provide.
Emotional competency and mental wellness will be understood, nourished, and valued by all people, in all systems.
We will practice health care premised on Reconnection that doesn’t just value drugs developed in a lab but recognizes and values the healing powers of the Land.
Traditional medicine and Land-based healing practices will be integrated and connected to the healthcare system. Spiritual and emotional healthcare will transform this system that currently only knows how to care for our physical bodies.
All our communities will have thriving on the Land healing and treatment centres and integrated health spaces that support the emotional, physical, spiritual and mental needs of our people.
We will have many trauma therapists and care workers who help keep our communities strong and safe with cultural humility.
Screen time will be recognized as detrimental to health and wellbeing.
Our economy will be built around ethics of healing and care.
We will deeply value all facets of care work.
We will keep our internal energy in balance so we can be of service.
HOUSING
The idea of ‘property’ will be completely transformed. Our grandchildren and all Yukon children will understand that the Land does not belong to them - they belong to the Land.
Our homes will be built using local materials; materials we love and with whom our people have long been in relationship with. Many of the Landharming materials we use today will become illegal.
We will re-purpose, repair, and reuse materials that we currently waste.
Our housing will enable us to honour bush life when living in urban environments.
We will revitalize Clan Houses and Potlatch Houses. Powerful communal efforts will flow into the creation of these communal spaces. We envision language houses for knowledge transfer.
We will have a local lumber and sawmill industry that enables us to harvest wood spared from natural hazard events for use in local housing projects.
We will have trades training in all communities that will lead to a thriving First Nations housing economy, developing housing on and off settlement Land.
New policies and incentives will eliminate lawns and in turn, will promote stewardship of natural ecosystems, local food production and medicine cultivation.
An ethical contracting industry will make us more accountable to our global neighbours.
There will be more Whitehorse-based off-settlement housing for First Nations people who move to Whitehorse so they may be part of the larger community. Housing for those in need will be places of home, love, and community. Including spaces for those coming to Whitehorse for education, young people in need of care and those in need of healing.
Our food systems will nurture deep relationships with all the beings, places and people who feed us. We will eat beautifully where ceremony will be present in all our food practices.
Cultivating food will be part of everyone’s life. We will all learn to grow, harvest, preserve, prepare and eat together. Producing food locally and lovingly and in sync with the seasons will guide our understanding of the economy.
Food will no longer be commodified. Community and backyard greenhouses and gardens will flourish and be the norm.
We will harness technology and storage solutions to support local food availability in the winter season and we will build sophisticated compost systems. Free-range farms will be pillars of our communities and food will bring communities together.
We will still support the global food economy, but we won’t be dependent on it. We will ensure imported food is ethically sourced and produced.
We will support Land Guardians and others to revitalise YFN’s Landcare practices.
Community hunts and harvesting will be an important part of our lifestyle. We will preserve foods like our Grandmas and Grandpas did.
Our food systems will have no waste, everything will be used - just as we were taught to use all parts of the animal’s body when hunting.
Knowledge about subsistence hunting and fishing practices will flourish, it will be understood that bigger is not better. We must protect herd leaders and breeders for future generations. Trophy hunting will end on our Lands. Catch and release fishing will end in our Waters.
Harvests will be balanced, informed by Doòli Law. We will allow the Land to rest through cyclical voluntary closures of areas. Our food will once again be our medicine. No need for vitamin supplements.
ENERGY
We will understand that everything is connected through energy. Our physical bodies are held by our energetic essence that is intertwined with the energy of life, elements and spirit around us.
These relationships will determine how we build our electricity and energy systems of the future.
We will understand that to heal things, Water’s energy needs to be healthy.
We will show our respect for Water by using it in a good way.
We will understand how to harness energy as our Ancestors did in a manner that enhances and nourishes life, rather than disrupting it.
We will revitalize our deep reverence for Water, Land, Air, and Fire in our education systems.
We will be mindful of how we speak to Water, how much we consume, and what we are using Her for.
We will understand that our thoughts have power - our dreams, will, words, and music affect the molecular structure of the energy in ourselves and those around us.
As in nature, energy must be protected and used efficiently. This includes our own energy, where we must recharge when we are depleted.
Our use of energy will be guided by the the needs of the community. We will build true community energy infrastructures.
EXTRACTION
Our grandchildren will have a relationship with everything they need, and our current models of extraction will be transformed.
People will be deeply connected with local ingredients and materials and we will make much more of what we need right here in the Yukon.
Our systems of extraction will be built on ethics of reciprocity.
Ceremony will be incorporated into all extraction activities. We may not call it ‘extraction’ anymore.
Systems of extraction built on principles of wealth accumulation and perpetual growth will become outdated.
Mining policies will be reformed to support the local economy and reflect reciprocity.
We will be responsible for dealing with our mining and other waste locally. We will not ship our waste metals and materials abroad.
We will ban cheap, non-humane, and single-use products and materials in the Yukon. We will heal our Land from former damaging extractive practices through natural means.
We will be globally accountable to our brothers, sisters and beyond-human kin in faraway Lands where many of our materials are sourced from.
Return on our investments will be transformed to prioritize the health and wellbeing of the communities that are part of these networks.
ECONOMY
We envision an economy that holds care for our community at its centre. This economy will be guided by our virtues as Yukon First Nations people and will be based on the principles of share, care and respect - it will prioritise love, purpose, and belonging.
Our grandchildren will protect themselves from the harms of technology and social media. They will understand technology devices are tools to be handled with responsibility and respect. This will result in less need for the devices that disconnect us from being present in our communities, resulting in less time indoors overusing and wasting energy.
Everyone will have a role to play in helping our communities flourish, and we will uplift people for their strengths, honouring their role, honouring diversity. Instead of feeling separate, individualised and lacking, we will feel a sense of belonging, validation, and responsibility to our role as part of a whole. We will know our co-workers as community members, not simply as job titles, void of the emotional and spiritual connection that colonisation has normalised for us.
What we get from other Lands will come to us via Indigenous trade networks, similar to how Grease Trails inspired local trade with our ancestors’ neighbours.
Our economic system will value time spent on the Land, for all of us.
Our economy will be guided by our virtues as First Nations people. It will shed light upon the things that we need to live a good life, and will recognize how valuable they are. In this economy, our hands will spend as much time in soil, on saws, and in berries and moose guts as they do on keyboards.
We will value caring for our Elders and community members. We will incentivise rest and connection.
We will recognise the importance of and value what it takes to raise children well - the economy will support parents playing a significant role in the education of all children.
Work will sync with the seasons and the phases of the moon and the 9-5 standardised way of working will no longer exist - in this way we will honour our role as part of nature.
Our development companies will have options to generate value that do not depend on practices that harm the Land.
GOVERNANCE
We will honour our Indigenous Laws. Indigenous Law and leadership will transform Crown government systems we currently work within. Indigenous Law revitalisation will be well resourced and supported to enable joint legislation that honours the spirit of true, equitable collaboration and partnership in governance and decision making.
We will deeply understand what a worldview is and how it impacts governance. Governance systems will reflect both Indigenous worldviews and Western worldviews. Efforts to evolve governance will be inclusive and collaborative.
Governance will honour Matrilineal structures.
Our governance models will respect the Land. Decisions for the Land will be made on the Land.
Governance models will be built on natural Law, that respects the seasons and natural climate cycles.
Governance will not be hierarchical or patriarchal. We will build a different model. All community members will have a role in governance. Siloed governing will sunset.
Ceremony will exist at all levels of government.
Those with no human voice (Land, Waters, Animals, Ancestors and Future Generations) will have a seat at the table to be respected and supported to thrive. Humans will be responsible for stewarding the Land.
‘Indigenous Leadership’ will be defined differently than Leadership today. Our Leaders will be supported by the community and will make decisions from a place of whole-personhood.
Personal accountability and responsibility will thrive.
First Nations knowledge and storytelling will be valued and normalized.
We will honour a balance of both the traditional knowledge and western based education systems and in doing so, will provide our youth more opportunity to flourish within the school system.
Our current education models of deposit, regurgitate and assess will be dismantled and our education systems become nurturing spaces of growth, strength, and safe exploration.
Everyone will be a teacher and a learner. Yukon First Nation education systems will be inclusive of all Yukoners.
Students will be happy, healthy, and productive through their learning years.
We will be able to access and reconnect with our cultures at any age.
We will have a Yukon First Nation Education Act.
We will speak our languages. We will relearn ceremony and reclaim our power.
Youth will graduate with the values of our cultures and the skills to thrive in the modern world and choose whichever path they want.
All educational spaces will be taught using a Whole person approach, where spirit, emotion, intellect and body are experienced when learning new knowledge.
WELCOME PHILOSOPHY SEEDS VISION GRATITUDE
GRATITUDE
RESOLUTION
CLOSING PRAYER
Gratitude
A warm Gunalchéesh, Shä̀w níthän, Mahsi Cho, Sógá sénlá to all the guides we have had throughout this journey: the places, people, and unseen forces who have given direction and helped bring this Reconnection Vision into being.
We are here with strength, determination and love, because of our Ancestors who have stewarded these Lands and Waters, and nourished our communities in a good way since time immemorial. We give great thanks to our Yukon First Nations leaders who fought and continue to tirelessly assert their self-determination, both within the Together Today process and outside of it. We do this work for you and for our children, grandchildren, and all the generations to come. You were with us and empowered us throughout this journey, bringing us songs, dreams, language, and powerful visions for tomorrow.
We lift our hands up to Yukon First Nations Chiefs for signing a climate emergency declaration, for passing the Resolution to endorse the Reconnection Vision, and entrusting us as young people to develop the Yukon First Nations approach to climate action.
We offer our gratitude to the organisations who brought this Fellowship into being: Regional Chief Kluane Adamek and the Assembly of First Nations Yukon Region and Grand Chief Peter Johnston and the Council of Yukon First Nations. These regional organisations worked tirelessly to coordinate Yukon First Nations Leadership and to administer this project. Without them, this project never would have happened. We also thank Yukon University, RIVER and Youth Climate Lab, who provided support in multifaceted ways throughout this project with resources, networks, and thought leadership. We also acknowledge Pinna Sustainability for providing us with support in engagement.
We thank our Core Steering Committee who supported us every step of the way:
Däk’älämą Jocelyn Joe-Strack
Jodi Gustafson
Jenni Matchett
Merran Smith
Emily McDougall
We thank those Steering Committee members who supported us for parts of the journey: Neil Hawkes, Dakota Norris, Shalaka Jadhav, Steve Roddick, Nikki Funk-Robitaille, Ed Schultz, Felicia Gordon, Jesse Hudson, Katelyne Wolftail-Magun, and Nelly Bouevitch.
We pay tribute to our Guiding Elders for this project, Mark Wedge, Norma Kassi, Joe Copper Jack and Shirley Adamson whose vision and transmission of our Ancestors’ teachings has given us strength and confidence to move forward with Reconnection in a good way.
Shirley Adamson continues to guide us from the Spirit world. We will share your story and pass your teachings into the future.
Fellowship Curriculum
We offer gratitude to the following speakers who shared teachings with us over virtual campfires throughout this Fellowship. These sessions provided us with the foundation and inspiration for our approach to Reconnection:
Carcross Tagish Elder Mark Wedge : Ceremony, Relationships & Journeying Towards Walking as Whole People
Champagne & Aishihik Elder Mary Jane Jim: A first-hand journey of how Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow came to be
Cherokee Elder Dr. Lee Brown: Emotional Competency, the history of suppression of emotions through colonization
Cosmographer Dr. David McConville : Illuminating Worldviews, a brief history of the Western colonial cosmovision
RIVER Reconnection Symposium: An international gathering of speakers discussing regenerative initiatives underway in the areas of climate, law and economy across Turtle Island, Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia
Māori lawyer Erin Matariki Carr: Approaching colonial law from a Māori worldview, how the Tūhoe people acquired legal personhood for their ancestral rainforest, Te Urewera
Diné and Cheyenne artist, scholar and community organizer Lyla June Johnston: Art as Activism
Youth Climate Lab’s Design & Community Manager Shalaka Jadhav: Exploring the question “What is policy?”
Strategy Implementation Manager of the Yukon Government’s Climate Change Secretariat, Aletta Leitch: Sharing the Yukon Government’s Climate Plan: [Our Clean Future] (https://yukon.ca/en/our-clean-future-yukonstrategy-climate-change-energy-and-green-economy)
Eriel Deranger and Rebecca Sinclair of Indigenous Climate Action: [Decolonising Climate Policy in Canada] (https:// www.indigenousclimateaction.com/amplifying-voices)
Counsellor Sherene St Cyr: The importance of self-care and centering wellness
Senior Policy Advisor of the Assembly of First Nations National Office Graeme Reed: First Nations Climate Strategy on a national and international level in Canada.
Ta’an Kwäch’än Elder Joe Copper Jack: Storytelling, and the story of Taicho and the Grizzly Bear
Regional Chief Kluane Adamek: Leadership Our Way: Reflections of where we’ve been, where we’re at and where we’re going in the landscape of leadership in the Yukon
Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm: The origin of the call for a Yukon First Nations Climate Vision and Action Plan; VGFN’s Climate Emergency Declaration
Kaska Land Steward Gillian Staveley: Indigenous-led conservation and the Kaska Dena’s Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) Plans for Dena Kayeh
Secwepemc and Nuxalk Community Organiser Nuskmata Jacinda Mack: Reimagining Extraction: First Nations Women Advocating for Responsible Mining
AFN Yukon Climate Policy Director Jenni Matchett: Form Transition: Decarbonization Beyond Settler Modernity
CYFN Climate Analyst Merran Smith and CYFN Energy and Sustainability Analyst Neil Hawkes: Overview of existent Yukon First Nations Climate Action and Energy Projects
House of Wolf Community Safety Officer Program Coordinator Gina Nagano: Community Safety and Wellness
We also wish to recognise Caroline Hayes for her teaching of YukonU’s Communicating in Conflict course with us, as well as Nataschaa Chatterton for guiding us through training in Trauma-informed Facilitation in association with the Crisis & Trauma Resource Institute.
Gatherings
Shäw Nithän to artists Darcy Tara McDiarmid and Shirley Adamson for grounding our first in-person gathering in art and storytelling, to Adanchilla Pauls and Norma Kassi for workshopping the Youth climate action landscape with us, to Mark Wedge for ensuring that ceremony remained central to our gathering, to Atsushi Sugimoto for capturing it all on camera, and to the good team at Inn on the Lake for providing such a comfortable venue for our first time meeting together.
Reflecting on our second gathering together in May 2021, we extend our gratitude to Dave Joe for sharing his experiences on the path to Together Today with us, to Brandon Kyikavichik for his mentorship, and to Joe Copper Jack for sharing his Share Care Respect and ‘No Voice’ model with us.
Gunalchéesh tlein to Fellow Shauna and her Taku River Tlingit First Nation for hosting us so generously at 5 Mile Point for our first on-the-Land gathering. We give our appreciation to current Spokesperson Charmaine Thom for warmly welcoming and accommodating our group, to then-Spokesperson John Ward for sharing his own Reconnection journey with us. Thank you to Caitlin Oshea and Kayla Carlick for nourishing us with good food, to Uncle Bryan Jack for his storytelling around the campfire, to Aunty Susan Carlick for teaching us to fillet salmon, to Jared Kane, the Taku Land Guardians team Hannes Schraft, Joseph Netro, and Trevor Williams for taking us out on Big Atlin Lake, to Sherene St-Cyr for supporting us with ceremony, and to Regional Chief Kluane Adamek for joining us throughout the gathering.
Mahsi Cho to Fellow Jen and her Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation for warmly hosting us at Nänkäk Chèholay Land of Plenty for our Fall Reconnection Space. We extend our gratitude to then Chief Roberta Joseph, Georgette McLeod and the Hän Singers for their warm welcome and for meaningful discussions around the campfire with us. We recognize Glenda and the team at Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre for making our presentation there special. We warmly thank Elders Angie Joseph Rear, Victor Henry and Roger Ellis for the weekend sharing teachings with us. A big Mahsi to Fran Morberg-Green for sharing her
knowledge of plants, their healing qualities and her own Reconnection journey, to Herman Taylor and Gina Mierau for feeding us so well at Land of Plenty, to Steve Titus for his amazing bannock, to Doronn Fox for guidance through uncertainty and lessons shared making drums with us, and to Fellowship friends Darcy and Rainey McDiarmid, Jagger Jamieson, Shyenne Kinney, Alistair Maitland and Jamie-Lee Roberts for sharing this special gathering with us.
We extend our thanks to Nansi Cunningham for making Vista such a cozy space for us to write our visions together in Ta’an Kwäch’än territory, to Heather and Andrew Finton at Sundog Retreat for making our Spring gathering at Sundog a healing space, to Candace Dow for teaching us Indigenized yoga, to Tosh Southwick for inspiring and believing in us, to Kelly Proudfoot for her enthusiastic support with communications and to Chantai Minet for her deep-hearted counselling support.
Shäw Nithän and gunałchish to Katie Johnson and the organizing team at Adäka in creating a beautiful atmosphere to present, and to Grand Chief Peter Johnston and his team at CYFN for all the work put into the CYFN General Assembly at Minto Landing.
Sógá sénlá to Fellow Robby and his partner Robyn Dzéh Láondíh McLeod for hosting us at their cabin with their community on Jackfish Lake in Kaska Dena Territory.
Mahsi Cho to Fellow Ryan and his Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation for warmly hosting us at Gwitchin Gathering. We thank then-Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm, Council, Loretta Itsa, all the cooks, and all the music players who made this gathering so good for us.
Mahsi to the Canadian Permafrost Association, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Government, Vuntut Gwitchin Government and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun for hosting us so well at the North Yukon Permafrost Conference. We warmly acknowledge all of the Elders, Knowledge holders, open-minded scientists and practitioners we met and shared meaningful discussions with during this conference.
More Thanks
We wish to thank our funders, the Government of Canada’s Climate Action and Awareness Fund, Climate Change Preparedness in the North Program and the Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program. We also offer our gratitude to the Climate Justice and Resilience Fund for a grant received for this project through Youth Climate Lab that funded some of this project’s earlier work, to Makeway Foundation for funding the majority of this project’s films. We are grateful to Yukon Government’s Office of the Science Advisor and the Two-eyed Seeing program for their support through YukonU. We are grateful to YukonU and Mastercard Foundation’s EleV program for their ongoing support of our First Nations youth.
We are ever-grateful for Tracey Wallace and team at the Northern Council for Global Cooperation for supporting this project so much throughout its duration, including through funding for our film and through sending two Fellows to United Nations Climate Conferences in Glasgow, Scotland and Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. We also wish to recognise CPAWS Yukon for supporting two of our Fellows to attend a UN Biodiversity Conference of the Parties in Montreal.
Design
We warmly recognise our dedicated design trio for their collaboration: Amy Ball, for graphic and print design, Carson Linforth Bowley, for our digital storytelling website, and Fellow Jared Dulac for leading on visuals.
We want to thank Jared Dulac and Robby Dick for sharing their photography and video footage with us, which make up a significant portion of the imagery. Additional photographs have been shared with us by Carson Linforth Bowley, Atsushi Sugimoto, as well as all members of the Steering Committee.
Emergent Strategy
We extend deep gratitude to Adrienne Maree-Brown for the work she does in alignment with the Reconnection Philosophy and specifically for her Emergent Strategy text. The ideas in this text were foundational to our process and helped frame our earliest writing in this project.
Engagement
We offer our appreciation to Steve Roddick for his support in working with our communities and the following people who joined us in Engagement sessions throughout the Fall of 2022:
Fran Morberg-Green
Chantai Minet
Alyssa Carpenter
Nelson Lepine
Thomas Sheppard
Rebecca Dacco-Brink
Lewis Rifkind
Ed Schultz
Brooke Rudolph
Helaina Moses
Gina Nagano
Julia Spriggs
Albert Drapeau
Katherine Sandiford
Robin Bradasch
Robert Sharp
Aubyn O’Grady
Nelson Lepine
Jason Charlie
Kristina Craig Coleson Ford
Lianne Charlie
Justin Ferbey
Peter Kirby
Taylor Love
Emily McDougall
Coralee Johns
Carl Burgess
Without the unique contributions of each of these and many other individuals, organizations and Spirit, we would not have arrived at this Reconnection Vision. We hold you all up.
Children of Tomorrow
Nika Silverfox-Young
LITTLE SALMON/CARMACKS FIRST NATION
WOLF CLAN
Ryan Kyikavichik
VUNTUT GWITCHIN FIRST NATION
CROW CLAN
Mats’ä̀säna Mą Primozic
CHAMPAGNE AND AISHIHIK FIRST NATIONS
WOLF CLAN
Jewel Davies - Yekhunashîn - Khatuku
CARCROSS/ TAGISH FIRST NATION
DAK`LAWEIDÍ CLAN
Geehaadastee - Shauna Yeomans-Lindstrom
TAKU RIVER TLINGIT COUNCIL
YANŸEIDÍ CLAN
Kadrienne Hummel
FIRST NATION OF NA-CHO NYÄK DUN
WOLF CLAN
Jennifer Mierau
TR’ONDËK HWËCHIN FIRST NATION
CROW CLAN
Jessi-John Whalen
KWANLIN DÜN FIRST NATION
WOLF CLAN
Dustin McKenzie-Hubbard
CHAMPAGNE AND AISHIHIK FIRST NATIONS
CROW CLAN
Carissa Waugh - Ékè Éwe
KWANLIN DÜN FIRST NATION
CROW CLAN
Robby Dick - Nagodigá
ROSS RIVER DENA COUNCIL
WOLF CLAN
Jared Dulac - Kamära
KLUANE FIRST NATION
CROW CLAN
Skaydu.û Jules
TESLIN TLINGIT COUNCIL
DAK`LAWEIDÍ CLAN
Closing Ceremony
POEM BY JENNIFER MIERAU
Planting Seeds
We are the seeds, that grow roots and turn into trees, through all the seasons cycles, we continue to breathe. Where did we come from? Where do we go?
This is something we must all know?
When we grow big, we can plant seeds for our own saplings to grow. We consider the land and the impacts we see, We listen to those around us, to seek out all the benefits.
To give back and receive, till we are strong enough to lead.
Our Mother provides us with all her loving gifts, And Father sky showers us with his water and light. Earth is our family, which we’ve always known to survive.
Each tree has different needs, some have leaves, Some have needles, some are small and some are tall. Some are Poplar and some are Spruce, some grow slow and others grow fast, In the soil we are nurtured in, we grow big and vast. There are willows that grow near the rivers, And spruce trees that thrive together.
Each tree can be used as a tool, It can heat your home, and provide you shelter.
Trees are Sacred, Trees are Valuable.
Trees are our medicine.
Remember where you plant your roots, We are all interconnected in some way. Everything we need is right here within arms reach, thankful for each day.
