Tipi talks and country food

In June we supported the Buckanaga Social Club’s upcoming fashion show and Indigenous market. If you are in Duluth Minnesota on July 21 from 5-7pm you should check it out. We also helped some individuals with basic needs and appliances for a single mother. But what I want you to know about are four of our ongoing funding projects.

The most exciting news is that we have exceeded our goal for the Wequengwaywin camp! Thanks for a burst of generosity on Indigenous people’s day we have enough money to cover the equipment, purchase some additional items to make overwinter storage more secure, and help Ben travel from Peterborough to Sioux Lookout for the installation and training. Thankyou so much to everyone who contributed to this project. We will begin taking applications for another capital project shortly, so if you are aware of anyone who might benefit from this make sure they are following our Twitter account, @niikinaaganaa which is where we will be posting the information on how to apply.

scenes from June activities and partners

Resilience Montreal is an organization that works with unhoused people in Montreal, primarily Inuit and those from other northern communities. Nii’kinaaganaa provides them with funding that supports cultural activities. They write:

We used the funding this month to purchase country food––in particular for our Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations––and were able to serve dozens of people! We serve country food weekly, including arctic char, smoked salmon, mussels, etc. As much as possible, we try and purchase from Indigenous people and small businesses/pay for transport. This month, we were able to purchase and pay for transport for eight snow geese from Kuujjuaq with part of these funds.

… we really hope to be able to offer more cultural activities on a more regular basis going forward.

Revitalizing Our Sustenance is a project located on Six Nations of the Grand River. You can check out their work on their instagram. They write:

Majority of the monthly funding will be spent in June. It has helped with purchasing a water tank for the garden and large quantity of straw for the strawberry patch which will be a total of $2600. Left to spend out will be $900 and remainder of funds will be stalking up on strawberries for next years canning workshops and a strawberry tea leaf workshop in summer 2023. In addition to paying honorariums to youth who helped pick the strawberries and will provid a free flat of strawberries for their families.

Thank you, nya:weh gowa to Nii’kinaaganaa Foundation for providing us with the opportunity to purchase garden materials for our strawberry patch and strawberry focused workshops for summer 2023. We are very thankful for the help and can’t wait to share & learn different methods of storing and saving strawberries!

Strawberry harvest at Revitalizing Our Sustenance

The Tipi Talks project is run by Rachel Ann Snow, an activist and lawyer in Stoney Nakoda First Nation. She is holding a series of teaching events this summer that are not recorded or streamed, encouraging participants to come and spend time together in a tipi. She writes:

We need to offer land based learning opportunities for our adult aged Indigenous. It is through these talks that our people will reconnect with their spirits and began the journey towards healing.

The money helps cover food and lunch, portapotty rentals, tobacco for elders and helpers, cigarettes and gas, camping or teepee needs and other costs associated with organizing and running these events. Long term, we would like to host a two-day conference completely on the land in teepees and have it as an annual meeting.

Thank you for your support. I know it seems like dark times in Canada and the US but this is how we build new worlds, worlds where we are all safe and cared for. We start small, and we join the things that we build together with the things that others build, and the world becomes new.

miigwech