First Nations Voice

February 2016

Building bridges between all communities

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PAGE 6 • FEBRUARY 2016 Creatingfuturesonefamilyatatime! When TD Friends of the Environment Foundation invited Winnipeg's Aboriginal CommunityCampus(ACC)toareceptionfor community partners being held at the Assiniboine Park Conservancy this spring, the"seeds"startedspinning. Marileen Bartlett, Executive Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development,wantedtodomorethanjust attend-shewantedtobepartofgivingback bycontributingsomeoftheorganicproduce that ACC students grow in their indoor LearningGarden. That meant there were a lot of options to consider. Would they provide lettuce, micro-greensorherbs? Afterspeakingwith the Executive Chef Heiko Duehrsen of the ParkCafe,MarileendecidedthatACCwould provide some micro-greens that could be integrated in the hors d'oeuvres being servedatthereception. Thenextdecisionwaswhowouldbegrowing themicro-greensforthisevent.Thestudents were busy designing and building ���������� ���������� ��� �������� ��� techniquesystems,soaftertalkingwithher staff,theydecidednottoputanythingelse on their plate. The children at Kookum's PlaceDaycare(namedaftertheCreewordfor Grandmother) are responsible for feeding ��� ��� �� ��� ���������� ������� ��� harvesting lettuce from the various grow systems. Sothenextthoughttheyhadwas: couldthoseyoungchildrenalsogrowmicro- greens? Withgreatexcitement,intensityandfocus, a trademarkof allthreeandfour-year-oldsin Kookum's Place Daycare, the children took upthetaskandstartedseedingandwatering the trays,eagerly anticipating the day they could present trays of micro-greens to ExecutiveChefHeiko. As you can see in the photos, the micro-greens were ready in time and the teamattherestaurantdidanincrediblejob of incorporating them into the hors d'oeuvres. ������ �� ��� ������ �������� ������ railway depot in the North End, CAHRD's Learning Garden provides hundreds of Aboriginal students, ranging in age from young children to elders, experiential learning opportunities in a holistic environment that is consistent with Aboriginalteachings. From the traditional sacred medicines that are grown in the Sacred Gardens to solar ����������������������������������� becomingaleaderinsustainabilityworkin Winnipeg. Anotherrecentexampleofthatworkistheir squashseed-savinginitiativethatishelping restoreanativeNorthAmericansquashonce believedtobeextinct. Mediaorganizations all over the world have covered that work, leading to more seed sharing with communities in many countries that will helptopropagatethesquash. Marileenandherstaffcouldnotbeprouder of their incredible daycare children for growing the micro-greens, and gratefully acknowledgethesupportofTDFriendsofthe Environment Foundation, Thomas Sill Foundation, The Home Depot Canada Foundation, Assiniboine Credit Union, Grodan Canada, Omega Gardens,Johnny's SelectedSeedsandFutureHarvestDevelop- mentinmakingtheseinitiativespossible. CANTINYTOTSGROWMICRO-GREENS? Startinggoodnutritionalhabitsfromayoungage CAHRDiscommittedtoincreasingpersonalhealthand strengthening our student community. Our Healthy LivingProgramfocusesonthreemainareasincluding The Learning Garden, Aboriginal Bakers Co-op, and ��������������������������� �������������������� hoursinordertomeettheneedsofstudentsandtheir families. For further information on our Healthy Living Program, please contact Rachel Sansregret, HealthyLivingProgramManager:(204)799-1149 orhealthyliving@abcentre.org. A giveaway of items collected by the Bear Clan at the Indian Metis Friendship Centre in late January. In Indigenous culture, the giveaway plays a big role in the redistribution of goods. James Favel, with the Bear Clan, lived right across from an apartment block where a fire families lost almost everything in November 2015. "I came out of my house one afternoon and I could see the whole building was up in flames, said Favel, "and because we have a Bear Clan Facebook page where we get between 15,000 to 40,000 visitors a day. I figured that I'd put out a call for donations." And the donations were overwhelming. Many items were stored at Oyate Tipi Cumini Yape, an Indigenous organization that collects gently used goods in the North End. As the families resettled, the Bear Clan would collect whatever was needed and deliver said items. There was a surplus so a giveaway for the community was planned. The Bear Clan is entirely a volunteer driven organization that does more than citizen patrols of the street. By First Nations Voice staff FREE GIVEAwAy At INdIAN MEtIS FRIENdSHIp CENtRE James Favel

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