10 | NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY
JUNE 2026
movement is medicine
Creating a path to better health SCO, Bombers hope to get youth moving with Movement is Medicine initiative
BY JIM BENDER
to bring young people from Northern First Nations to celebrate their annual Orange Shirt game in September and will now bring youth from SCO communities to their June 25 game against the Edmonton Elks. “It’s our ongoing connection to the Indigenous com- munity and further extension to that right,” says Bombers president and CEO Wade Miller. “We look forward to the game in June right now around the National Indigenous Peoples Day and to be able to go to the communities and bring Brandon Alex- ander and our group to teach flag football and be (in) the communities as well.”
The project will include representatives from the Bombers visiting five SCO Nations each year for a total of 15 communities over the three-year partnership. “It’s about helping our young people thrive,” says Daniels, adding that he is diabetic. “It supports physical health, mental wellness, confidence, belonging and con- nections. So, that is what some of our goals are. We really tried to target our youth and tried to create opportunities to participate in sport, recreation and establish positive pathways to stronger self-esteem, healthy choices and pride in who they are. Our youth deserve opportunities that are accessible. Too many of our First Nations youth have barriers – recreational barriers and barriers to orga- nized sport because you don’t see a lot of that in the rural areas. “With Movement is Medicine, we’ve created partner- ships and a lot of those partnerships, including the one with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, (are about) turning reconciliation into action. It’s a three-year partnership and every year, we’ll have representatives coming into five of our SCO Nations.” Former Bomber Brandon Alexander has already led a team to visit First Nations communities to promote activities such as flag football. “Primarily, we’re talking about flag football and then, producing and developing flag football kits to start to really promote flag football to get communities to par- ticipate, creating that outreach, creating membership,” Daniels says. “These are also sports camps that are happening and we’re tying them into cultural and game-day activities that we celebrate the Anishinaabe and Dakota Nations and identities.” The Bombers already have an agreement in place
Southern Chiefs’ Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels initiat- ed a capital idea that turned into an impressive three-year agree- ment with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to address the health crises in the 33 First Nations communities that he oversees. The SCO has teamed up with the Bombers to create the Movement is Medicine project, both organizations recently announced jointly. The collaboration will include community outreach ini- tiatives, youth mentorship programs and cultural events that highlight a shared commitment towards inclusion, reconciliation and community building, and will coincide with National Indigenous Peoples Day. “It’s an initiative to battle against diabetes,” Daniels says. “It’s a diabetes campaign and the reason we did it is because we have had a lot of people experiencing a great deal of health complications: loss of life as the result of diabetes directly or symptoms resulting from diabetes, liver failure, kidney disease, heart failure, that kind of stuff. As a response, we wanted to promote an active lifestyle and that’s why Movement is Medicine became a big part of that.”
The Movement is Medicine initiative aims to get kids moving and be more active.
The Southern Chiefs organization has teamed-up with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to launch the Movement is Medicine project.
PHOTOS BY SOUTHERN CHIEFS’ ORGANIZATION
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