 Oliver Dysart and Elder Evelyn Montgomery with OPCN childred baking bannock in open fire (2017) O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation (OPCN) (also known as South Indian Lake) is known for its strength and resilience. OPCN’s cultural and community well-being self-sufficiency was severely damaged and disturbed by the impact of hydro dams and control structures developed in the Churchill River in the early 70s. The community’s concerns were ignored, with no major support for health, education, and food supply. They have been fighting ever since to live a sovereign life that is rooted in their culture and collective health. The ongoing COVID-19 health crisis is creating a range of impacts throughout Canada—from food access issues, pay disruptions, emotional suffering, and beyond. OPCN has offered a range of activities and resources to help maintain community’s physical, mental and spiritual health. Community Wellness & Jurisdiction Initiative Program: OPCN formed their Community Wellness and Jurisdiction Initiative (CWJI) Program in October 2019. This program is under the First Nations Child and Family Services Program through Indigenous Services Canada. The objective is to strengthen the safety and well-being of First Nations children and their families on reserve by funding culturally appropriate prevention and protection services that are determined by the community. Outcomes of CWJI focus on safe, healthy children and families being supported by communities, and identifying and addressing child and family needs. Steps taken since Covid-19 outbreak through CWJI:
Ithinto Mechisowin (food from the land) Program (IMP): IMP is OPCN’s community-based food sovereignty program that focuses on increasing availability of local and land-based food, training youth on food harvesting, preparation and food-based knowledge, and deepening inter-generational bonds within the community. Activities include:
“What we need to flight coronavirus is good immune system. We do know that eating a healthy diet, being physically active, managing stress, and getting enough sleep are critical to keeping our immune system strong. That is why, in the community, we are trying to motivate people as much as possible to come out and participate in activities that will boost their physical health, invite them to eat local, nutritional food, and enjoy all these with family and community to avoid depression and anxiety.”- Barb Spence Thank you to all who contributed to this sharing piece: Elder Hilda Dysart, Chief Shirley Ducharme, Rene Linklater, Rose Linklater, Jerilyn Brightnose, Jennifer Linklater, Barb Spence, Asfia Gulrukh Kamal Click here to view the Ithinto mechisowin Calendar. To find out more about other community partners please read here.  Ithinto mechisowin Program Calendar
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 Founded in 2011, the Peguis Community Garden Project is now in its sixth year and has successfully maintained seven acres of land producing a variety of healthy foods for community members. The Community Garden Project was started with a committee of five people headed by Council member Darlene Bird, Carl McCorrister, and Elder Ernie Stranger. There were a variety of other people who helped and made our project possible. The project is pleased to have Northern Healthy Foods Initiative and the Collaborative provide funding over the years. Four Arrows Health Authority has worked with us and continue to provide their expertise to our project. The Peguis Development Corporation has been the administration of our project with Mr. Patrick McKay of PDC being the Administrator. We have two or three Elders gatherings during the summer and rely on their input regarding our project and success. To date, our project has worked well and has continued to be respected and followed throughout the province by other communities who share the vision of food security. Our people from St. Peter’s were good farmers and would bring food into Winnipeg to make a living. Treaty Days at the old reservation would have 5,000 people coming to attend, buying food and products. We have a history of raising food for exchange with others and for market. Our work together has the following objectives: We want to promote healthy eating, growing our own food, and to work cooperatively with all. We wish to bring together the human resources available and network with other organizations that share the vision of food security for the future. We aim to promote awareness of land use and our ability to produce our own healthy foods, assisting community members in gardening and share resources and knowledge. This will assist all in developing community pride, wellness, resources, and promote community building. We plan to establish a farmers’ market and promote self-sufficiency in growing, promoting and selling our fresh produce to all. We strive to improve our lands with more agricultural endeavors for the future. To date, we have measured our success based mainly on the result of our work and the feedback of our Elders. The garden produce we have grown has been exceptional and shared with all. We had two Elders Days at the garden site. We also have had many open days when we invited visitors along with youth and elders to come and visit the garden site. We also maintain a picture album that shows the stages of our garden work and demonstrates the success we had throughout the growing season. Our produce has been given to our Elders who take part in the project. One Elder, Fast Eddy, comes about every third day to get a few potatoes, an onion, and a few peas and a cucumber for his dinner. We also provide produce to the Peguis Food Bank. We get people coming to see us on the garden site and wanting fresh produce. We try to do this. However, the project is a stepping stone in community building and regaining our heritage of independence as per our history. We don’t want to promote dependency; we must use our project as a teaching tool and show our people that they can grow much of their own food. In our community, many of our people raised, grew, and produced much of their own food up to the 1960s. At that time it was estimated that over 80% of food needs were met this way. Today, most of our food comes from the store. Our project has become known throughout Manitoba by various organizations, having received awards such as the Golden Carrot in October 2014 for our successful work and garden. One area we are continuing to develop is growing traditional tobacco. We have successfully grown it here for traditional use and will continue to improve and expand our crop. We must overcome these colonial mindsets and look to the future together. There are many things we could accomplish if we worked together and shared our resources. The Peguis Community Garden is just a small step in rebuilding our heritage and culture; it is also a form of reconciliation that is so important in the decolonization process. It could also have an economic impact on our community with support for use of land, making resources available, working together, and taking pride in having food security for all. To find out more about the Peguis Agriculture Project please read here. To find out more about other community partners please read here.
 We have 5 big gardens, a summer kitchen, bee hives, a turtle mound herb garden, pumpkin patch, and will soon build our clay oven. People bring their kids and grandkids and it is good to see families getting together in the gardens. We set days aside (Tuesday night and Thursday night) for each garden so that people would go and work in the gardens. Part of that is because socializing is just as important as anything else. People go there and visit as they work. In 2013 we began our journey by planting 55 fruit trees. Unfortunately, that year our potential orchard was flooded. But we didn’t give up. We started again; “...if at first you don’t succeed, etc...”. We started over again and we planted. In 2014, 38 families signed up to take part in a community vegetable and berry garden. For the main garden, we chose a high ridge of land beside an old creek bed, in the center of the settlement so that everyone would have access by walking to the site. Because there was no topsoil, we had to scrape the top layer, remove all the rocks, haul in topsoil and level the area; an expensive and labour intensive job. The OCN Recreation and Beautification Team helped a lot with this work. The soil came from across the river from a farmer and took most of our budget. The soil came from the land that is our traditional territory. Planting and seeding: Kistiganiwak. In two separate gardens we planted 87 fruit trees: apples, crabapples, plums, chokecherries, raspberries and cherries. Then we focused on the vegetable garden. Each worker took a tree home to plant in their own yard. We had to re-learn all those necessary things that go into making a garden (and a family) grow. I had forgotten that garden work requires continuous attention, endless patience all those things that go into a healthy happy family. To build community and get kids involved with adults, we held a birdhouse making competition. It was a huge success and helped us wait as the seedlings took root and began to sprout. Growing: Nitawigin. The excitement of seeing new plants –and learning the difference between weeds and vegetables and weeding and weeding, and weeding... Harvesting: Moonay Kaniwak. The food from the garden is shared with everyone who helps out. Some of it goes to feasts and community events. The kitchen will help us learn to cook and use the all of the foods grown. What we learned: It’s good for the Elders to get moving again, instead of thinking they have to stop living at 50. We need to prepare and plant the garden together but after that we need an individual weeding schedule so everyone does it regularly. Everyone has to help out or else it is too much work for a few people. Having students can help, but it is a lot of work to manage them. Peggy and Stan need successors so that the major load is shared, we have been working to get more people involved in the leadership of the garden. People really like beets! We need less seeds and we need to take more care in planting; space the seeds further apart and thin the plants sooner. To find out more about Opaskwayak Culture and Healthy Living Initiatives please read here. To find out more about other community partners please read here.
Started in 2015, The Meechim Project is an integrated social enterprise food security project based in Garden Hill First Nation. The project consists of a farm, food market, agriculture-based training, and educational programming focused on teaching children about growing food and healthy eating referred to as “School-to-Farm”. It was designed with the intention of changing the local food system to create a healthy long-lasting impact for the community. The Meechim Project aims to resolve the lack of healthy affordable food options as well as increase employment and training opportunities for the local community. The first year was tough to grow vegetables because of the quality of the soil. In 2016, we improved our crop growing and poultry operations. We grew over a dozen varieties of fruits and vegetables and increased the amount grown. We planted 139 rows of crops and hand-sowed 6 plots throughout the farm, improving on our acreage usage. Adding fish to the soil for fertilizer had a wonderful effect. Our plants were healthy and our yields were impressive. We will add fish again next year! In 2016, we also constructed a hen barn. 400 broiler chicks were flown up and 90% survived to processing. Birds were prepped, packaged into sealed plastic, and quickly frozen. These chickens were then sold to the community. As well, we had 12 layer hens producing 18 eggs per week. The eggs are given to workers at the end of the week. In 2016, 8 full-time workers and 1 full-time supervisor from the local community staffed the farm. They worked from June 6th until October 28th for a total of 7,920 man-hours. Our manager, Robert Guilford, is a farmer from southern Manitoba. Robert spent 10-11 days at a time living and working at the farm guiding and instructing from May to September. Robert’s role is to build the skills of the local people to the point where they can take over the farm fully. In the past year we increased the community presence on the farm. With our hen barn containing two outdoor coops, local families were consistently coming to visit during early afternoon and evenings to see the operation. Children were curious about the chickens watching them from outside the fencing. When we were done processing the chickens, the farm’s workers, supervisor, manager, their friends and families held a feast at the farm to celebrate a successful season. Local people are increasingly becoming more aware of the farm and what it has to offer to the community. Since this was only our second year of farm operations in Garden Hill, it was not without challenges. Flights to travel and support people in Garden Hill are expensive and inconsistent and there isn’t a good place to stay. We intend to build a residence so that people can come and participate in our northern farm school in 2017. Communication would be improved if we had a phone at the farm. We are trying to make good relationships with the Garden Hill Chief and Council, but they are busy people. Finally, an all-season employee to monitor and secure the farm would really be helpful because the farm is vulnerable to vandalism or theft when left unattended for long periods. While it can be challenging, we are still committed to ensuring this project continues forward. Over the next year or two, we are planning again to improve on our operation in Garden Hill. We will expand the growing area, build living quarters for support people and farm school students, keep improving our soil, create a seed storage area, start the farm school, and strengthen our farm to school program. There is lots to do! We surveyed community members about the farm and their responses were motivating. 100% of people tell their friends and family about the farm and felt that it was either ‘very important’ or ‘extremely important’ to the community. Also, 100% of people we talked to had eaten something (egg, meat or veg) raised at the farm. Our motivations to support and grow this project come from the community. One member said simply “Keep it going... strong.” To find out more about Meechim Farm please read here. To find out more about other community partners please read here.
Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN) has a history of helping hunters go out to feed their families with their shell giveaway. In 2016, the Pukatawagan Development Corporation began development of a community freezer program to store local wild foods for the community’s residents. The building blocks for the program, the sea-can, freezers and lumber, are now in Pukatawagan while the development of the community food centre is ongoing. We are currently trying to find a site for the centre where it can be connected to the needed electrical. While we are working on the conversion of the sea-can, hunters and fishermen continue to share meat the way they always have, by taking it to the Elders themselves. In 2015 we were able to build 5 new smoke houses in the community to make it easier to preserve wild meat and fish. We are continuing to help hunters and fishermen go out. The MCCN annual shell giveaway happened again in 2016. The hunters really like the program because it makes it easier for them to go out and feed their family good food. One big thing that happened in 2016 was that we got insurance for the high- railers. They are used to take hunters out along the old train tracks towards Lynn Lake. The hunters didn’t have much luck hunting around river and lakes close to the reserve this year but they had better luck up the tracks. The local fishermen association is supportive of the program and wanted to provide fish but there wasn’t much fish to share this year. The fall fishing season got cut short because of the early snowfall and fishermen were struggling to fill their quotas. The winter fishing season was also shortened by the warm weather. The Elders of the community are behind the program, happy to supply fishing equipment for the program and continuing to pass on knowledge that helps future generations. The Elders help with preparing fish, moose and other wild game. We also hope to bring back the technique of preparing moose hides as it has been some time since that has happened. If we do not pass this knowledge along, we fear it will be lost with the Elders. When the building is converted and the program is up and running, the local radio station and Facebook page will be used to share information with the community members of Pukatawagan. We are also trying to connect with the school to take students out on hunting and fishing trips, to get young people out on the land more as part of a new Summer Traditional Learning Program. To find out more about the Community Freezer Project please read here. To find out more about other community partners please read here.  In 2006 Frontier School Division began focusing on horticulture as a tool for education, youth development, and community health. The concept was designed to work within formal education and included study spaces, staff, greenhouse and outdoor growing spaces. In 2007, Chuck Stensgard was hired as regional coordinator. Based out of Leaf Rapids and travelling to many other northern communities, Chuck has become an experienced and knowledgeable northern boreal grower. The local Leaf Rapids infrastructure is comprehensive and includes: a tunnel greenhouse, a shed greenhouse, the Churchill River Nursery with 1.5 acres of in-ground growing beds as well as indoor classroom space that includes a seed room, growing room, and laboratory. The study and production of vegetable plants in the northern boreal forest is important on a local and global sense. The cost of good food is high and related health problems are far too common. Climate change is happening and we need to build strong food production skills and reduce our dependence on far off food sources. The Boreal Forest can support a strong local food system for northern people. Chuck Stensgard stated, “Our cooler weather and long days, and with the shelter and cover systems, we can grow amazing food. Just look at the strawberries that we have developed.” Hundreds of youth have benefited from the program over the years by developing gardening skills and understanding of natural systems. Summer internships are usually part of the program with up to 8 youth working in the gardens and growing food together. Adults from the community also get involved in paid and volunteer capacities. In 2016, two adults from the community who were known to have challenges with the justice system and addictions got involved in the garden. They worked to establish more than half of new good in-ground horticultural beds and “nobody worked harder than those guys”, said Chuck Stensgard. They were proud of what they were able to achieve. The downside is that they are not able to work with the students. Les Linklater said, “Lots of people are really interested in what we are doing and I think it’s awesome. I feel really good about it.” Partnerships are important to this work. The University of Manitoba has supplied a steady supply of both service-learning and Masters students who spend time in Leaf Rapids. These partners have inspired local youth and supported further development and awareness of the program. The Northern Healthy Foods Initiative, offered through the province of Manitoba, continues to be a key partner by providing financial support and active networks focused on food security. Going forward, the Grow North Boreal Horticultural project looks to maintain our resources and programs, while focusing on sharing knowledge and building skills in other northern community members. In 2017, the program will host three learning events for other northerners to attend and share knowledge. Chuck recently explained that “I believe we get power from knowledge, and I have learned so much up here. I learn more every year. Getting the knowledge and inspiration out to northerners is key for this year. We will share as much information as possible.” To find out more about the Grow North Boreal Horticulture Project please read here. To find out more about other community partners please read here.
People have been growing their own gardens in Brochet for a long time, but our gardening project expanded in 2013 under the direction and management of our health center, and with the support of external partners, and it has been growing ever since. The cost of food in Brochet is very high. Some subsidies are in place, but things are still very expensive. A 4-L jug of milk is $14.95, while a 10-pound bag of potatoes is $33. Also, we need positive things for our youth to do, and ways for them to gain employment and learn how to be leaders in our community. Our garden project helps to address these challenges. In 2013, we built a 14’ x 20’ greenhouse at the community garden site and also started a fruit patch. Out of the success and interest from 2013, we applied for additional support from the Collaborative to expand this great work. To get better at gardening, our youth have travelled to Leaf Rapids to learn with experienced boreal horticulturalist Chuck Stensgard. Youth from Leaf Rapids have also traveled to our community to help us build new garden beds and improve the soil. We have also received seeds and strawberry plants from Leaf Rapids that are adapted to be strong in our northern climates. Developing the soil and getting the right equipment to move soil to our gardens have been challenges for us to work on. Sometimes the Northern Stores saves rotten fruit for us to add to the soil. The workers at our garden (usually 5-7 youth and 1-2 adults) plant and maintain the main garden, as well as visit people’s homes and help them build their own home gardens (in-ground and raised beds). Since we started we have doubled the size of the community garden. There is a positive impact for those employed. For the youth, it gives increased job skills, garden training, confidence about their ability to contribute to their community, as well as some spending money. For the adults involved, the money supplements the high costs of food to feed their families and helps them gain confidence in gardening skills. There are lots of young people that would like to work in the garden but not enough jobs available for everyone interested. It’s sad turning people away but we always invite people interested to join us by volunteering in the garden. The interest in the project has increased because the community has celebrated the work and accomplishments. Food produced is shared through the Elder’s lunch, youth cooking classes, and local food boxes distributed to Elders. These connections all contribute to the strengthening of the belief that delicious, healthy food could be grown in the community. Gardening has become a huge part of our community and has brought the people closer. A growing number of people have stopped by the community garden to see how everything has been going and are really shocked and excited about the results. Some community members have even come to lend a hand to the garden advisors. Having a garden in Brochet helps with saving money and allows people to purchase other things that we can't grow. Because of the garden, people are cooking healthier and getting exercise, because having a garden is a lot of work but also worth it. To find out more about the Youth Garden Project please read here. To find out more about other community partners please read here.
 The Northern Association of Community Councils (NACC) Beekeeping program began as a pilot in 2013 and has grown and been refined each year since. The program started small with five families taking part. Since that time many have gotten to be quite strong beekeepers. In 2016, there were 11 families actively participating in the program. The NACC Beekeeping Program is a five year graduated support program that facilitates learning about bees as well as acquiring the bees and equipment needed to keep them. Participants sign a contract that outlines their responsibilities as well as the NACC’s commitments to the program. Each participant keeps a logbook that details their beekeeping activity. The logbook helps beekeepers keep track of their operations and helps the NACC track the activities of the apiaries. In 2015, one NACC staff member described the new contract system, “This really helped to guide us towards beekeepers to understanding the path to sustainability. We also did a better job of record keeping with the project.” Pollination benefits have been obvious to many of the participants. Dave Olsen from the Homebrook community shared that his gardens were “over productive” after the bees were added and Alana Parker from Dawson Bay also observed significant changes in local pollination rates. Honey and other bee products are shared and sold in a variety of different ways. For some families the honey serves to offset the purchasing of sugar for their large families. Other participants sell or share the honey locally. In 2016, the first workshops focused on non-honey products like candles and soaps took place. Bonnie Dumas commented on the culture of sharing between the beekeepers and other community members, “We shared the honey with members of the community and co-workers. We also shared the information we learned with others and got people interested in possibly trying to raise their own bees.” The participants have an array of motivators for joining the project. From economic development opportunities for their families, to pollination, to positive and action-based projects for children, adults and Elders to be involved in, people are finding many benefits from keeping bees. One 2016 participant said, “The honey we harvested is amazing and the smiles I see on my children’s faces when the Elders thank them and tell them how good it was, is completely worth every minute and penny.” In 2016, more than 4,100 pounds of honey was harvested from over 70 hives by our participants. Beekeepers have also learned how to split their own hives and some are working on raising queens. The participants are now able to teach and support each other in a way that was simply not possible during the first years of the program. We are excited to support the emergence of new beekeepers, to increase the total number of beehives and see the resulting pollination benefits and honey produced by small and remote Northern Manitoba communities. In 2017, the NACC will be supporting some communities along the Bayline, with only rail access, to get into beekeeping. We will also continue to provide training and supports to our current participants and to promote this important project. To find out more about the NACC Beekeeping Project please read here. To find out more about other community partners please read here.
The gardens in ‘the Bronx’ neighborhood of Cross Lake were established in 2012 by community members to create a positive space, build new skills and grow healthy foods. The Mikisew School took a lead role in creating these gardens and we hoped that they would be a place where the students who attend Mikisew School Garden Club could build their skills and then use them at home in their own gardens. There are 10 garden beds for students and community members to use. The cooking component was added in 2016 to provide families with the opportunity to learn how to cook healthy meals that are diabetic friendly and promote food traditions of Cross Lake. Local Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative workers manage the cooking classes. Food Matters Manitoba plays a supportive role in both the garden and cooking classes. For the garden, it has been difficult to find adults who have gardening skills and will spend time (either paid or volunteer) to consistently help organize and run the gardens. The children love to come out on planting days and to see how the food is growing, but we need more help and organization to do the weeding and watering for the garden to grow really well. There is so much value in getting outside together and getting our hands dirty. In 2016, Carol Blair, a local lunch program volunteer at Mikesew School, helped organize the garden. Carol is a long time gardener in the community and lives directly across from the community garden space. Carol, her son Marcus, and community member and volunteer Frank prepared the planting space. Carol and Marcus then took the lead of planting vegetable seeds with children from around the area. It was a rainy summer which lead to some delays in getting the seeds in the ground. Each volunteer was paid an honorarium throughout the summer for their contribution to the project. Scheduling and organizing continues to be one of the most challenging aspects of the garden, as well as regular access to tools and supplies. The cooking classes are offered through the Cross Lake Health Centre and Prenatal Nutrition Program. Twice a month, Wendy and Sonia from the health centre host cooking classes for local mothers and children. Local food champion, Donna Hoppener, volunteers with the program by providing a variety of different diabetes friendly recipes and helping during the classes. These classes are popular and we plan to do more of them. We would also like to incorporate more traditional foods and food from the land into our cooking. To find out more about the Garden and Cooking Project please read here. To find out more about other community partners please read here.  The students and staff of Peonan Point School have been fundraising for the last two years to build a greenhouse for the families who reside on the Point. The greenhouse is intended to operate all year round producing fresh foods for the community members and offer a diversity of learning opportunities to the local students. There are currently 8 students at the school. Fundraising efforts were quite labor intensive and included: making crafts to sell, baking for bake sales, and cleaning the local dump-site each spring. Parents, family and the craft sale attendees in nearby Ashern have generously supported the students. After the grant funds were applied to the balance due, they found the students had raised enough funds to make up the difference required. As this greenhouse was meant to fill a gap in the community’s accessibility to fresh produce, it needed to be a structure that would work in Manitoba winters. After considerable research and many nay-sayers, they settled on working with a company called Growing Technologies. Located in Neepawa, Growing Technologies helped to determine the size and design of the greenhouse. The structure was tested through two Manitoba winters with users successfully growing produce and flowers. They had a few setbacks in the timing of the project, but kept pushing forward. The greenhouse was erected on a miserable, cold day in the fall of 2016 which was later than planned. Then the rain came and did not stop for about six weeks. That weather made travel in and out of the Point difficult at best. This pushed back the electrician’s schedule, but hydro was finally hooked up in late October. The next challenge was getting the topsoil delivered. Many suppliers could not get to their stockpiles because of the wet, unfrozen ground. The grade 11 student who was taking a horticulture course tracked down a supplier in Hilbre and soil was delivered in early December. Everything was finally in place except the water. The greenhouse has made a number of learning opportunities possible. For the first time at Peonan Point School, senior year students are able to take optional horticulture courses for high school credits. This opportunity is important, as most of the students have to take their high school courses by telephone or from the teacher in a tiny one room school. This has meant it has been difficult for students to get enough optional credits at the grade 11 and 12 levels. Currently a grade 11 student from the community is enrolled in two horticulture courses: greenhouse and landscaping. He monitors the temperature inside the greenhouse (in our 40 below weather) to determine what it should be set at. He has also searched out soil prices, researched plants that grow well in cooler temperatures, and cares for the plants that were salvaged from summer gardens. He is in the process of drawing up plans for a landscaped area to the south of the greenhouse. The creation of the raised beds and walkways have also put our Grade 11 students’ woodworking skills to use. To find out more about the School Greenhouse please read here. To find out more about other community partners please read here.
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