Announcing the 2024 Spring FIRE Grant Recipients

We are thrilled to announce the exceptional recipients of the 2024 Funding Indigenous Resurgence in Edmonton (FIRE) Spring Grants. These grants signify our commitment to fostering community engagement, supporting indigenous resurgence, and promoting cultural heritage in Edmonton.

The Funding Indigenous Resurgence in Edmonton (FIRE) grant provides funding assistance—up to $10,000—to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals and organizations to support heritage-based projects that tell important stories about our community.

These projects explore Indigenous heritage in the form of research, writing, art, conferences, programming, speaker or reading series, ceremony, cultural camps, and more.

Tom Snow  Pezuda Ûksu (Medicine Parfleche) by Iethka Nakoda Elder Tom Snow is a profound narrative exploring the history, spirituality, and culture of the Stoney Nakoda people. Expanding on his 96-page presentation on historical trauma, Tom provides a deeper understanding of Nakoda resilience, identity, and healing. The book intertwines traditional Nakoda teachings with Tom’s personal healing journey, highlighting the often-overlooked history of the Iethka Nakoda. Integrating archaeological data, linguistics, oral history, medicine, and ceremony, Pezuda Ûksu fosters a broader discussion on Nakoda dignity, spirituality, and heritage.

 

mâmawi nîpawiwin - Standing Together  The mâmawi nîpawiwin - Standing Together Orange Shirt Day Walk is an inclusive event planned by and for survivors of Residential Schools and their families. Held on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, this walk aims to overcome barriers faced by many survivors, such as poverty, limited access, and registration requirements. The event will provide free food, refreshments, orange t-shirts, and cultural and Elder supports, ensuring accessibility and comfort. The walk will start at Mary Burlie Park and end at Giovanni Caboto Park, featuring optional walking and mobility assistance. By focusing on anti-racism, harm reduction, decolonization, and safe spaces, this initiative aims to foster community, raise awareness, and support healing.

 

Terri Cardinal  miyo-pimâtisiwin is a 3-day cultural camp for Saddle Lake Cree Nation youth ages 15-29, held outdoors in Saddle Lake and nearby grazing grounds. This camp aims to continue providing healing and hope to Indigenous youth through intergenerational knowledge transfer. Activities include fire making, beading, medicine and berry picking, outdoor cooking, trapping, and various ceremonies. The camp will feature a pipe ceremony, sweat lodge, feast, and closing circle, supported by two Elders throughout the event.

 

Natalie Pepin  Mistatimwak Kiwicihikonawak is a one-day land-based camp near Perryvale, AB, designed for survivors of sexual violence from the Edmonton region to connect with horses for their healing journey. This event, which avoids the need for discussing traumatic incidents, will include a pipe ceremony, meals, cultural stories about horses, one-on-one healing work with horses, a giveaway, and a closing group circle.

 

Riplea Lothian  Goin to Kokums is a show aimed to recreate the warm, loving atmosphere of visiting Grandma's house, where Kookum, a funny and caring Michif-speaking grandmother, invites viewers to her magical island home along with her non-binary puppet friend, Muckatoon. Through play, song, and adventure, they engage with Métis culture and the Michif language. Each episode offers interactive learning games and visual fun for kid

 

Jessica Sanderson-Barry   Healing Through Moose Hide Tanning is a six-day urban hide camp held in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton), led by Cree Hide Tanner Jessica Sanderson-Barry and guided by Denesuline Knowledge Holder Marina Nohokoo. The camp will involve oral storytelling, language sharing, and tipi teachings by Elder Phillip Campiou. Participants will learn traditional moose hide tanning methods, fostering cultural resurgence and healing. This practice, vital for clothing and shelter, also serves as a form of reclamation and sovereignty, reconnecting Indigenous people to their heritage.

 

Kokum’s Helper Society  Kokums Helper Society, in partnership with Niginan Housing Ventures, successfully hosted its first Memorial Round Dance on April 13, 2024, and is now planning the second of four annual ceremonies required by local protocols. The Round Dance honors those who have passed, especially those who lacked culturally relevant care, and invites all community members to remember their ancestors together. The event, held centrally in Edmonton, aims to show care and compassion to the inner city, featuring songs, a feast, and a giveaway to promote inclusivity.

 

Reuben Quinn  Reuben is writing a book documenting his language revitalization efforts centered around the Cree syllabic chart, known as the spirit markers. These markers represent a deep relationality, rooted in the concept of mîyowahkohtôwin, where good relations extend to the earth, its creatures, and elements. This book aims to preserve and share Cree laws, along with others, to remind individuals of the principles embedded in nehiyawewin and how it guides us to live in good relations.

 

Teneil Whiskeyjack Ayita by Teneil Whiskeyjack is a theatre performance calling back to one’s spirit and voice, encapsulating stories of universal and personal connection to creation and land. Weaving themes told through a Cree lens of a nehiyaw iskwew, Ayita is a story expressed in voice, movement and performance art. The production is set to take place on the land in the playwright’s home community of Saddle Lake Cree Nation at Whispering Winds Wellness Retreat space, a vision built by Teneil’s Nosom (grandfather), Ben Whiskeyjack, for several years. The retreat space that promotes wellness, equine therapy and cultural preservation.

 

Thunder Beings Beading  The Land is Starving is a project aimed at reconnecting urban Indigenous people with the land through culture and art. Colonization disrupted Indigenous connections to the land, and this project seeks to heal that disconnection. It will focus on the Edmonton river valley, offering guided walks led by Elders and Knowledge Keepers to share land knowledge and language. The project will also include gardening workshops to teach participants how to grow and use local plants for medicines, foods, and tools, regardless of space. Finally, participants will create a handbook featuring plants they’ve learned about, incorporating their art and photographs. This project aims to heal both the land and people by restoring reciprocal relationships and community connections.