Day One Overview

1
Day One Overview
3RD NATIONAL FIRST NATIONS YOUTH
SUMMIT Rebuilding Our Nations National Unity,
Voices From The Community October 30 November
1, 2007

• Summary of Points from Economic Development and
  Cultural Sessions
• Oct. 31st, 2007

2
Break-Out Session Summary

• Summary of Gaps
• Summary on Priorities
• Summary of Five-Year Activities
• What they are
• Who will do them
• What resources/capacity are needed

3
Economic Development

• Summary of Youth Voices

4
GAPS Education

• Recognition of the Treaty Right to Education
• Underesourcing 2 cap and wage parity for
  teachers
• Early childhood education
• Tutors, role model and after school programs
  should start at an early age to help children who
  learn differently
• Safe educational environment
• Workshops to learn healthy behaviours address
  addictions
• Programs to increase self-confidence/self-esteem
• Family, community and peer support networks
• Mentorship from Elders
• Increased knowledge of heritage, culture, and
  territory
• Promote FN languages and history

5
GAPS Education (ctd)

• Community-level supports
• Better access to community infrastructure, esp.
  in remote communities
• Roads to access healthy food and the real world
• Electronic communities and computers
• Community guidance from Youth Group/Advisors
• Training of the whole community on supporting
  youth
• Greater opportunities for
• Postsecondary students need the money for
  living and academic expenses
• Off-reserve students (some discrimination now)
• Apprenticeships
• Anti-racism programs in mainstream education

6
GAPS Employment

• Lack of skills
• Lack of work ethic, discipline, criminal records
• Lack of variety in employment opportunities
• Imposition of provincial standards for employment
  prerequisites that are not adapted to community
  competencies
• Communication of opportunities, online info
• Dependence on Band Council to provide employment
• Some Bands offer salaries that are disincentives
  for youth to seek better education and jobs

7
GAPS Entrepreneurship

• Courses on economic development for youth AND
  leaders
• Business planning, taxation etc.
• Lack of investors, loans, financial leverage
• Federal/Provincial Government creating barriers
  to FN economic dev
• Permits
• Converting urban lands into reserve lands
• Exploring non-natural resources based
  opportunities, e.g. non profit organizations
• Setting up companies that are more aligned with
  First Nations values, e.g.
• Sustainable development
• Green, Environment-Friendly enterprises
• Mandatory recycling in communities would create
  businesses

8
GAPS Entrepreneurship (ctd)

• Equal rights for FN women
• Concerted approaches within and among communities
• Collaboration among leaders and Nations stop
  racism and competition
• Extend Chief and Council election timeframes to
  enhance stability
• Economic development does NOT equal community
  development
• A community can do well economically, but social
  issues remain high

9
Priorities - Education

• Teachers that care and are eager to teach
• Adequate on-reserve education that meets
  postsecondary prerequisites
• Recreational activities for youth
• Self-esteem, healing and healthy behavior
  programs (motivation and independent thinking)
• FN languages promotion
• Mentorship programs
• Mix of life experience with school learning

10
Priorities- Employment/EcDev

• Communication of employment and business
  opportunities
• Access to new technology
• Youth groups/committees
• Partnerships with private sector
• Decolonization through ecdev
• Independent opportunities, empowerment
• Individual community members should support FN
  businesses
• Promote traditional business activities
• Protect intellectual property

11
Five-Year Activities

• Increased funding for youth-specific and
  education programs
• Youth support/tutoring and self-esteem
• Recreational/sport activities
• Opportunities for youth to learn experientially
  about the real world
• Healthy behaviors workshops
• Learning FN languages
• Leadership, Lobbying, Public Speaking, Media
  workshops
• Support young parents to return to school
• FN universities, including arts and francophone
  based
• More warrior and women societies
• Adapted training programs for community-contexts

12
Five-Year Activities (ctd)

• Communications (website) to promote opportunities
  and networking among youth
• Centralization of Best Practices information
• Assessment of environmental impacts of economic
  development projects offered to FNs
• Creating environmentally-friendly entreprises
  more aligned with FN values
• Eco-tourism, sustainable development
• Promote traditional-based activities (e.g.
  microcredits)
• Treaty implementation
• Independent funding for FNs (not federal)
• Intergenerational awareness beginning at early
  childhood through the life cycle

13
Five-Year Activities (ctd)

• InterNation Collaboration Panel
• Interchanges among communities
• Create a consumer card for FN businesses
• Adapt national, govt policies to community
  business context
• Promote networking among youth as future leaders
  and entrepreneurs
• Conduct community-based research on business
  drivers
• Create a FN-type body to accredit and recognize
  businesses
• Develop national standards and move away from
  piecemeal approaches
• Inter-Nation Economic Development Society

14
Elders Teachings

• Environmental issues are fundamental
• Destruction of Mother Earth leads to destruction
  of our peoples
• Need to recognize the sacredness of water
• Environmental protection standards for FNs
• Youth have a responsibility to take care of the
  land
• Important to/for youth
• Empowerment and responsibility
• Their voice is integral to all communities
• Gender balancing the traditional roles of men
  and women
• Cultural rescue and revitalization of our
  languages
• Traditional careers
• Wholistic understanding of Elders, women, youth,
  families

15
Culture

• Summary of Youth Voices

16
GAPS

• No services for teaching youth their traditions
• Fewer teachers available
• No fully immersed education programs in FN
  languages (available also in urban centres)
• Language needs to be taught with stories (e.g.
  Creation)
• Youth who live in remote communities have greater
  opportunities to connect with their culture
• Healing programs to address the intergenerational
  impacts of residential schools
• High rate of substance abuse
• Because the parents did not learn it they are
  not passing it onthinking its wrong because they
  were told it was wrong in the residential schools
  

17
GAPS (ctd)

• Disconnect between Elders and Youth
• Disconnect among families
• Children in the child welfare system have little
  exposure to their culture
• Youth do not know who to turn to
• Lack of respect and discipline
• Gangs
• Who can they trust to teach them?
• Less occupation of traditional territory
• High cost, reduced time, loss of land
• Loss of hunting rights
• Diversity of cultures and communities
• Sometimes creates cultural competition

18
GAPS (ctd)

• Racism
• Mainstream education
• Against those who speak (or sometimes dont
  speak) their language
• Difficult to compete with youth exposure to new
  English-dominant technology and media
• Emphasis on making money
• No sufficient value/financial viability for those
  who choose to undertake traditional activities
• Need to adapt traditions to todays society
• For instance, set cultural weeks during vacation
  periods so youth can participate
• Clash between Canadian work life and FN
  holidays/practices/ceremonies
• Need to receive services in our own languages
  (e.g. St-Hubert)

19
GAPS (ctd)

• Recognize FN languages as official languages of
  Canada
• Foreign political systems impacted traditional
  governance
• Need to promote youths positive attitudes
  towards leadership
• FN need to determine their own citizenship
• Knowing what is good for the seventh generation
  to come
• Elders made decisions based on the consequences
  of the children, grandchildren and their children
  and so on for seven generations
• Residential Schools disturbed this greatly
• Traditional values have been excluded from our
  decision
• Decision making is based on the law of the day
  and funding

20
PRIORITIES

• Recognition/Protection of Treaty rights
• Re-evaluate how Treaties can help with culture
• More services and resources for cultural
  programming
• Immersion in FN languages in educational system
• Ensure teachers speak FN language
• Offer traditional healing
• Support Elders in their work
• Address discrimination
• Create awareness of the impacts of racism
• Mandatory classes in FN history in mainstream
  high school and postsecondary education

21
PRIORITIES (ctd)

• Modernizing traditional workshops to raise youth
  interest
• Include in parenting classes
• Role models Restoring Pride
• Encourage youth to use their traditional names
• Comprehensive healing programs to address
  intergenerational impacts
• Include all family members
• Nation to Nation research and statistics

22
Five-Year Activities

• More cultural events, pow-wows, camps gatherings,
  and discussions
• Drop-in centres, sweat lodges
• Learning centre where Elders can teach youth
• Youth rallies
• Arts training, multimedia training
• Start with Headstart program
• Cultural advisors for schools
• Greater use of traditional lands
• Centre for transmission of knowledge and
  learning/immersion in FN languages
• Intercultural band officers to promote culture
• Host tribes to assist other communities
  InterNation exchanges

23
Five-Year Activities (ctd)

• Healing programs re. intergenerational impacts of
  residential schools
• With participation of Elders and youth
• Immersion education programs in FN languages
• Youth and Elders conference
• An Indian Einstein (equivalent of the Baby
  Einstein) to teach children
• Research on languages
• More Youth Councils and networking among them to
  advise leadership
• Funding to be allocated as determined by FNs

24
Five-Year Activities (ctd)

• Learning gender roles
• Teach youth that they are stewards of the land
• A National First Nations Languages Commission
• Archive/Resource Portal where youth can access
  knowledge of cultures, languages and traditions
  (using Internet)
• Youth to document history and knowledge
• Official recognition of FN languages and history
• FN History Month
• Loi 101 in QC seek an exemption for FNs
• Grants for artists, prizes
• Protection of intellectual property
• Environmental Impact Assessments

25
Elders Teachings

• When a tree is planted and begins to grow, the
  branches spring forth and these are the youth.
  We need to nurture those branches because they
  are the future leaders.
• Elders want to assist in teaching oral history
  and culture
• Oral history is very important and it must be
  protected, recognized and honored
• A spiritual foundation must accompany the
  building of our nation, it is a foundation built
  on universal principles
• Mission statement to teach the youth
• To build a spiritual foundation, the youth need
  to accept and embrace who they are thus the
  concept of spirituality is an important facet
  of identity

26
Elders Teachings (ctd)

• Need to stop the corruption of FN languages by
  the English language
• Protection of the Environment and sacredness of
  water
• Promote education of youth in laws to protect
  Treaties, including Canadian and international
  laws
• Promote and recognize traditional careers for
  youth
• The omegamow in the past was the equivalent of
  a parliamentary system it consisted of elders
  and had the highest honor and made decisions.
  Today, omegamow has been destroyed by the
  government and replaced the old system with their
  ideas of Chiefs and Councils. Its meaning has
  all but been destroyed but we need to resurrect
  it.