Youth Network

Honouring Life Network Blog

Welcome to the HLN Blog! Here you will find postings about news items, positive youth programming across the country and beyond, job postings, resources, websites, scholarships/awards, research funding and other things that we think might be relevant to youth or youth workers visiting our site. If you’re looking for something specific, check out the tags at the end of each post and on the right-hand menu. The HLN blog should be interactive, so please feel free to leave a comment about any of the postings, or to email us if you have an idea for an HLN blog posting.



Songedamowin which is an Algonquin word meaning “Trust” or “To Trust”, focuses on the Wabano Health Centre, located in the urban centre of our nation's capital, Ottawa. The centre serves First Nations, Inuit and Métis youth in addition to children, families, elders and the community as a whole.

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Honouring Life Network Documentaries

Honouring Life Network Documentaries

Thanks to a Healthy and Vibrant Communities grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, which was awarded to the Honouring Life Network in November of 2009 we were able to bring you these two amazing short documentaries focusing on some of the positive Aboriginal youth programming that is being offered across our country. We hope that by highlighting the efforts of these two different Ontario communities, that the feeling of hope for the future will spread through our youth and across our great nation.

Click on the links below to check them out!

Bimaadiziwin which can be translated from Ojibway to mean “Living in a Good Way”, highlights the efforts of Walpole Island First Nation and the Bkejwanong Youth Facility, and shows the positive changes community members have seen in the youth, and the community as a whole, since its establishment.

Excellent book: Herb Nabigon’s personal healing journey

Hollow Tree: Fighting addiction with traditional native healing

Hollow Tree tells the story of Herb Nabigon’s personal healing journey. The book begins with his life as a young child growing up in Pic Mobert First Nation and the time he spent attending residential school. His time in residential school left Herb feeling lost and disconnected, feelings that were compounded by the loss of his mother. After a period of time spent drifting from job to job, and numbing his pain under a veil of alcohol abuse, Herb began to be drawn back to his cultural and spiritual traditions. Many years spent exploring these traditions and teachings under the guidance of Elders helped Herb to recover from his alcohol addiction and discover a new way of understanding and valuing life.

This book is an excellent read. Herb discusses various teachings including Circle Teachings, the Sweatlodge, the Hub, the Medicine Wheel, the Pipe and the Medicines. Each teaching is woven so expertly into his story telling that you often don’t even notice the underlying lesson until you’ve finished reading. I sat down to flip through this book as a possible resource for my MA thesis, and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting! The book is an excellent resource on traditional healing practices, and also a poignant and often funny account of a personal healing journey. A truly inspirational story of honouring life - to be enjoyed and shared.

Herb Nabigon is an Elder from Pic River First Nation and is a member of the Loon Clan within the Ojibway Nation. He is also a Professor in the Native Human Services Social Work program at Laurentian University.

Herb's blog can be found at: http://www.eldersteachings.blogspot.com/ where he shares different teachings all aimed to help people know “minobimadiziwin” – the good life.

Hollow Tree is available on Amazon

Aboriginal Youth Internship Program

Interns are placed in provincial government ministries

About:

The Aboriginal Youth Internship Program is a 12-month, paid internship ($1,564.13 Bi-weekly) for Aboriginal youth residing in BC. The interns are placed in provincial government ministries for nine months and then in Aboriginal organizations for the last three months of their internship. The program is designed to support Aboriginal youth in developing their leadership skills and encourage them to consider the BC Public Service or Aboriginal organizations as a place to pursue a rewarding career.

The program:

  • Mirrors the school year and runs annually from September to the following August
  • Provides professional experience
  • Provides leadership development
  • Provides cultural support
  • Provides a professional, cultural, and social network through the intern cohort

Eligibility:

Applicants must be:

  • Aboriginal (First Nations (status or non-status), Métis, Inuit)
  • Residing in BC
  • Age 29 or under as of September 5, 2011
  • Have a minimum Grade 12 education combined with work and volunteer experience

Deadline:

Applications must be received by Friday May 13th, 2011

For more information, or to apply go to:

http://employment.gov.bc.ca/Aboriginal_Youth_Internship_Program

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Child and Youth Mental Health Matters conference

Child and Youth Mental Health Matters conference
May 6-8th, 2012
Vancouver, BC

This is very advanced notice, but looks like an excellent conference.
The organizers have combined three conferences into one:

  • The First National Parental Mental Health Conference,
  • The First International Young Carers Congress and
  • The Third International World Congress on Children of Parents with Mental Illness

Description:

This conference brings together an interdisciplinary group of professionals working in the field of mental health with young people and parents and other stakeholders to share knowledge and experiences related to child and youth mental health. There are three themes woven through the conferences: Parental Mental Health, Children of Parents with Mental Illness and Young Carers.

This first ever gathering of this nature will provide a forum for focusing on the needs of young people and families as they struggle with issues related to mental health concerns across the generations. The overall goal of the concurrent conferences is help us develop a common language and understanding of the needs of young people and families. By bringing together people from diverse backgrounds we hope to enrich our collective knowledge of mental health strategies, best practices and the latest research in order to improve outcomes for young people and families. Our goal is to create at the conference a community of practice that spans the three themes where we can each share our knowledge and support while we discuss areas of mutual interest and concern.

Conference Objectives

  • To improve our understanding of mental health needs across the generations
  • To examine how to engage professionals, young people and families in the development and implementation of prevention, early intervention and treatment strategies
  • To examine what supports, activities and policies are needed to ensure that young people, families and professionals are supported in their struggles and challenges
  • To provide a forum for networking and collaborating among mental health, health, criminal justice, education and child welfare practitioners, educators, researchers, policy makers, students, young people, families and other stakeholders with an interest in mental health issues across the generations
  • To establish “Canadian communities of practice” for each theme area

For more information, please visit: http://www.interprofessional.ubc.ca/ChildandYouthMentalHealth.htm

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New Relationship Trust BC First Nation Youth Grant Initiative 2011

The New Relationship Trust and the First Nation communities realize the importance of our youth. Accordingly, the NRT Board of Directors identified youth as a strategic priority. Our youth provide the key to a healthy and vital future. The ongoing support and participation of this group is essential to strong, healthy nations.

The New Relationship Trust allocated $250,000 for 2011 to assist British Columbia First Nation youth in their communities.

Who Can Apply?
The BC First Nations Youth Grant Initiative is available to all First Nation youth groups at the community level.

Initiative Objectives:
The purpose of this initiative is to provide incentive for First Nation youth groups to implement projects that promote capacity development.

For the purpose of this initiative, capacity building is defined as enhancing knowledge, abilities, skills and processes in such areas as:

  • Leadership;
  • Team building;
  • Mentorship;
  • Language & Culture

Examples of Ineligible Expenses or Projects:
1. Projects currently funded under another NRT initiative
2. Projects that have occurred prior to approval of application
3. Tuition, fees and school related costs
4. Administration costs
5. Honorariums

Maximum Initiative Contributions:
The maximum amount available is $2,500 per First Nation/community.

Deadline Date:
Applications containing all required completed documents must be received at the New Relationship Trust office by 4:00 pm on Tuesday May 31, 2011. No exceptions.

Applications and proposals can be delivered by mail, fax, emailed or dropped off in person.

Applications mailed to:
New Relationship Trust – BC First Nation Youth Grant Initiative
1008-100 Park Royal South
West Vancouver, BC V7T 1A2

Faxed to: 604-925-3348

or E-mailed to: ARose@nrtf.ca

Only one application will be accepted per youth group/community.

Application Checklist (Please submit all documentation in application):

  • Completed Application Form
  • Short Description (attached/typed) how funding will build capacity, leadership and/or mentorship for British Columbia First Nation youth at the community level. Description should be no more than 2 pages.
  • Budget breakdown of all expenses
  • Provide description of project, information about BC First Nation youth group and how the project will benefit BC First Nations communities
  • Letter of support from the local BC First Nation government

For more information and the application package please go to http://www.newrelationshiptrust.ca/funding/for-groups-organizations/yout...

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