Inherent Rights Youth Initiative

It is time to put a new memory in the minds of our children. Time to tell them a story of hope. Time to tell the story that our long struggle for the right to be self-governing is over, and we have won. And it is time to put it into practice. – Satsan

 

WE INVITE YOUTH TO BUILD A MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE

We are seeking young Indigenous leaders to grow the vision for a movement to rebuild First Nations governance. Along this journey, skilled facilitators from the Centre for First Nations Governance and Elders from across Turtle Island will provide storytelling, training, knowledge, and experiential learning opportunities to help us flourish as leaders under the inherent right to self-government. Contact us at services@fngovernance.org if you are interested in participating.

ANNUAL YOUTH AND ELDER GATHERINGS

Young Indigenous people require transformative opportunities to develop confidence to step away from colonial Indian Act culture and flourish as leaders within their families, communities, and nations under the inherent right to self-government. One of the most effective means to support emerging leaders on their path is to connect them with our Elders and Medicine People.

The Centre for First Nations Governance held its first youth and elder gathering in 2021. Following the success of the first year, the Inherent Rights Youth Initiative (IRYI) reconvened in 2022 on a Storytelling Journey across the country. 

STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES FOR 2023

The Centre has committed to convening a space for emerging youth leaders on an annual basis. It is our hope that these youth will continue to journey with us as we build a movement for change across Turtle Island and join us in welcoming new youth to the initiative later this year.

INHERENT RIGHTS YOUTH INITIATIVE

The Inherent Rights Youth Initiative (IRYI) is working to accelerate nation rebuilding by investing in young people and providing opportunities to develop our leadership capabilities. This initiative will help youth explore cultural identity and enable us to ground our understanding of the inherent right to self-government in our language, art, history, and the land. IRYI is about advancing good governance, language, culture and effective leadership. It is about reclaiming what is inherently ours, bringing together Youth and Elders to develop a new generation of inherent rights leaders.

OUR STORY

The work of the Inherent Rights Youth Initiative (IRYI) is about advancing good governance, language, culture and effective leadership. It is about reclaiming what is inherently ours and developing a new generation of leaders. Today, the IRYI Youth are a group of emerging leaders who have gathered to support and empower one another as we reclaim languages and live beyond the reserve boundaries to occupy more of our ancestral places.

The vision of the Inherent Rights Leadership Initiative (IRYI) comes from Satsan, who has carried the dream of a four-day gathering of Youth, Elders, and Medicine People since his time as a young person at the Canadian Indian Youth Workshops and Ecumenical Conferences of the 1970s.

Establishing key funding partnerships created an opportunity to bring this vision forward. Other partners emerged to ensure the work could reach its full potential. Soon, the founding youth members of the IRYI came forward and Elders Sawt (Martina Pierre) and makwa ogimaa (Jerry Fontaine) agreed to journey alongside them.

We first met in late July, 2021 for a 3-Day Design Retreat to design core aspects of a two-month training journey leading up to a Youth and Elders Gathering. During our time together, we worked to find out what young leaders were hungry for and what their priorities are. We learned that there are missing parts in our identities because of colonization and the Indian Act. Oral history and ceremony are faint memories, and language is almost lost in some areas. From coast to coast, we are hungry to make ourselves whole again.

2022: Five Storytelling Sessions; Youth & Elder Gathering

In 2022, youth participated in five storytelling session based on the Centre’s Five Pillars of Effective Governance. The sessions began by providing youth with the background knowledge necessary to research their Nation’s laws, territory, and traditional governance systems. The Centre for First Nations Governance introduced its library of material to provide a foundational understanding of the inherent right to self-government. Throughout the Fall, IRYI journeyed to Star Blanket Cree Nation, Lil’wat Nation, Nishnawbe Ask8i Nation, Listuguj Mi’kmaq Nation, and Upper Nicola Nation to hear from Elders, Medicine People, and Knowledge Keepers about the Five Pillars of Effective Governance (insert link). The journey culminated in a second national Youth and Elders Gathering, once again hosted from Ketegaunseebee (Garden River First Nation) by Elder Darrel Boisseneau.