On #NationalIndigenousPeoplesDay, we celebrate with our partners and feature their inspiring work to mark the day. We honour all our partners across this land and their work with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.
A special thank you to Ulaayu Pilurtuut from @productionsfeuxsacres for the breathtaking artwork “Serenade of the Deep,” a symbol of inspiration shining brightly in northern communities, a source of inspiration across all Northern communities and wish to feature Indigenous partners working with and for them.
EntrepreNorth
Entrepreneurship & Impact investing / NWT· Yukon · Nunavik
We celebrate NIPD with EntrepreNorth with a vision for the Northern territories and to foster entrepreneurship and impact investing by and for Indigenous peoples.
“The Northern Lights are a source of inspiration and creativity for people up here. They symbolize the strength of innovation that has always been a part of our cultures.” – Benjamin Scott, EntrepreNorth Co-Director
→ Read on
Spotlight on our partners
Wahkohtowin
Housing · Northern Ontario
We celebrate NIPD with Wahkohtowin in Northern Ontario and find inspiration in their community-centred approach to housing for and by First Nations. The word Wahkohtowin stands for “kinship and connectedness and recognizes the complexity and interconnectedness of our people, animals, lands, air, and waters.”
To build an end-to-end housing supply chain, Wahkohtowin created One Bowl and the Tree to Home approach to tackle the housing crisis in First Nations communities. Importantly, the approach is also working to achieve other interconnected goals. That includes to train a skilled labour force, create local jobs, overcome resource limitations, and build community wellness.
Northern Manitoba Food, Culture and Community Collective
Communities · Northern Manitoba
We celebrate NIPD with the Northern Manitoba Food, Culture, and Community Collaborative (NMFCCC) – an innovative group composed of northern communities, eight northern advisors, and 13 funders working to reclaim food systems, culture and food sovereignty. Through improved access to culturally appropriate foods and the development of resilient local economies, NMFCCC is fostering healthier, stronger communities in northern Manitoba.
NMFCCC provides modest grants to support community-led food and cultural projects across northern Manitoba. It also enables the sharing of learnings between communities and to broader audiences.
→Read more about NMFCCC’s work and discover more Reconciliation partners in our Year in Review
From East, South, West and North, happy National Indigenous Peoples Day!
We thank Sacred Fire Productions and Inuk artist Ulaayu Pilurtuut’s artwork, “Serenade of the Deep.”
About the artist:
Ulaayu Pilurtuut is an Inuit artist born in Kangirsujuaq, Nunavik in 1964 and has now been living in Kuujjuaq, which is the biggest community in Ungava, since the past ten years. She has been interested in art since childhood and her first drawings where done when she was nine years old. As a self-taught artist, she uses black pigment ink for her drawings with a touch of color to highlight the art. She also uses acrylic paint, oil painting, as well as glass painting and stencil on canvas. As an ambassador of her ancestral culture, Ulaayu Pilurtuut teaches Inuktut, the language of her people and tries to invent new ways of adaptations to the modern world through artistic expression. Ulaayu Pilurtuut was selected in 2013 by the Royal Canadian Mint to create two images that were part of an Aboriginal coin series launched in 2013.
→ Discover Ulaayu’s work
→ Find out more about Sacred Fire productions