Wahkohtowin Development GP

March 21, 2023 | Sharing Circle

I am an Indigenous, Registered Professional Forester and am General Manager for Wahkohtowin Development, a partnership between the Chapleau Cree, Missanabie and the Brunswick House First Nations. We formed this organization to develop the pathways for full participation in the forestry sector, diversify our economic development, and protect and assert authority over our traditional territories and cultural areas.

Our elders wanted us to build a Guardian program, in order to help the youth learn about connection, natural law – and life philosophy, and understand the phrase all our relations and our stewardship responsibilities to maintain these relationships. We have started the Guardian program and decided to apply for TRF funding to build on this initiative to build out services and activate our Innovation Center, where we’d share our stories, land practices (Birch Tap, Canoe Build, Medicines – Teas) and history with community members and visitors.

The Innovation Center will allow our communities to connect our youth, community members and visitors to the story of our traditions, culture and past. It will anchor our tourism strategy moving forward, and promote entrepreneurism by connecting the guardian program, the birch tree sugar shack, and our canoe-building tradition into an eventual cultural tourism destination that respects our traditions, way of life and people. We will host cultural activities in the Indigenous Center, and provide a space for our people to sell wares and other items.

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