NEWS RELEASE
WEENGUSHK FILM INSTITUTE
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On June 1, youth participants of the Journey for Knowledge program at Manitoulin Island’s Weengushk Film Institute (WFI) embarked on an unparalleled and transformative four-week cultural exchange trip across Canada and the U.S. Starting from M’Chigeeng First Nation on Ontario’s Manitoulin Island, seven youth, two knowledge keepers and an elder lead will embark on an extended road trip westward to Alert Bay on British Columbia’s Pacific Coast, where they’ll visit the Namgis First Nations on Cormorant Island with many stops at nations across the country.
“I’m looking forward to walking alongside the many cultures we’re going to encounter and to see how our values and beliefs differ,” says Presley Meawasige, 26, of the Sagamok First Nation. “I can’t wait for my mind to be opened to the possibilities we’re about to experience.”
The WFI contingent will make stops at seven other First Nations communities across Canada, including The Pays Plat First Nation, an Ojibway community near Rossport, NE of Thunder Bay; The Sagkeeng Anicinabe First Nation, near Fort Alexander, along the Winnipeg River in Manitoba; a Metis community in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and The Piapot First Nation, a Treaty 4 First Nation in Regina, Saskatchewan.
They will exchange life experiences with youth from these communities, participate in ceremonies and learn the stories and histories of other cultures.
Additionally, they will venture south of the border to visit The White Earth Indian Reserve in Ogema, Minnesota; the Lac Vieux Desert Indian Reserve in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula region; and significant sites in South Dakota, including the Wounded Knee Memorial, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Dignity of Earth and Sky.
This unprecedented experience, and inaugural groundbreaking program, set the tone for connection and reconciliation for all.
Weengushk Film Institute (WFI), a leading Indigenous film and media arts school, is proud to have created the transformative Journey for Knowledge program, an immersive 10-month Land-Based Learning Experience centred around the four pillars of Indigenous culture: Food, Sharing History, Land and Language. It recognizes the importance of Indigenous-led education, with elders and knowledge keepers guiding and sharing their wisdom with participants and is accredited through Laurentian University.
Dr. Shirley Cheechoo, C.M., founder and executive/artistic director of WFI, says, “I’ve seen first-hand the impact the Land-Based training program has had on our youth. They have the willingness to share all this knowledge they have gained from the elders, knowledge keepers, to share with other indigenous communities across this land”.
For more information about the “Journey for Knowledge” program or Weengushk Film Institute, please visit weengushk.com.
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