Building community connections with the Land
The first green shoots that come up from Mother Earth after a fire has gone through the land.
This is the meaning of the word Wisahkotewinowak (pronounced wisah-ko-te-win-o-wak).
To some, the word perhaps conjures imagery of life, hope and connection. To others, it might mean renewal, or maybe purpose, giving.
What Wisahkotewinowak has been locally since 2014 is the namesake of an urban Indigenous garden collective that initially took root as a way of helping to build community and foster relationships with the Land specific to urban areas.
The collective’s beginning goes back to about eight years ago when Dave Skene, a Métis man living in Kitchener who served as Executive Director of the charity Global Youth Volunteer Network (GYVN) for three decades, turned his focus to local community building. He saw an opportunity for Indigenous people living in the city to connect to the Land and set out to cultivate those connections by growing a garden.
That first small plot featured ceremonial tobacco and a few varieties of vegetables. The original garden, which was created by GYVN at the site of the grassroots organization Young City Growers, was tended to by a few Indigenous students.
With those early seeds has come growth. Wisahkotewinowak has expanded to include four urban gardens within the Grand River Territory.
Wisahkotewinowak cares for a Produce Garden at the University of Waterloo Environmental Reserve, the Three Sisters Garden at Steckle Heritage Farm in Kitchener, the Teaching Garden at the Blair Outdoor Education Centre, and the Tea Garden at the University of Guelph’s Arboretum.
While the gardens serve many purposes, growing food that is significant for the Indigenous community is central. This includes the relational way food is grown and shared.
Wisahkotewinowak has been offering a Food Share in partnership with White Owl Native Ancestry Association (WONAA) since August 2020, to provide locally sourced and culturally significant food for Indigenous families and students within the region.
“We launched the Food Share as a way to directly get the food out to households,” said GYVN-Wisahkotewinowak Project Coordinator Elisabeth Miltenburg, referring to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to an increased need within the community. “Before, it was more informal. People came out to the garden, helped harvest the food, which was then shared with everyone to take home with them.”
During the growing season, the Food Share relies on food grown from the Wisahkotewinowak gardens, but to keep the program going year-round, food is also purchased from a local food security organization and bread is received weekly from Golden Hearth Bakery in Kitchener. When the program first started Miltenburg said it’s estimated 250 individuals were fed between August and November 2020
“We’ve kept going since that time,” she said.
Currently, the Food Share distributes to 20-25 Indigenous households each week, reaching approximately 100 different households and 500 individuals. Some individuals have received food from the beginning of the share, while others are being newly introduced each week.
Miltenburg said those in the community receiving food baskets have been deeply appreciative and have shown “heartfelt gratitude” and “overwhelming appreciation” not only for the consistent access to local foods but also for human connection during what has been an especially trying time for so many.
A formal evaluation of the Food Share was conducted from August to October 2021 by students at the University of Waterloo. The data analysis is wrapping up at the time of this writing, however initial results indicate that participants experienced included easy access to fresh and local food, financial alleviation from grocery costs, and a profound sense of connection to community and culture. Altogether, many participants felt this program contributed to their overall wellbeing.
Helping to keep the share operational is a $19,000 grant that was received through Waterloo Region Community Foundation’s (WRCF) Racial Equity Fund, for the Sustaining the Wisahkohtewinowak/WONAA Food Share program.
The urban collective will put the money towards the various costs associated with the share and also has been able to create two new Garden Coordinator positions, being filled in the coming months.
“Hiring youth is what we’re going for,” Miltenburg said, “so that they have the opportunity to learn the skills to grow the food, but then also be a part of the collective and support the implementation of the Food Share itself. And also, it’s getting that time on the land to learn what it means to work with the soil and the plants, which is so important for youth, particularly Indigenous youth to build those Land-based relationships .”
She added: “By investing in someone this season to help coordinate the gardens, the hope is that they’ll then take more leadership maybe next year and even help expand some other garden opportunities within the community with us or with other organizations. Just more people knowing how to grow food makes it easier to access.”
Wisahkohtewinowak’s relationship with WRCF has been significant in allowing the collective to continue its work.
“It does feel more like a relationship,” Miltenburg said. “Not just a one-time, ‘here’s your funding, good luck, and we’ll see your report in six months.’ There’s an ongoing relationship.”
As a collective, there are seven core team members who guide and support the work of Wisahkohtewinowak. Employees consist of seasonal youth hires and two part-time staff through GYVN. Upwards of 20 regular community members volunteer their time to support project activities like maintaining the gardens. As is the case with all work done by the collective, the Food Share is firmly rooted in the Land and the connection that represents on various levels.
“Recognizing all the food work and growing the food and sharing the food, none of that can happen unless there is access to Land within the urban community,” Miltenburg said. “I’m a settler, so I’ve learned a lot from my team members and others in the community, but just knowing how important it is for Indigenous people to have access to that Land, for strengthening identity and belonging.
“Having people on the Land, caring for the Land, then benefits the Land and the environment surrounding it,” she added. “Growing food is one direct way an area can be conserved or protected because it’s still seen as a ‘productive’ use of that space.”
The urban Indigenous collective’s gardens grow within the territory of the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee Peoples, the Treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit and the Haldimand Tract lands of the Six Nations of the Grand River.
For more information on Wisahkotewinowak, visit wisahk.ca.
Racial Equity Fund
WRCF launched the Racial Equity Fund to support organizations that are led-by and serve people across Waterloo Region who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour.
In 2021, the Racial Equity Fund provided $436,000 to 29 local organizations. $125,000 was supported through a partnership with the Astley Family Foundation, with additional donations by Equitable Life of Canada and several WRCF Fundholders and Donors. To learn more about this fund, visit www.wrcf.ca/racialequity.
Note: This story was written prior to Cambridge & North Dumfries Community Foundation and Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation unifying to become Waterloo Region Community Foundation. Although the story was created by KWCF, we have updated the organization name to WRCF throughout the story.