Empowering Indigenous youth

Empowering Indigenous youth

Reconnecting and revitalizing a culture.

What can a teepee do? For one Fanshawe alumnus, it can start a movement and change lives.

In early summer 2020, then-student Bangishimo Johnston (Photography Alumni, 2021)—a two-spirit Anishinaabe—joined together with friends Amy Smoke and Terre Chartrand to temporarily re-establish an Indigenous presence on traditional lands. They began on Sunday, June 21—National Indigenous Peoples’ Day—by occupying a small portion of Kitchener’s Victoria Park, land that once was a hub of activity for First Nations peoples.

With the pandemic lockdown, we wanted a space to gather so we decided to set up a teepee,” Bangishimo explains. “Within three days it had turned into a full-blown camp!

The plan was to engage in small ceremonies and raise awareness about traditional teachings of the Anishinaabe, Chonnonton, Haudenosaunee and Huron Nations who have been gathering in the region for centuries. They called it Land Back Camp in recognition of the effort to reclaim land, reconnect with nature and revitalize the culture they were disconnected from while growing up. Quickly, members of the local Indigenous community began to gather, especially younger ones and many who identify as LGBTQ, non-binary or two-spirit.

Eric O'Neill

“One day we realized, ‘we’re basically running a queer camp’,” says Bangishimo, who uses the pronouns they and them. “Our original intention was just to create a space to gather in ceremony as Indigenous peoples. When we saw how many youth were coming, especially queer and two-spirit youth, we realized there was a bigger need.”

Since then, Land Back Camp has become a sought-out space for young ‘Indigiqueer’ people to explore their Indigeneity in safety and among peers.

Bangishimo Johnston

“We’re offering land-based teaching to urban Indigenous and two-spirit youth,” Bangishimo says. “It’s a place to be themselves and to exercise their treaty rights.” Those rights include activities like elder visits, drum circles, full moon ceremonies, medicine walks and community feasts—all opportunities the camp has provided, especially since moving to its new home inside Waterloo’s Laurel Creek Conservation Area in June 2021. The move was prompted partly by political advocacy that resulted in partnership with the Grand River Conservation Authority to identify suitable space for the group. Now the camp sits on the banks of the Grand River (or O:se Kenhionhata:tie, a Mohawk name meaning Willow River), away from “the settler gaze” —awkward stares and voyeurism from passers-by.

Bangishimo Johnston

O:se Kenhionhata:tie Land Back Camp was honoured with an Atlohsa Peace Award for Honesty in 2020. It has also been covered extensively in local media, Indigenous blogs and podcasts and a fundraiser by the Waterloo Region business association to direct thousands of dollars from July 1 sales toward Indigenous initiatives.

However, Bangishimo says the most rewarding part has been watching the campers grow more confident and explore who they are.

“If I were to find out tomorrow that I only have a couple days to live, I would be very proud of what I’ve done with my life.”