Canada Showcase Young Indigenous Women’s Utopia ohpikihihcik okawiymaw onikanewa: Raising Matriarchs Generation 1 and 2 of Young Indigenous Women’s Utopia (YIWU) joined together from the Sky Up youth drop-in centre. They presented ohpikihihcik okawiymaw onikanewa: Raising Matriarchs, a film created in collaboration with Choke Cherry Studios. The film chronicles the mural-making journey YIWU generations 1 and 2 embarked on together to share their message and leave a lasting legacy in Saskatoon. Working with local Métis artist Michelle Pritchard, they decided on the message “Creator Save the Matriarch”. The film is a celebration of the girls, how far they have come and how much they have grown and their communities as a whole. The film features the girls painting the mural and reflecting on their experiences in YIWU, noting how they have grown, seen each other come into their own and become more confident and their hopes for the group to continue with the generation 2 girls and beyond. While creating the mural the girls also got to work with Gabriella Lee, who shared star blanket teachings with the group and helped them design and sketch star blankets. The film follows the smudge walk organized by YIWU to honour the Indigenous children who were stolen and sent to residential schools, mourn the Indigenous children uncovered in mass graves on residential school grounds, and speak back against continued violence. After the smudge walk, the mural was publicly unveiled. The public unveiling brought together families and community members to honour the girls’ visions, growth and graduation. Five of the original YIWU members were wrapped in star blankets; a traditional way of showing honour, respect and love while marking an exceptional achievement.
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