‘Inclusion and welcoming of our northern neighbours to Thunder Bay is not a difficult decision,’ says ORIGIN owner

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — ORIGIN owner Melissa Hardy-Giles was pleased to co-sponsor a Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce Lunch and Learn with Wake the Giant event along with the Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel on Dec. 3.

“Inclusion and welcoming of our northern neighbours to Thunder Bay is not a difficult decision,” says Hardy-Giles, a Red Rock Indian Band citizen. “ORIGIN was founded on relationships with these communities for over 12 years and we are more than happy to help support their members [to] integrate into our city in any way possible. The Wake the Giant initiative is an excellent example of fostering community and the committee behind this initiative are true leaders in promoting inclusion and reconciliation.”

The Wake the Giant initiative was created over the past year to make Thunder Bay a more welcoming community for Indigenous students, particularly for students from northern Ontario First Nations, who are living away from home while attending high school in the city. The initiative included the Wake the Giant Music Festival that was held in September with a mix of Indigenous and non-Indigenous performers, including Metric, Wolf Saga, Ernest Monias, Coleman Hell, July Talk, Ansley Simpson, Nick Ferrio, Luke Warm and the Cold Ones, and Battle Nation Drum Group.

“We sit on the committee for Wake the Giant so it is exciting to see everybody here wanting to learn more and understand how it is important to include our Indigenous youth in our city and welcome in our organizations,” says Charmaine McCraw, project manager with ORIGIN and a Biigtigong Nishnaabeg citizen.

The Lunch and Learn with Wake the Giant was held for business and organization leaders and staff to understand what it means to be a safe space, how to welcome Indigenous youth and how to deal respectfully and safely with situations that may be difficult or uncomfortable.

“We just want our students and Indigenous people in general from our communities and from all the communities in the area to feel safe coming here and to feel welcome and to not have to look over their shoulder,” says AJ Haapa, special projects coordinator and inquest coordinator for Northern Nishnawbe Education Council and Wake the Giant organizer. “When the kids see a [Wake the Giant] decal, they know that is an inclusive space. We were shooting to have 100 businesses on board — we have 300 now, which is incredible.”

Haapa says the Wake the Giant organizers are aiming to have training sessions for the businesses and organizations that have signed up with Wake the Giant about twice a year.

“In January, we are going to be doing a Kairos blanket exercise at the school so you are more than welcome to join that,” says Sean Spenrath, First Nations student success program coordinator at Dennis Franklin Cromarty First Nations High School and Wake the Giant organizer. “One of the things we’ve been doing with the kids [post-festival] is we’ve been trying to incorporate the kids into the business more. So since the festival, we’ve been into 30 businesses where the kids have done field trips. Last week they went to Prime Gelato where they learned how to make gelato. We’re just trying to get them to interact with the businesses as much as possible in a way that makes sense to that business.”

The Wake the Giant initiative encourages businesses and organizations in Thunder Bay to display a Wake the Giant decal on their door or window to identify their site as an inclusive space for Indigenous youth. The businesses and organizations are also provided with a Wake the Giant Cultural Awareness Package to share with staff, customers and the community.