Pays Plat hosts national youth program
By Rick Garrick
PAYS PLAT FIRST NATION—Pays Plat recently hosted a group of 40 Ocean Bridge program youth from across the country who participated in shoreline cleanups and other activities in the community from June 14-20.
This was the second year of the Ocean Bridge program, which was delivered by Ocean Wise, a global not-for-profit organization dedicated to ensuring oceans are healthy and thriving. The program provides youth from across the country with tools and support to connect with each other and to lead service projects related to ocean health and literacy in their communities.
“They had a great experience with First Nations culture and they had a view of what it is like being in a First Nation,” says Pays Plat Councilor Raymond Goodchild. “They helped us clean up the shoreline along Lake Superior, the big ocean, Gitchi Gummi. And they also participated at Pukaskwa [National Park] and Neys [Provincial] Park planting trees to provide clean air. The community was surprised that they left [three] teepees here for us as a donation.”
Goodchild says the youth also enjoyed participating in a cedar bath, a Full Moon Ceremony and traditional drumming.
“They were really amazed in the sweat lodges,” Goodchild says. “They were really surprised in some of the cultural activities they participated in.”
Goodchild says it was “very important” to participate in the program.
“We work together and learn [to] break the old myths and stereotypes of First Nations people,” Goodchild says on June 15. “They are going out on the land tomorrow and they will be walking along the shoreline, cleaning up the shoreline, picking up garbage, going on a medicine trail and learning about the plants.”
Ron Kanutski, a cultural teacher and Red Rock Indian Band citizen, says the youth were “very respectful” and “very attentive” during his discussion on traditions and ceremonies around water on the evening of June 15.
“They asked a lot of questions, so I found the session to be very positive,” Kanutski says. “One of the things that is important about sharing information is that it breaks down barriers when people have understanding and knowledge about other people and how they live and what their beliefs are. For me it’s always been about breaking down barriers and giving people understanding of how other people think and respond to things in the world.”
Nicole Straughan, manager of the Ocean Bridge program, says the youth were also scheduled to participate in activities at Red Rock Indian Band.
“The whole purpose of them being here is to connect them to oceans,” Straughan says. “The Great Lake is an inland sea, and I think it is a part of the country that is so often forgotten about when we think about water health and ocean health.”
Straughan says the youth split up into two groups on June 15, with one group travelling to Pukaskwa National Park for two days and the other group kayaking to a nearby island on Lake Superior.
“We were able to hop out of the boats and go over to the beach where [the outfitters] were pointing out the nurdles that are starting to wash up on the beach, which are those little plastic pellets that seem to be everywhere now,” Straughan says. “And we also went on a hike, so one group did a guided hike near Terrace Bay on the Casque Isles Trail. They had an ecologist with them as well as a hiking guide.”
The 2018 cohort of Ocean Bridge youth travelled to Haida Gwaii and Vancouver.