Waabogonee EarlyON opens its doors in Thunder Bay
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY—The Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre (TBIFC) launched the Waabogonee EarlyON Child and Family Centre with a flower planting activity to recognize the meaning of Waabogonee: flower that wakes up in the morning and blossoms throughout the day.
“There is a quote that says: ‘When a flower doesn’t blossom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower’,” says Charlene Baglien, executive director of TBIFC and a Fort William citizen. “This new centre offers an environment that expands on our current programming and services being offered in the city by integrating Indigenous perspectives throughout the curriculum. By offering culturally-relevant programming based on values tied to the land, family and community, Waabogonee will help parents strengthen their role as the first and most important teacher to their child.”
Nathaniel Moses, cultural resource coordinator with TBIFC and emcee for the Waabogonee centre launch, spoke about how small seeds are during the flower planting activity.
“But we do not criticize it, we feed it as a seed, giving it water and nourishment,” Moses says. “When it first shoots up on the Earth, we don’t disapprove the buds for not being open. We stand in awe at the process that we see taking place before us and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development. Flowers contain so much potential consistently in the process of change, yet at each moment it is perfectly alright as it is.”
The TBIFC launched the Waabogonee centre on Jan. 21 to provide free, culturally inspired programs for children from birth to six-years-old at Vance Chapman Public School in Thunder Bay. It was one of five Indigenous organizations in the District of Thunder Bay that created culturally-relevant child care and learning spaces through the provincial government’s Journey Together off-reserve funding program.
“This site marks the fifth EarlyON site opened through the Journey Together funding,” says Lucy Kloosterhuis, chair of the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board, which administered the Journey Together funding. “Looking around this amazing and welcoming area and meeting the dedicated staff that are working here, I clearly see the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre’s vision of supporting children and their families in learning and growing and connecting together through programs that are culturally responsible and strengthen relationships with families and communities.”
The Waabogonee centre offers drop-in programs and services, including playgroups, parent workshops, land-based activities and prenatal and postnatal programming, to families and their children throughout the week.
“Our centre is all about connecting and engaging and encouraging families and growing together and we couldn’t do that without our parents, without our caregivers, without our children and without our educators,” says Rhonda Turbide, coordinator of family and child services with the TBIFC. “The centre will provide cultural elements through traditional songs, crafts, foods and historical perspectives on raising children, parent skills and community development. Children can learn, engage with others and build connections.”
Turbide recalled a mother and daughter who attended an open house at the school in December when the Waabogonee centre was still under development.
“I had set up an area with some furs,” Turbide says. “They were instantly drawn to them. They never looked anywhere else. They sat down and looked in front of each other and the engagement that happened was unbelievable. They were asking about the furs, they were smelling the furs, they were touching [the furs]. They had no idea anybody else was in the room and really that is what our EarlyON centre is about.”