Oshki Wupoowane | The Blanket Fund provides support for Indigenous cultural, artistic and educational activities. Offered through two different grant streams, The Blanket Fund can be accessed by both grassroots Indigenous communities and organizations, and by Indigenous individuals undertaking related initiatives. For organization grants, the focus will be on capacity building, and funding to support individual initiatives will ensure continued local impacts in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities throughout the country.

The Ojibwe “Oshki Wupoowane”, “a new blanket” in English, was chosen as the name of The Blanket Fund in collaboration with Chanie Wenjack’s family. The Wenjack sisters guided us on the naming, with Chanie’s sister Evelyn coaching us through proper pronunciation and syllabics.

This partnership enables Hudson’s Bay Foundation to direct proceeds from the sales of HBC Point Blankets to DWF, who administers the funding.

DWF is an Indigenous-led charity with national reach, programming, and impact, and has the organizational infrastructure to distribute funding to Indigenous organizations and communities throughout Canada. As a registered charity since 2018, DWF has programs that operate in all provinces and territories.

DWF’s established network of educators, Artist Ambassadors, corporate partners, and community leaders positions the organization uniquely to deliver grants to grassroots Indigenous initiatives and organizations throughout Canada.

HBC was working with an Indigenous consulting firm to establish their Indigenous Advisory Circle and lead community consultations to engage Indigenous peoples and communities across Canada. They held events in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Calgary as well as many meetings, phone calls, surveys and conversations. DWF was identified by HBC as an Indigenous-led organization with charitable status, national reach, and the capacity to manage that could partner with HBC on The Blanket Fund.

DWF has engaged with Indigenous organizations, leaders and community members throughout Canada to ensure DWF is being respectful and appropriate in discussing the role of the blankets, to solicit feedback on the design of an appropriate selection process and governance system for The Blanket Fund, as well as to ensure the funds raised and distributed through this initiative will have an impact at the community level. Those consulted included First Nations, Inuit, and Métis representatives.

This consultation will continue as we move forward with The Blanket Fund, ensuring we adapt to meet the needs of Indigenous people, organizations, and communities. This expertise, insight, and knowledge have been and will continue to be, foundational in guiding this partnership, as we work to develop granting details to ensure each step of the process is informed by Indigenous ways of knowing and doing.

Applications open February 23, 2023.

Applications can be submitted online.

Arrangements can also be made to submit your application by phone, video, fax, mail (handwritten or printed) or in a different format.  

If you have any questions or need any support submitting your application, please contact us at fund@downiewenjack.ca or 1-844-944-4545 ext. 41. 

With a colonial history that dates back more than 350 years, HBC has a responsibility to acknowledge and confront its past. The HBC Point Blanket has been called many things throughout its history: an essential trade item, an enduring emblem of Canada, a carrier of disease, and a symbol of colonialism. Fact and fiction are woven into our understanding of the blanket’s history. This space begins to unpack and acknowledge the many layers of symbolism the blanket embodies in history, art, pop culture, and commerce.

Like many other material items from the fur trade era, blankets are multivocal, carrying multiple meanings that overlap, and at times conflict, with one another. The stories we tell about blankets are often shared, entangled, and contested. The connections many have to HBC Point Blankets are both deeply personal and political. For some, they elicit fond childhood memories or are embedded in family histories, while for others, they are hurtful reminders of the enduring impact of colonialism and systemic racism.

Learn more about the HBC Point Blanket here.

More than 350 years since its Royal Charter was granted, Hudson’s Bay Company is working to reconcile its past, and committing to a more equitable future for all. Hudson’s Bay Foundation Charter for Change focuses funding in three areas, critical to individuals and communities flourishing: education, employment and empowerment to fostering personal, professional & cultural empowerment in diverse communities.

Learn more about Hudson’s Bay Foundation Charter for Change here.