Recipients of Capacity Building Grants

Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre

Receiving $87,500/year for three years through Oshki Wupoowane | The Blanket Fund’s Capacity Building Grant. 

The Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre (KDCC) is dedicated to preserving and promoting Indigenous heritage through various initiatives aimed at building organizational, cultural, and educational capacity. Their projects focus on fostering First Nations alliances and collaborations to engage youth, ensuring the continuity of cultural practices through the creation of a digital knowledge-keeping collection, and supporting Indigenous artists. 

Through the 3-year Capacity Building Grant, KDCC is committed to enhancing cultural engagement programs for youth, building permanent knowledge-keeping mechanisms, and supporting Kwanlin Dün and other Indigenous artists. By creating alliances and collaborations, KDCC aims to empower youth and provide them with opportunities to connect with their heritage and community. Their initiatives are designed to strengthen the cultural and educational foundations of the Kwanlin Dün community, promote youth engagement, and preserve Indigenous knowledge for future generations. Through these efforts, KDCC seeks to create a lasting impact on the community by fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture.

Friday Creeations

Receiving $87,500/year for three years through Oshki Wupoowane | The Blanket Fund’s Capacity Building Grant. 

Located on Bear Island Lake Temagami, Friday Creeations is a First Nations arts and culture-based community platform that encourages creative entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency, and connects to land, empowerment, and truth. 

Through the 3-year Capacity Building Grant, Friday Creeations will establish and deliver a sustainable and scalable multi-year programming plan that focuses on creating connections and opportunities for healing through creative pathways of knowing, living, and understanding.  

Mino Bimaadiziwin (the good life in Anishinaabemowin), an artistic, community-driven initiative, is deeply rooted in the origin of the Anishinaabe worldview prompting the good path for a healthy lifestyle; connecting us to our gifts with a holistic approach to programming designed to facilitate a realignment of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being with the land, ancestors, families, and each other. Programming will focus on youth empowerment, cultural and artistic retreats, special programs for local camps and schools, training and mentorship, artistic content development, and building relationships. 

Friday Creeations’ approach is grounded in their inherent responsibility to protect and care for Mother Earth; rooted in the rhythm and flow of seasonal activities within their communities and traditional practices unique to their communities and landscape.

Sacred Fire Productions/Productions Feux Sacrés

Receiving $140,000 over four years through Oshki Wupoowane | The Blanket Fund’s Capacity Building Grant. 

Sacred Fire Productions (SFP) is an Indigenous arts organization working towards the revitalization and reclamation of Indigenous arts and cultural practices. Through an approach that fosters intercultural exchange and dialogue, SFP hopes to contribute to a better understanding of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis cultures and a positive attitude towards them. 

SFP was created to build bridges between Indigenous artists and audiences of all ages and backgrounds, so artists can assert themselves, develop, and live better from their art. Through their actions, SFP increases exposure for Indigenous artists and contributes to their professional, economic, personal, and social development. 

The Capacity Building Grant will allow SFP to continue to increase the visibility of Indigenous art and artists, providing opportunities for increased market exposure through various artistic and cultural events. 

White Buffalo Youth Lodge (White Buffalo Youth Council)

Receiving $140,000 over four years through Oshki Wupoowane | The Blanket Fund’s Capacity Building Grant. 

White Buffalo Youth Council (WBYC) is a group of young adults coming together, having fun, and gaining friendships, values, and teachings under the White Buffalo Youth Lodge (WBYL) vision, “Gathering together, honouring the past and building the future.” Essential to WBYL’s mission is equipping youth with valuable life skills and training, ranging from leadership development and teamwork to financial management and community engagement. Through these experiences, the WBYC will cultivate a new generation of well-informed, resourceful, and confident leaders, committed to the growth and prosperity of their community and beyond. 

Using the funding acquired through the Capacity Building Grant, the WBYC will be focused on sustainable expansion. Members will work collaboratively to guide White Buffalo Youth Lodge’s future direction while continuing to provide opportunities for skill development, mental health support, conferences, and similar knowledge-sharing spaces, as well as other programming.  

WBYC’s objectives will be focused on sustaining growth, seeking out new opportunities, and developing resources for the benefit of other communities and organizations interested in starting similar initiatives. Members will have the opportunity to develop the programs they wish to see and through the council, youth will be given a greater voice at the WBYL and within their community. By providing the youth with diverse fundraising opportunities, including utilizing our makerspace and other innovative ventures, WBYL aims to foster financial sustainability for youth programs and activities. 

Community Arts Mentorship Program (C.A.M.P.)

Receiving $175,000 over four years through Oshki Wupoowane | The Blanket Fund’s Capacity Building Grant. 

The Community Arts Mentorship Program (C.A.M.P.) was established in 2019 as a partnership between Juno Award-winning artist and music educator Eliza Doyle (B.Ed) and Cultural Consultant, Knowledge Keeper, and visual artist Holly Yuzicapi of Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation. Their primary objective was to create a non-profit organization in Saskatchewan focused on providing high-quality arts and cultural experiences, mentorship, and training opportunities in remote and vulnerable communities across the province. Since then, C.A.M.P. has delivered 100% of its programming on and with First Nation and historic Métis communities in underserved regions of Saskatchewan. In 2021 and 2022, C.A.M.P. was awarded the Industry Achievement Award by Sask Music, and named the Tri-Communities Non-Profit of the Year.

With the 4-year Capacity Building Grant, C.A.M.P. aims to strengthen and expand its core programming. This will allow C.A.M.P. to grow its ‘Music in Schools’ program, which brings professional artists into rural and remote Indigenous schools to instruct pre-K to grade 12 music. It will also increase the number of youth the organization supports through additional music camps, mentorship, and musical showcases, as well as strengthen its ‘Métis Fiddle Instruction’ program, which aims to reverse the decline of Métis fiddling in historic Métis communities.

Funding through the Capacity Building Grant will support new programming that strengthens cultural connections for Indigenous arts workers and contributes to a cultural resurgence in northern Saskatchewan.