Unfortunately the Gibimishkaadimin canoe trip was postponed until August 2021. Ontario announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all overnight summer camps in Ontario were not permitted to operate in the summer of 2020.
Here’s the good news from 2019.
August 2019 Canoe Trip with Gibimishkaadimin
Another successful year for the Gibimishkaadimin Canoe Trip in Temagami.
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Gibimishkaadimin means “traveling together by boat’ and is sponsored by Bloor Street United Church, and in part by Fairlawn, as well as other United Church groups. Two Fairlawn youth attended this year’s trip, Alex Huibrechtse-Berndorff and Reid Doherty.
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Here’s the 2019 video
Apply early in 2021 for next summer’s trip
It’s a five-year project engaging Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in collaborative and experiential learning through an Indigenous lens. to learn about Indigenous issues and spirituality. It’s a youth leadership opportunity to foster relationships with each other, develop respect for each other and the land, as part of a summer canoe trip. This year’s location is once again in Temagami, Ontario.
Gibimishkaadimin is open to Indigenous youth (age 14-18) from across Canada. It is also open to non-Indigenous youth from Shining Waters Region 10, who are age 14-18 at the time of the canoe trip, and who have a connection to the United Church of Canada. It is free of charge, fully funded by the project, including air fare to Toronto for Indigenous youth, and bus transportation from Toronto to the camp for all participants, as well as canoes, gear, food and camping costs.
2018 Trip Report by Ella Pattison
Read the trip report of Gibimishkaadimin 2018 in Temagami by Ella Pattison from Fairlawn church.
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2018 Video
We are pleased to present the 2018 Gibimishkaadimin video which gives us an unexpected window into the events of the canoe trip and the lives of these young people.
View the 2018 Gibimishkaadimin video to get an idea of what this summer’s trip will be like!
Campers and leaders were reunited in Toronto, February 2019.
Previous Gibimishkaadimin Trip 2017
References on Truth and Reconciliation
- Access to references from Dawn Maracle and Kairos on truth and reconciliation issues
- Dawn Maracle of Kairos spoke to us in April 2019 about the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples:
Report Card on provincial curriculum on Indigenous Peoples (and how Ontario compares to other provinces):
Orange Shirt Day at Fairlawn was Sunday, September 29
Land Acknowledgement
Fairlawn acknowledges the sacred land on which our church stands. It has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory. We are also mindful of broken covenants and the need to strive to make right with all our relations.
Website Resources
- Strength for Climbing: Steps on the Journey of Reconciliation by United Church of Canada
- Native Canadian Centre of Toronto
- National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
