Indigenous Identity Explored in Coyote Kids Cultural Camp

Coyote Kids Cultural Camp celebrates Indigenous culture through land-based teachings for youth. Kids have the opportunity to do arts and crafts along with field trips, stories, Guest Speakers, Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Children get to do cultural practices; it is also important that they will have the chance to listen to guest speakers and Elders as a way to learn more about their roots they may have and make sure that the legacy and culture of Indigenous persons does not disappear. Coyote Kids Cultural Camp runs during the summer.

The summer camps are awesome because of how kids get to practice traditional ancestral ceremonies as taught by the Elders and Knowledge Keepers. This includes Smudging, a Sweat Lodge Ceremony and Weekend Pow-Wows. This is perfect for children who want to further connect to their culture and find friends looking for the same thing! The camp is not only educational and has A LOT of activities like traditional games, soccer, volleyball, baseball, and games and swimming at a local beach with campfires at night. 

This camp is super cool because it connects and establishes relationships between Indigenous people, this can lead to learning and practice just by kids interacting and sharing their lives with each other.  

This camp shows how crucial it is to understand one’s traditions and culture, this understanding starts in one’s youth.  Today, it is more important than ever that kids learn to reclaim Indigenous traditions, beliefs and values. It is only through continued efforts to teach the new generations traditions, that they will survive. 

Connecting and educating people about Indigenous traditions and culture, is becoming a huge part of society; teaching both Indigenous people and non-indigenous people about our culture and how important it is to our people. The Coyote Kids Cultural Camp is a program that addresses Indigenous identity and teaches traditional cultural practices to children for them to take into the future. 

Email the program supervisor Andrea at andreaw@bentarrow.ca for more information.