M-KMA Environmental Youth Camps

Group Hike and Photo     Making a Dreamcatcher

Context
The annual Muskwa-Kechika Environmental Youth Camp provides opportunities for First Nations as well as non-First Nations youth, in a Muskwa-Kechika Management Area setting, to learn about the environment, wilderness and wildlife, about life and about themselves.

Funded by the Muskwa-Kechika Trust Fund, this unique, two-week wilderness experience brings teachers, Native Elders and young people together in an atmosphere of learning and knowledge-sharing, not just about traditional ways of outdoor survival and First Nations spirituality, but of contemporary issues of land use and resource planning and management.

• Elders participate in youth camps as spiritual guides and teachers, helping adolescents to bridge the present to the past.
• The youth camp rotates each year between Kaska Dena and Treaty 8 First Nations whose territories overlap the M-KMA.
• A report on the youth camp is submitted to the Muskwa-Kechika Advisory Board following completion of the youth camp.
• Presenters, including at least one M-KAB member, are invited to Youth Camps to provide an education workshop to youth.

Youth camps have been held annually since 1999. Copies of the reports are available for review in the M-KMA Information Office Library.
 

Environmental Youth Camp 2007
The 9th Annual Environmental Youth Camp took place in July 2007 at Sandpile which is located 3 1/2 hours up the Turnagain River. The youth came from various communties such as Kwadacha, Lower Post, Good Hope Lake, Liard, Ross River and Mcleod Lake.
Youth Camp Report 2007 (COMING SOON!)

Environmental Youth Camp 2006
The 8th Annual Environmental Youth Camp kicked off on August 21, 2006 with participants, including youth and elders, travelling to Cypress at Mile 143 Alaska Highway, British Columbia from their various communities. During the camp, the youth and other camp participants were engaged in cultural and spiritual activities such as traditional story telling, crafts, beads and sewing singing and games.

The following paragraph is an exerpt from the Youth Camp 2006 (3.01MB PDF download).

Participants engaged in traditional activites such as fishing off a log on the Halfway River. A number of fish were caught this way and the youth enjoyed their catches over the fire. During the evening the northern lights (aurora borealis) came out to dance and delight the youth. Chief Gerry Hunter and Elder John Wokeley regaled the youth with legends and stories well into the night in front of the campfire. These traditional stories are often parables to teach the youth the necessary life skills to thrive in their culture.

The elder ladies from the Halfway River First Nation had a workshop to show the girls how to sew and make moosehide.

Skill development activities for youth at the camp included forest awareness, wilderness survival skills, mapping, hikes, plants and traditional foods. Additionally youth received traditional lessons and participated in group discussions on the importance of protecting and respecting the environment.

A Youth Camp Guidelines Document has been developed to facilitate and assist host communities with the project application process to host the Annual M-K Environmental Youth Camp, including goals, guidelines and requirements for hosting the youth camp.