Gig a huzz ole dee neh “Everyone Heals Together”

As Indigenous Nations combat issues within their communities such as substance abuse disorders and lateral violence caused by intergenerational trauma, we must remember that we are all connected.

The individual, the family and the community are inseparable and what affects one affects us all.

Woodstock First Nation is seeking to come together as one with a cultural enrichment project that will serve as a vehicle for gig/a/huzz/ole/dee/neh or “Everyone Heals Together”. This program will promote language restoration and cultural revitalization on the ground-level within the community. Guided by the Indigenous spiritual principle that change is either the coming together of things or the coming apart of things, this program will be the coming together of hearts.

The Indigenous Reconciliation Fund (IRF) will provide funding for this impactful program delivered over a 36-week period. Program initiatives will focus on immersing community members in ceremony and song, providing traditional language training to combat the decline of its use, hosting social gatherings and speakers to discuss truth and reconciliation, organizing community feasts, planning craft activities, and more.  

This project will be delivered by Woodstock First Nation’s Economic Development Corporation service agency, with the guidance of the Nation’s Chief Timothy Paul and in collaboration with the Diocese of Saint John, to promote and support truth and reconciliation. 

Diocese of Saint John