It takes a community to raise a child. Lifestyle, worldviews, language and cultural values shape identity. For disenfranchised youth, especially Indigenous children in foster care, living away from traditional lands and being disconnected from their traditional practices have left them adrift and at risk of losing their cultural identity.

Youth are the foundation to building and carrying forward strong cultural identity and pride. Instilling traditional teachings early on is how the rich fabrics of many diverse cultures are carried forward through generations.

For centuries, colonial policies suppressed Indigenous ceremonies, traditions, languages, and storytelling. However, over the last few decades there has been a reclamation of cultural practices and an effort to revitalize traditions with a modern twist.

Spiritual and physical healing is a process steeped in sacred cultural practices, dependent on personal individuality, and varies depending on one’s experiences. For Indigenous Peoples, intergenerational trauma has caused deep wounds, leaving many struggling to manage their wellbeing.

In Indigenous communities, the transfer of sacred knowledge from Elder to youth thrived in historic settings due to living together in close-knit Nations. The forced displacement and the migration of many Indigenous Peoples away from their traditional lands has made this transfer of knowledge increasingly difficult.

The Sun Dance is an ancient, sacred ceremony celebrated by First Nations Peoples living in the grasslands of Saskatchewan. It has been hosted for generations to honour the renewal of life, bountiful and lush seasons, community connections, and spiritual and physical well-being.

The Indigenous residents of J. B. Wood Continuing Care Centre in Alberta have spent much of their lives forcibly disconnected from their cultural traditions. However, changing attitudes over the last few decades have empowered some to regain pride in their heritage and cultivate community connections.

The impacts of colonization and the residential school system have left many Indigenous Peoples in need of healing. Yet, systemic systems of oppression have left many without access to critical mental health services, leading to higher rates of addiction, suicide, family instability and violence.

As the women’s empowerment movement continues to sweep the world, the negative effects of colonialist views of women brought by settlers to North America can still be felt by Indigenous women today. Many were stripped of their important cultural roles and left adrift and unsure of their place in the community.

Since the 1960s, Niitsi'powahsin, the Blackfoot language, has been one of many Indigenous languages considered to be endangered. The number of fluent speakers has only continued to decline due to the lasting impacts of colonization, the residential school system, and other assimilationist policies.