Email friendsafforestation@gmail.com to initiate and create an in-person or virtual event celebrating indigenous culture or history at the afforestation areas for #NationalForestWeek and #Culture Days in September or for August 9
Write your own Treaty Land Acknowledgement and discover more about the indigenous people of Treaty 6 territory.
Learn how to say the word ‘forest’ in the languages of the nêhiyawak (Cree), nakawē (Saulteaux), and yankton and yanktonai (Nakota) people
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National Healing Forests Maple Leaf DayFraxinus_pennsylvanica Green Ash Narrow winged samara is flattened and bears a thin seed. within a small cavity. Much narrower than a manitoba maple samara
Your support goes towards funding bus to transport classrooms for field trips, renting porta-potties for a day’s adventure for water testing, eco-tours or iNaturalist Citizen Science discoveries.
Order your copy of Living Legacy activity book and support the semi-wilderness environment and conservation of the flora and fauna. Take action on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15 Life on Land, UN SDG 14 Life Below Water and UN SDG 13 Climate Action as afforestation areas are nature based solutions for climate action. Supporting 2022-2032International Decade of Indigenous Languages and the 2021 to 2030 United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
50th Birthday of the tree plantings at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park in Saskatoon
A round of appreciation is extended to the City of Saskatoon, Mosaic, Sask Energy for their support in assembling this publication, thank you kindly.
June is Indigenous History Month in Canada a time to learn about, get deeper into, and recognize the diverse heritage, unique cultures and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
Did you know that through the afforestation areas is a heritage trail? It is named the Old Bone Trail. Listen to the fiddle playing of John Arcand, “The Old Bone Trail“. This is a story about the American Bison (Bison Bison).
Did you know that Richard St. Barbe Baker, the namesake of the afforestation area, had a unique relationship with the indigenous of Kenya Africa, the Kikuyu and with the Dakota First Nations people here in Saskatchewan? Learn more about this relationship in the upcoming film on Friday July 22 at the Remai Modern at 7:00 pm, and in the accompanying Richard St. Barbe Baker Stories.
The namesake of the wetlands, Benjamin Thomas Chappell, similarly had a connection that ran deep between his life and those he met who were indigenous. So much so, that before Chappell left Saskatchewan, three Chiefs bestowed Chappell as a Chief during an Indigenous naming ceremony. B.T. Chappell became known as Chief Ironhorse.
“In the end, we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.” Baba Dioum. The afforestation areas were preserved in perpetuity in 1972 by city council The Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. is a non-profit incorporation formed with a mission to honour the council decision of 1972, and to continue onwards to conserve the Saskatoon afforestation areas which we love.
We believe in the spirit of Witaskêwin, living together on the land. We believe this project can be part of an effective long-term strategy to focus our vision on this ideal. In a significant way this project allows the past to meet the present and future. The rich geological, historical, natural, and cultural heritage of the areas honours where we have been. Science, conservation, and hands on learning about the land, the environment and sustainability ensure our future.
Mamahtâwisowin-“Someone who is gifted with mamahtâwisowin is generally recognized as having spirit guides that can be called upon for a variety of reasons. Ones who have this gift can sometimes alter the natural order: conduct healing, find lost objects, foretell the future, travel through time and space, communicate with animals and other spirits, find game, and control physical and natural elements like the weather, just to name a few abilities.” says Napoleon Arthur. This is also Indigenous Ways of Knowing. The gift of mamahtâwisowin has different terms or naming in other languages and other cultures. The word for a person bestowed with the gift of mamahtâwisowin in nêhiyawak (Plains Cree) is “kîkway kâ kiskihta.” Similarly those of other cultures and languages have their own naming for people who are kîkway kâ kiskihta. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) stems from the gift of mamahtâwisowin and those named as kîkway kâ kiskihta.
If you have any stories which connect the afforestation areas with Indigenous History Month, please email friendsafforestation@gmail.com
Medicine Wheel, all is interconnected.
Wanuskewin balance and harmony four elements, fire, earth, air and water, are taught through the 6 directions of the medicine wheel.
South Great Grand Spirit Thunderbird, Okimaw Piyisiw rain, water
East, the sun, Kisikaw Pisim, warmth and light,
West Grandfather wind, Kisinipaw Otin, providing the four seasons,
North is Kisinipaw Pawkaw Mostos, the Spirit of the Buffalo.
The Sacred, the Great Spirit, Kici-Manitou is White above and
Mother Earth, Mamawow Nakwaimo Aski, is Green below.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 