{"id":92344,"date":"2022-07-28T13:49:38","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T17:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/?p=92344"},"modified":"2023-08-10T16:59:10","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T20:59:10","slug":"life-is-like-a-canoe-trip-because","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/stories\/life-is-like-a-canoe-trip-because\/","title":{"rendered":"La vie est comme un voyage en cano\u00eb parce que\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aurora Ominika-Enosse is a confident, warm-hearted young Anishnaabe woman with a ready smile. Her open demeanour undoubtedly puts at ease the children, youth, and fellow students with whom she works and volunteers. In her fourth year at Carleton University in Ottawa, Aurora has nearly completed her program in social work and feels called to work with Indigenous children and youth.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aurora didn\u2019t always possess this confidence and sense of calling.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in Sudbury. I didn\u2019t feel connected to my culture, to being Indigenous. I was ashamed of it. I didn\u2019t take pride in myself, in my identity,\u201d<\/em> Aurora shares. \u201cI hated my skin colour. I wished to be anything but Indigenous.\u201d<\/em><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At 13, Aurora moved from Sudbury to Wiikwemkoong, one of the unceded territories of the Anishnaabe on Manitoulin Island, Ont. This move sparked a journey of discovery for Aurora.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
Aurora on one of her OALE trips<\/h5>\n

While in Wiikwemkoong, Aurora participated in the Outdoor Adventure Leadership Experience (OALE). Through a 10-day canoe trip, the OALE retraces a traditional travel route down the French River. The youth and mentors discuss their history, culture, and identity along the journey. The young people are encouraged to think about their goals and brainstorm practical steps to achieve them. From its inception, the aim of the OALE is to build resiliency in Indigenous youth, support their growth, and enable them to meet life\u2019s challenges.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that Indigenous youth in Canada face significant challenges. Generations of trauma have left deep wounds that often inflict heartbreaking damage to their identity, purpose, and even their sense of worth as a people.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
The OALE trip builds participants\u2019 confidence in their identity and their goals<\/h5>\n

The girl who was ashamed of her heritage went on to become Miss Wiikwemkoong from 2017-2018, a title dependent on knowledge of and pride in Anishnaabe history and culture. Now she seeks to teach culture and instill confidence in Indigenous children and youth while also willingly sharing with interested non-Indigenous people.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t connected to my culture, I\u2019d probably be really lost today. I don\u2019t know where I\u2019d be right now,\u201d<\/em> Aurora confides.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Participants in the OALE have posed this metaphor: \u201cLife is like a canoe trip because\u2026\u201d<\/em> Each has their own answer, reflecting their deep thought and the impact of the trip. \u201cLife is like a canoe trip because\u2026you never know what\u2019s around the corner but you keep going anyway,\u201d<\/em> Aurora shares. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
Aurora wearing her grandmother\u2019s traditional jingle dress and the Miss Wiikwemkoong crown<\/h5>\n

Wiikwemkoong leaders seek to empower their youth, and the OALE is a part of that. The program instills pride in their heritage and identity as Indigenous and builds their capacity and confidence to achieve their dreams. The program has been a success.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen kids that [sic] have gone from having a very poor vision of themselves and a very poor mental health state to flourishing and going on to become role models in the community. They have gone on to achieve the dreams that they talked about,\u201d<\/em> shares Nimkii Lavell, the trip guide.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ADRA is proud to be among the sponsors of the program since 2017.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aurora participated in the OALE three times. \u201cThe canoe trip was like dipping a toe in my culture, helping me to reconnect,\u201d<\/em> Aurora says.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aurora Ominika-Enosse est une jeune Anishnaabe confiante, chaleureuse et souriante. Son attitude ouverte met sans aucun doute \u00e0 l'aise les enfants, les jeunes et les autres \u00e9l\u00e8ves avec qui elle travaille et fait du b\u00e9n\u00e9volat. Dans sa quatri\u00e8me ann\u00e9e \u00e0 l'Universit\u00e9 Carleton \u00e0 Ottawa, Aurora a presque termin\u00e9 son programme en travail social et se sent appel\u00e9e \u2026 en savoir plus<\/p>","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":92174,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":19,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[108,145],"class_list":["post-92344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-canada","tag-news-and-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}