The Fund
Grant Recipients
To date, there have been a number of exciting projects that have received funding from the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund as outlined below.
Recipient of a $14,000 IRF grant
Kooshkopayiw (Awakening) Métis Artist Collective:
Project: Reconciliation Through Art
“This one-day event offered a unique opportunity to celebrate and support Indigenous artists while building relationships in the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation.”
Tony Belcourt, Métis Elder
Organizer of Reconciliation Through Art
Reconciliation Through Art which coincided with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation featured an art exhibition by local and Indigenous artists from across Ontario, workshops and storytelling by Indigenous educators, dancers, and musicians as well as school presentations by Indigenous educators and storytellers.
Photo Credit: Reconciliation Through Art | Youth Drummers
Recipient of a $15,000 IRF grant
Notre-Dame High School:
Exchange program with a group of Dene students from Deh Gáh Secondary School
“Participating in this exchange has widened my view of all the different cultures and history from so many different parts of Canada.”
Charlotte
Notre-Dame High School – Grade 12
A group of Deh Gáh Secondary students travelled from Fort Providence, NWT in May 2024 for an exchange program with students from Ottawa’s Notre-Dame and Sacred Heart High Schools. By meeting and getting to know each other, these teens have taken concrete steps towards healing and reconciliation. The exchange was a huge success as seen in this video by the Ottawa Catholic School Board.
Bridging Cultures: A Journey of Reconciliation
with the Ottawa Catholic School Board
Recipient of a $19,481 IRF grant
Kateri Native Ministry:
Kendaasawin: Language Week
“Language is the foundation of a culture. A language holds the stories, songs, dances, protocols, family histories and connections. Without that crucial connection to their linguistic and cultural history, people lose their sense of identity and belonging.”
President, Indigenous Corporate Training Inc.
The concrete aim of the Kendaasawin project is to create and promote healing and reconciliation with a land-based approach in the Ottawa region. This weeklong Indigenous Language Training Program aims to teach Indigenous participants Algonquin on the Kateri land.
Photo Credit: Kateri Native Ministry
Recipient of a $48,900 grant
Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Board of Education:
Learning Kanien’keha Language & Culture Through Artistic Expression
“We have suffered a significant loss of our Mohawk language and culture, especially among our youth. We would like to rejuvenate and empower our Akwesasronon children and youth to learn our traditions and carry them on for generations by establishing a multi-age Akwesasronon performance group.”
Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Board of Education
The Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Board of Education (AMBE) used their grant from the IRF to teach students at all three of their schools traditional hoop dancing. Their instructor was Feryn Karahkwiiohhstha King, a Mohawk artist and member of the Wolf Clan in Akwesasne, Quebec. In late May 2024, a group of Kana:takon school students delighted the audience at AMBE’s two Cultural Celebration days with an incredible hoop performance – see the video. The dress that the students wore was specially made for the group using IRF funds as were the stage props.
Photo Credit: AMBE | Kana:takon School students perform with hoop extraordinaire, Feryn King!
Recipient of a $24,830 grant
Odawa Native Friendship Centre:
Indigenous Children and Youth Pow Wow
“A majority of our families and individuals who have moved to Ottawa have lost that connection to their culture and their traditions. This is what this event was meant to be: to bring them together so they can see this. It’s all a part of who they are, where we come from.”
Delores Peltier-Corkey
Volunteer with the Odawa Native Friendship Centre
After a 3-year absence due to Covid, the 23rd Annual Ottawa Indigenous Children and Youth Pow Wow took place March 25, 2023, at the Shaw Centre. Pow Wows are powerful Indigenous gatherings where multiple generations come together to enjoy food, honour traditions, forge a sense of community and practice spiritual healing.
The Ottawa Indigenous Children and Youth Pow Wow included children and youth dances, a welcoming ceremony for infants and toddlers, information booths and crafters. In addition, it was a good opportunity for Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people to come together.
Photo Credit: Fred Cattroll / Odawa Native Friendship Centre
Recipient of a $49,926 grant
Kateri Native Ministry:
Bi-Monthly Retreats
“As Indigenous Christians, Kateri Native Ministry finds itself at the crossroads of two incredible sources of wisdom and learning. The Kendaasawin Program allows us to embrace both our Traditional and Christian heritages and ask important, universal questions to help better understand our place in Creation.”
Donna Naughton
Executive Director
Kateri Native Ministry has been committed to the healing, reconciliation and spiritual growth of Indigenous people for over 20 years. They are headquartered in Ottawa and work closely with the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall. The team at Kateri Native Ministry has created the Kendaasawin Project to promote healing and reconciliation. Specifically, they will be hosting six bi-monthly retreats for Indigenous participants led by elders using land-based cultural teachings.
Photo credit: Kateri Native Ministry
The project will include a variety of safe, culturally appropriate events and spaces to meet, pray, and heal within the context of an Indigenous-led Catholic community that respects and celebrates Indigenous ways of being church. The Kendaasawin project is designed for intergenerational participation, particularly for survivors, elders and their families, with a special focus on youth.
Recipient of a $92,000 grant
Minwaashin Lodge:
Cultural Healing and Wellness for Indigenous Women
“One of our Elders said, ‘Everything you need is in your culture.’ We have seen many families turn their lives around as a result of coming to Minwaashin for cultural programming and other wrap-around services.”
Irene Compton
Culture Program Manager
Minwaashin Lodge is an Indigenous Women’s Support Centre which provides a range of programs and services to First Nations, Inuit and Métis women and children (regardless of status) who are survivors of domestic and other forms of violence, and who may also be suffering the effects of the residential school system.
The Cultural Healing and Wellness for Indigenous Women is an ongoing program to:
- Prevent violence in First Nation, Inuit & Metis families through culture.
- Reclaim their culture and identity.
- Increase healing and well-being through culture.
- Remove barriers that keep families from participating in cultural activities.
The women will participate in cultural programming to develop competencies in three areas:
- Traditional knowledge.
- Traditional crafting.
- Ceremony.
Recipient of 2 grants totaling $150,000
Mādahòkì Farm:
Ojibwe Spirit Horse – Equine Assisted Learning
“Our innovative program Mishdatim (meaning horse in Ojibwe) is a unique program that builds on the standard equine assisted learning approach by incorporating our Indigenous teachings and offering an opportunity to work in partnership with the sacred and endangered Ojibwe Spirit Horses, the only horse indigenous to our traditional homelands.”
Trina Mather-Simard
CEO of Indigenous Experiences Mādahòkì Farm
In the fall of 2023, Mādahòkì Farm piloted Mishdatim (Horse) Equine Assisted Learning. This healing and wellness program is based on the 7 Grandfather teachings. It brings together the Farm’s Ojibwe Spirit horses, Indigenous children, youth and families.
In September 2024, Mādahòkì Farm expanded the Mishtadim Equine Assisted Learning program to reach more Indigenous youth and families. In addition, their goal is to introduce the program as an interactive reconciliation activity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth, including through the Indigenous Alternative High School and the Ottawa Catholic School Board.
Photo credit: Mādahòkì Farm
Recipient of a $50,789 grant
Akwesasne Kateri Prayer Circle:
Akwesasronon Healing and Reconciliation Project
The goal of the Akwesasne Kateri Prayer Circle, which includes members of the St. Regis Mission, the Akwesasne Altar and Rosary Society and the Akwesasne Mohawk Choir, is to bring back the Kanienkeha Mohawk Language and culture and is made up of a variety of components, including:
- Bringing the St. Regis students preparing for confirmation to visit the Shrine of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha located in the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory.
- The installation of monuments at St. Regis Mission Church and at the Seaway International Bridge (Cornwall), which memorialize the Akwesasronon Indian Residential Schools survivors.
- The translation of their church hymnal into the Mohawk language.
- A Mohawk Culture and Language workshop.
Photo credit: National Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine
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Learn more about how to apply for a grant.