La Loche group delaying culture trip

Travel plans have shifted a bit for a group of La Loche youth headed to a community in British Columbia, but the organizer behind the cause is now more determined than ever.

In July, Holly Toulejour, a social worker from the community, ran a GoFundMe campaign to help send the group of youth to cultural camps in Bella Bella B.C. Her plan is to adopt the successes of the Bella Bella program, specifically for mental health and suicide prevention, and bring them back to the North.

Due to the wildfires which have been raging in the province this summer, and other factors, Toulejour made the decision to delay the trip until the school break in October. While that means the group will miss out on camp activities, those who attend will still tour the area and learn more from those who manage the program. 

Toulejour’s GoFundMe ended up exceeding its original $5,000 goal, raising $5,205.

“It took 12 days to reach our goal, which is amazing,” Toulejour said.

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She said each of the youth will choose an area of Dene culture they are interested in, with subjects like language, traditional medicines, hunting and fishing.

“It will be a culture exchange,” she said. “We will still be doing research and working to gather information and wisdom from the community that has not had a suicide in over 16 years thanks to their culture and language camps. What I’m hoping is that they can compare and contrast La Loche to Bella Bella.”

One goal after the trip is concluded is to establish a cultural camp in the region, specifically one which celebrates Dene language and culture.

“After our trip, we’ll begin the stages of planning for the summer camps for the summer of 2018,” Toulejour said. “We’ll reach out to other agencies. There’s been a Cree camp going on for years, and we’ll take at what’s working and how we can build on that.”

The youth participating in the trip will document what they learn and will present their findings and share with others in the community.

“We’re going to document the entire trip,” Telejour said. “When we leave here, when we arrive at Bella Bella, and then coming back, and then moving forward. They’ll gain public speaking skills, research skills, [and] create relationships in new provinces. When we come back we’re sharing it with the community.”

She said in the last several weeks since the campaign ended, there have been a few more suicides in the community and across the northern portion of the province. In her role as a social worker, Toulejour said some have reached out to tell her about these occurrences. She believes it warrants a state of emergency in the region.

 “There are [suicide] attempts daily. We just had one again in La Loche, Dillon and Turnor Lake that I know of…that’s why I think this trip is so important – to get the youth perspective as well,” Toulejour said. “I’ve had other people reach out wanting to do something because they feel like there’s no political will or action…it’s just not enough for the amount of people and geographical area.”

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath