$500K awarded to NWT healing and wellness program

An NWT program designed to provide healing and cultural revitalization for the survivors of residential schools has been named as the recipient of a prestigious award.

The program in question is The Land Remembers Us. It is a collaborative effort between the How I Survived Advisory Committee and the University of Alberta; the Dehcho First Nations Health and Wellness Division; the Gwich’in Tribal Council’s Department of Culture and Heritage; and the Tłı̨chǫ Government’s Department of Culture and Lands Protection.

The Land Remembers Us works to respond to many of the different harms caused by residential and day schools, including disruption of family relationships, cultural knowledge, and connections to Land, stated Inspiration Prize materials.

The program creates spaces for survivors and their families to heal together, with practices guided by Indigenous knowledge and expertise.

The program was nominated by Minister of Crown Indigenous Relations Rebecca Alty for the Arctic Inspiration Prize.

The Arctic Inspiration Prize recognizes groundbreaking new initiatives that work to bring significant changes to their communities.

In receiving the prize, the Land Remembers Us team has been given $500,000 to design and deliver three regional on-the-land camps and one territorial on-the-land gathering that will bring survivors of residential and day schools together with their families, Elders, youth, artists, and wellness workers.

Gwich’in Tribal Council Manager of Culture and Heritage William Firth stated that he and his department is honoured to be a part of the Land Remembers Us, and grateful to the Inspiration Prize for recognizing the importance of Indigenous-led approaches to wellness and healing.

“For generations, residential and day schools disrupted the transmission of Gwich’in knowledge, language, and relationships to land and family. The Land Remembers Us creates space for Survivors, families, youth, and communities to come together in ways that reflect our own teachings and values. Through land-based gatherings, cultural practice, storytelling, and intergenerational learning, this project supports healing while also strengthening the knowledge systems and relationships that continue to sustain our people.”

The other two laureates this year from the NWT are:

• Dene Language Workshops: The Stories We Tell, received $100,000 These are youth-led media workshops pairing language learning with filmmaking, capturing stories and conversations with Elders to create accessible, community-based language resources.
• Earth, Fire and Flood received $96,400. It’s a  youth-driven exhibition transforming a performance piece into a museum and online experience, sharing stories of climate impacts on land, culture, and community life.