Former Manitoba Catholic youth camp to be transformed into healing village
A former Manitoba Catholic youth camp is being repurposed as a healing village for Indigenous women.
Clan Mothers, a group of Indigenous women who work with those dealing with intergenerational trauma, held a ceremony Saturday on the grounds of the former camp in Belair, near Lake Winnipeg, to mark the beginning of a new kind of care.
Co-founder May Louise Campbell said the healing village will be a place that offers mid-term and long-term support for Indigenous women.
“We have to take those buildings down, we have to change this whole area and do it our way,” said Campbell.
The demolition of the existing building will begin next spring.
The Réseau Compassion Network, formally known as the Catholic Health Authority, donated the land to the Clan Mothers so they could build their healing village.
Campbell said the village will help the women living there discover who they are as Indigenous people.
“To reclaim so that we can continue to share our knowledge and our wisdom with all those who are open to wanting to learn,” said Campbell.
Elder Mary Brian, a Sixties Scoop survivor, said the healing village will also help the women who attend deal with their trauma.
“I think they will learn a lot about their culture, and how to use their cultural ceremonies and dance ceremonies. That will help them heal,” said Brian.
CEO of Réseau Compassion Network Daniel Lussier said he’s been working alongside the Clan Mothers on this project for close to five years.
He said returning the land to Indigenous people was the right thing to do, and a step towards reconciliation.
“We have a history we own with our organization, which is affiliated with the Catholic Church and its role in residential schools. Not that this is solving that, but it is part of the long journey ahead of us,” said Lussier.
Prairie Architects has been working with the Clan Mothers on a voluntary basis to realize the vision for the new space.
Principal Architect Melissa McAlister said the first phase of the project is expected to start in the spring of 2022.
“It’ll be five cabins to start. An elder’s cabin and a staff cabin, as well as a long house that will have kitchen facilities and multi-purpose space,” said McAlister.
Campbell said the demolition of the old buildings is part of the change that is needed for people to begin healing.
“Change has to happen and we need to be responsible for that change. Not you, not the government, not anybody else, we.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.