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Demian Lawrenchuk

Damien has lead a Christmas break school program that focused on land based cultural activities. The activities included making and setting snares, catching animals such as rabbits, martins, etc., skinning them, tanning them, cooking them, and making clothes out of them. The purpose of the program is to provide an opportunity for students to reconnect […]

Damien has lead a Christmas break school program that focused on land based cultural activities. The activities included making and setting snares, catching animals such as rabbits, martins, etc., skinning them, tanning them, cooking them, and making clothes out of them. The purpose of the program is to provide an opportunity for students to reconnect to the land and reinforce a sense of cultural and historical continuity with their ancestors. Damien is a Cree man from Fox Lake First Nation. He volunteers his time at both Fox Lake School and the school in Gillam, MB. He is in some kind of unofficial apprenticeship program with community elders, who are teaching him about the traditional use of land, plants, and animals. During the school year 2017-2018, he has shown the grade 4-8 class in Fox Lake how to garden various vegetables, clean certain kinds of fish, plant medicine, skin a martin, and make a drum.