In 2014, Philip Brass began to work with his band, Peepeekisis Cree Nation, as the Community Wellness Coordinator at the Health Centre. His goal at the time was to reach out and connect with youth during a time of violence, vandalism, and gang activity. He offered to go hunting with some of the youth as a way to connect with those that were tough to reach, and eventually he introduced them to ceremony. Getting the youth involved in traditional values and practices resulted in a positive ripple effect throughout the community. His work with the youth continued with the File Hills Police Service and then working within the schools on-reserve and off-reserve, in nearby towns, within Prairie Valley School Division and Treaty 4 Education Alliance. Some land-based activities Brass has led with youth include: fishing, filleting workshops, hunting big game, hunting small game, talking circles, sweats, and attending ceremonies. He has been a valuable resource for teachers that are having difficulty navigating issues on reconciliation, the history of colonialism, and on-going Indigenous struggles within Saskatchewan and Canada. Philip has witnessed how the land can be a powerful tool for learning, engaging, and shifting negative behavioural patterns in youth. Philip infers that for Indigenous people to reconnect with their languages, land-based activities are essential because languages are emergent from those activities and gives language relevance.
