An ʔaq̓am workshop tackles serious topics—and fun
A boy wins a prize for excelling at jumping jacks. While hypnotized, a girl belts out a Tina Turner song. Tidbits like these sound like a riot, but amusement wasn’t the only thing on the agenda during the Going M.I.L.E.S. workshop for youth in the community of ʔaq̓am. Rather, weaved through the entertaining activities, topics focused on Motivating, Inspiring, Leading, Empowering and transforming the youth to Succeed.
Over three days in April 2022, about 80 Indigenous youngsters aged 10 to 18—from ʔaq̓am, Cranbrook and Kimberley—dove into issues like youth empowerment, drug and substance abuse, suicide prevention, cyberbullying and developing relationships. The sessions were led by Indigenous youth activists and entertainers Dakota House and Scott Ward.
Ivan Nikolov, ʔaq̓am’s Youth Recreation Coordinator, helped organize the event, which came about because youth themselves stated they wanted to address such challenges. “Our focus was to work on mental health and youth empowerment by adopting the strategy of prevention, rather than solving problems later on,” he said. “I believe we were quite successful because the kids learned a lot of important aspects and they saw real examples of people who had overcome these issues.”
Others in the community benefited as well, as parents and the general public were invited to the final hypnosis show. “This was one of the first events that broke the ice in the post-pandemic world, where people gathered together and had a great time.”
While the youth loved the lively parts—one participant called the presenters’ tricks “awesome”—they also appreciated the deeper messages. As another said, “It was great to learn about how to handle cyberbullying.”
The Trust supports ʔaq̓am’s Youth Network—part of the overall Basin Youth Network, which helps communities increase local activities and opportunities for youth, enabling them to learn new skills and engage more with each other and their communities.
Being involved in the school’s physical education program, Nikolov himself has witnessed positive results thanks to the workshop. “I have seen an increased solidarity among kids and increased determination to be successful during P.E. classes. What makes me even more satisfied is the fact that they started working as a team, rather than being too individual.”
Follow-up activities in the community has further engraved the lessons learned, particularly how youth “can overcome the barriers and achieve what they want to achieve,” Nikolov says. This has included a visit from an Indigenous NHL player and involvement in baseball and soccer programs. A future event plans to highlight Indigenous hip-hop.
“I hope that other communities will follow this example and organize something similar, in order to provide the best opportunity for children to be successful in their lives.”
