Homeless Indigenous men in Thunder Bay are going back to their roots thanks to hunting trips in Pic River First Nation.
It’s in conjunction with this city’s Indigenous Friendship Centre, with spokesperson Marco Pasinelli noting who the men learn from on these trips.
“Especially when we have a lot of the elders disappearing quickly, and they’re still the knowledge keepers. And we were fortunate enough to have enough of them out there with us, they were able to provide that teaching.”
The Friendship Centre spokesperson adds they hope men living in transition at the John Howard Society or Salvation Army can be added.
He also notes what else the joint venture did for the men they took.
“Have forgotten about a lot of their traditional teachings and cultures, and that revitalization process is what the Indigenous community has been pushing forward to returning to their community members.”
The successful trip at the beginning of this month means the Friendship Centre will be doing this again.
And, Pasinelli tells us it started after catching the eye of Mckellar Ward councillor Brian Hamilton.
“He had asked if there was an opportunity to have some of the men in his community that are living on the streets to come out and join us for that, and that is something we definitely supported.”
