Ag in the Classroom is working with First Nations to inform young people about the opportunities available in Agriculture.
An event was held last Wednesday at the University of Saskatchewan that was attended by more than 200 grade 8 to 12 students — some travelling more than four hours to get to Saskatoon.
"The idea behind this event was to bring Indigenous youth from across the province to the College of Ag and Bioresources and begin to explore agriculture and food sovereignty and hopefully get inspired to consider how they could be a part of either agriculture as a career in their future or different initiatives that might be taking place now or in the future in their community." explained Sara Shymko, Executive Director of Ag in the Classroom Saskatchewan.
One of the guest speakers was Cadmus Delorme. While Delorme was Chief of the Cowessess First Nation, there was an agricultural revival, with more than 5,000 acres now being farmed.
"They don't necessarily farm exactly the same way that, you know, non-Indigenous people do, and he shared some examples of that and talked about how his First Nation began grain farming again when he was chief and bringing back the buffalo. The point of this conversation was that these young people have any opportunity to do anything they want and they can be entrepreneurs, they can be leaders, they can be involved in food and agriculture in so many different ways." she said.
Shymko says it is important for Ag in the Classroom to work with First Nations.
"With Agriculture in the Classroom, our goal is to connect youth and agriculture, and that's all youth. When we look at Indigenous communities and many of the communities aren't farming the land that is theirs, we really want to open students' eyes up to the possibilities and have them see themselves in agriculture. Events like this are a really important piece to be able to do."
Last Wednesday's Indigenous Youth Gathering was also co-hosted by the Horizon School Division.
(With files from Neil Billinger, CJWW)
