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Kansas farmers Stan  Townsend and Mitchell Baalman and others that sit atop the Ogallala aquifer -- the largest freshwater aquifer in North America -- are pumping out water for crop irrigation far faster than natural seepage of rainwater can replenish it. Scientist David Hyndman from Michigan State University is helping develop a plan to better manage this vital resource for sustainable farming.

Published on Jul 12, 2013

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Water is an element that can unite our Nations to serve a common purpose. 
     We are making an International Call to attend the Nibi Water Gathering at the Turtle Lodge, on the Shores of Lake Winnipeg, one of our most endangered lakes, where the four rivers meet, on June 4 and 5, 2015.
     At the Water Ceremony the Original People of Turtle Island (North America) will formally establish their leadership. The Nibi Water Gathering will coincide with the honouring of leaders in Earth stewardship, those who have been spiritually guided in their leadership, and the honouring of Youth completing their rites of passage to adulthood.
     It is our hope that People of all cultures will attend and make their gifts and offerings to the Water!

Video Produced on Location by Erica Daniels at Turtle Lodge and Manitou Api, copyright Turtle Lodge 2015. Water Song Credit to Mary Maytwayashing. Thunderbird Artwork Credit to Norval Morrisseau. Published on Jan 21, 2015

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EARTH DAY 2020 - A Message from Elder Nii Gaani Aki (Leading Earth Man) - Dr. David Courchene of Turtle Lodge, Canada

Mother Earth is giving birth to a new

EARTH DAY 2020 - A Message from Elder Nii Gaani Aki (Leading Earth Man) - Dr. David Courchene of Turtle Lodge, Canada

Mother Earth is giving birth to a new life. 

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CONGRATULATIONS ERICA MARIE DANIELS FROM THE TURTLE LODGE! 2021 Young Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Award Erica Daniels, Founder & Owner, Kejic Productions The Turtle Lodge is so very proud and

CONGRATULATIONS ERICA MARIE DANIELS FROM THE TURTLE LODGE! 2021 Young Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Award Erica Daniels, Founder & Owner, Kejic Productions The Turtle Lodge is so very proud and honoured to share that Erica Marie Daniels, Cree filmmaker from Peguis First Nation, who has worked with the Turtle Lodge since 2011, is the recipient of the 2021 Youth Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Award from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB). Erica Marie Daniels (Animki Mukwa Ikwe – Thunder Bear Woman) Youth Leader, Cree Nation. Erica Daniels is a young entrepreneur specializing in Video Production, Photography, and Graphic Design from Peguis First Nation but resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She began her journey through Just TV, a multimedia program for at-risk youth in the inner city of Winnipeg. Today, she is an award-winning director and producer and, at just 29 years old, owner of her own media company Kejic Productions. Elder Dr. Dave Courchene Jr. named her company Kejic, meaning "The Sky" in Anishinabemowin, symbolizing that there are no limits to our dreams and what we can achieve. Erica won the first-ever Indigenous Film Award presented at the 2019 Indigenous Music Awards. Her latest film, Run As One – The Journey of the Front Runners (Watch here), won two Golden Sheaf Awards and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award and the Banff World Media Festival Award. She shares a message of hope to encourage Aboriginal Youth to pursue ­their full potential and follow their dreams. Erica is a graduate from the National Screen Institute’s New Voices Program and has been recognized for her work in the visual arts by receiving the 2012 City of Winnipeg Youth Role Model Award, 2013 Manitoba Aboriginal Youth Achievement Award, and as a National Youth Panelist at the 2014 Cando Business Conference. She has been nominated for a YWCA Young Women of Distinction Award and was a keynote speaker for the UpStarts Youth Entrepreneur Conference in Whitehorse, Yukon in May 2015. Erica has a passion for working with Youth in her community by connecting them with their identity as First Nations people of their homeland. She became connected to her culture and identity in 2011 when she attended her first ceremony at the Turtle Lodge in Sagkeeng First Nation and has been learning from her Indigenous elders ever since. She currently runs a cultural program at the Broadway Neighbourhood Centre and mentors youth in video production and graphic design through Kejic Productions and the Just TV Program. Erica completed a documentary entitled Mikinakay – Trail of the Turtle (Watch here) which follows the story of two Indigenous youth and their journey to heal from the effects of intergenerational trauma. Erica is currently co-directing The Seven Sacred Laws, an 8-part vignette series, along with Peg City Pictures Inc. and Nüman Films in partnership with the Turtle Lodge, Investors Group, and the Manitoba 150.

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The Reconciling Ways of Knowing Forum in collaboration with the Victoria Forum, shared the fifth dialogue in our Online Forum series, “Millennia of Experience: Drawing on Indigenous Knowledge in

The Reconciling Ways of Knowing Forum in collaboration with the Victoria Forum, shared the fifth dialogue in our Online Forum series, “Millennia of Experience: Drawing on Indigenous Knowledge in Responding to COVID-19.” on November 12, 2020. This dialogue explored how collaboration between Indigenous knowledge and science can improve public health outcomes throughout Canada in the face of COVID-19. Preliminary reports from Indigenous Services Canada suggest that First Nations communities are experiencing 1/4 of the infection rate and 1/5 of the mortality rate from COVID-19 experienced by the general Canadian population. The session will explore how Indigenous Peoples have leveraged their millennia of experience enduring past pandemics to protect their people and foster their resilience in the face of new public health challenges. Speakers Elder Dr Dave Courchene, Jr, an Anishinaabe Elder and spiritual leader; Grandmother Katherine Whitecloud, a Dakota knowledge keeper and Indigenous health and wellness advocate; Miles Richardson, OC, a Haida political leader and negotiator focused on Nation-to-Nation relationships between Indigenous Peoples and Canada; Tom Swanky, JD, a historical researcher focused on the role of smallpox in the foundational relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the Crown in British Columbia; and Dr Sabina Ijaz, a medical doctor who has built deep relationships in Indigenous communities, in dialogue with moderator Darrin Mah, JD, discussed the history of what Indigenous Peoples have learned in responding to pandemics, how this informs their responses to COVID-19, and what can be learned more broadly within Canadian society and the global community from these lessons. The speakers discussed issues including: How Indigenous knowledge has been marginalized by a presumption within policy- and decision-making circles that (Western) science is the only valid form of knowledge upon which to base and inform their work; How the devastation of Indigenous populations during previous smallpox and Spanish Flu pandemics has influenced Indigenous responses to COVID-19; How Indigenous Peoples have exercised their sovereignty and self-determination to protect their nations and communities; The role of traditional medicines and healing practices in protecting community health and recovering from the pandemic; How Indigenous knowledge has helped mitigate negative health outcomes that may result from factors such as remoteness from healthcare facilities, food security challenges, higher poverty rates and housing shortages on reserve; Opportunities for collaboration between Indigenous knowledge and science for improved health and social outcomes as we navigate our way through the pandemic together. More information at https://www.waysofknowingforum.ca/dialogue-5 and https://www.waysofknowingforum.ca.

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