First Directions 2024: Indigenized Love

Multicolor Abstract Sunset Party Poster

When: March 12, 2024 at 12:00pm - 8pm

Where: Chilliwack VRBO
4601 Bench Rd
Chilliwack , BC V4Z 1G2
Canada
Google map and directions

Contact: Danielle Taralson ·


This event takes place on the unceded and ancestral lands of the S'olh Temexw (Stó:lō) peoples.

Apply to be part of First Directions by February 27 at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WYHLTHM

At First Directions, we bring Indigenous youth together from across the province to develop short videos on this years theme of Indigenizing Love. During First Directions, a group of 10-12 Indigenous youth will:

  • Travel to a vacation home in Chilliwack BC, supervised by the Yúusnewas staff team
  • Be involved in workshops that focus on Indigenizing Love
  • Learn how to create a short film, including how to use film equipment, create a storyboard, and edit their work with the help of Indigenous youth facilitators, Tea Rosa and Desireah Eustache
  • Be provided meals by our lovely mentor, Deanna Henry
  • Work in small groups, develop a film on a topic of their choice related to Indigenous Love 

YouthCO will cover travel costs to and from the retreat, as well as meals and accommodations during the training to participants whose applications are accepted. We will work with families and communities to ensure safe transportation for all youth. 

As Indigenous youth we are talking about issues that affect our people so that we can share information with our friends and relatives about topics that are important to us. During First Directions, Yúusnewas will host workshops to share information compiled by Indigenous Youth, and work together to make short films about these topics. 
As youth we are expected to care with our whole beings. We are expected to put our bodies and spirits into loving the world around us. This shows up differently for everyone, so we hope to facilitate soft and safer conversations around the topic, and then make your creative visions come true in a short film.  

Some of the topics we will be focusing on during First Directions are:

  •  Decolonizing health care, the ways in which care plays a factor while navigating health care spaces
  • Highlight ways love shows up in our everyday lives
  • Show casing indigenous folks reclaiming and taking up space in the modern world 
  • Unpacking the ways care and love show up in our lives and much more!

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COVID 19 Measures

To support safer access to our programming for all in attendance in consideration of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have implemented a few important measures that we hope will help create a safer environment for us to learn and build community together.

  • All sessions will be held either outdoors or in well-ventilated large rooms with capacity well under 50%
  • Hand-washing stations and hand-sanitizer will be made available throughout the program
  • We ask all attendees to be fully vaccinated (4-doses) for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)
  • Masks are optional and will be available on site for those who prefer to use them

We know that for many of us, some these additional measures like wearing a mask, can feel a bit exhausting, especially after living through this for the past three years. We really appreciate your cooperation as we all figure this out together. Your participation is so important to us, your safety is so important to us, your presence is so important to us – you are so important to us! We hope to see you at First Directions this year! Please let us know if you have any questions at all, you can reach us at [email protected] 

 

*Applications are now open*

Apply by February 27th at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WYHLTHM