Saskatoon Indian and Métis Friendship Centre celebrates 50 years
Friendship can mean the difference between hope and despair. The Saskatoon Indian and Métis Friendship Centre (SIMFC) has been extending friendship where it is most needed for 50 years. The Centre has some great reasons to be proud of that history.
Conversations dating back to 1966 discuss the need for a place that acts as a buffer for Aboriginals entering urban society, providing First Nations and Métis with “accommodation, employment, connections, social activities and other help to put them at ease in the new environment,” based on notes from a seminar on Friendship Centres held that year and reported in a SIMFC 40-year history document.
Nora Cummings, one of the first SIMFC members, recalls their small beginnings.
“We first started off on 20th Street, right on the corner of what used to be City Vacuum in 1968. We held meetings and other little gatherings and brainstormed on what we could do and where we were going to go and what the future would bring to us.” At 80 years of age, Cummings says she is the only surviving early SIMFC member.
Dances were in that future, energized by a fiddler and a guitar player. They were dry dances because AA was a focus in the community. Dances led to potlucks. “Everybody would bring something to the dance. It went over very big,” says Cummings. People started putting a bit of money in the kitty so the organization could survive.
Interest was so great they couldn’t accommodate everyone. Another building at 310–20 Street West, a colourful product of the hippie days of the 60s, held promise. “There was black, blue, green, anything, you name it! But we saw the potential,” says Cummings. They opened on January 29, 1972.
With more space came expanded programming. The late Norris Petit and the late Tom Henry launched various sports programs including boxing and hockey. Sewing and craft classes were offered for young mothers. The programs mushroomed and the building was “bursting at the seams”.
The late Agnes Caron and the late Irene Dimick cooked and served dinners and charged per plate, bringing in funding for the Centre. Weddings, large banquets and bingos helped raise money for the Centre. Small grants would come in from time to time. “But at that time the funding wasn’t like it is now, it was mostly local initiative programs,” says Cummings. Social Services operated from that location and the first provincial Women’s Conference of Saskatchewan was held there in 1973. The Centre was generating enough buzz to spark the participation of lawyers, judges and city councillors who volunteered to help. “That’s where it all really started,” says Cummings.
In 1979, it all continued at 168 Wall Street when the SIMFC opened its new $700,000 building. By that time programs like the Home School Liaison, family workers, court workers and streetworkers, as well as a youth club, were operational. Other programs over the years addressed health education, family violence and life skills. A day care centre and housing program were added at one point.
Cummings gives a lot of credit to executive director May Henderson for the success of the SIMFC. “Henderson is very humble. What this woman does in the Friendship Centre – she’s a hands-on leader. She’s not just a director, she’s out there doing things. If something’s going on in the kitchen, she’s out there, or she’s serving. She’s all over the place.”
Henderson is in her second stint as director. “I love this place. Being director is gratifying because I see people that are happy when they leave there. Their stomachs are full.” She’s the kind of director who would feel bad knowing she had eaten but somebody else hadn’t. And she’ll cook for them when necessary. Sometimes that role changes to counsellor like it did recently when someone walked in and was experiencing distress. Henderson took an hour to sit with that person.
The Centre now has a staff of 25 compared to two in 1972 – a director and a secretary. For the past decade they’ve typically taken about six summer students for internships as well. Henderson says Paul Koo was a valued and dedicated SIMFC employee for 38 years.
The housing department is currently located in its own building across the street and has a staff of eight. People looking for a place to live can access the program “Home Fires Away From Home” launched two years ago. Newcomers are assigned a worker who will help them find permanent rental housing.
Going forward, Henderson is excited about some new youth programming on the horizon due to a grant received from Aboriginal Friendship Centres. New family planning is coming up that will feature a different Saskatoon ethnic group each month. Coming up first is a celebration of Mexican culture with entertainment, food and an indoor camp for kids. There’s also talk about developing a strategic plan for the Centre. Henderson says they can’t afford to hire someone to help with this, but one of the staff has previous experience and will help.
SIMFC has long enjoyed many significant and supportive partnerships in the community. The organization has been a part of Folkfest for 35 years, and regularly serves as a venue.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the ongoing strong commitment and overall mission to improve the quality of life for Aboriginal people in an urban environment. When SIMFC first started, a lot of people coming in from reserves and Indigenous communities needed help transitioning into an urban lifestyle. After 50 years, the heart to offer that kind of help is still beating strong.