Keeping tradition alive at camp
Indigenous youth reconnecting with their culture, heritage
Down the gravel road to the RV parks and campsites at Grundy Lake Provincial Park, there’s a turnoff that leads to a site like no other.
As the road bends, the trees part to reveal nine towering teepees, the centre of a summer camp called Keeping the Circle Strong.
In the coming weeks, 250 Indigenous kids from Toronto will bed down in the teepees and curl up around a central fire. The top flaps will be opened to let the smoke out, but they’ll also open a window to the night sky, providing a magical bedtime view for inner city kids, many of whom have never seen so many stars before.
Native Child and Family Services of Toronto has been bringing Indigenous youth from the city up to Grundy Lake for more than 30 years. For these kids, camp is more than a break from the sirens and the pavement; it’s an opportunity to reconnect with their culture.
“The camp provides good nutrition, good fresh air. But probably more than anything, it’s an opportunity for kids to embrace their Indigenous self,” said Kenn Richard, the agency’s executive director.
The camp is free for youth and families, who come up for a week at a time, and Richard says it has been a powerful force in breaking cycles that plague the urban Indigenous community.
“This works against the stereotypical profile of Indigenous people as having problems. The campers see camp counsellors who are 17 or 18 years old and proud Anishinabe or Mohawk. They don’t often see that in their everyday life,” he said. Some of the campers come from group homes or foster care, and have never had the opportunity to swim in open water, or walk through the forest with no sounds of traffic. At camp, much of their days are filled with typical camp activities such as swimming, hiking, games and canoeing. But there’s also Indigenous-focused programming, including dancing, crafts, pipe ceremonies and sweat lodges.
Campers start each day with a morning circle, where they receive traditional teachings. Each day ends with singing, drumming and storytelling around the campfire.
Although the camp is located in a provincial park, it is surrounded on two sides by reserves: Henvey Inlet First Nationto the north and Magnetawan First Nationto the south. Elders from these reserves share the history of the land with campers, who sometimes have relatives and heritage in the area.
“The elders talk about what things were like before the railroad and before the highway came in,” said Greg Flynn, who has been running the camp for 21 years. “Then we take out the canoes to give campers a sense of how people got around before modern conveniences.” Victoria Town, a former camper and counsellor, says Keeping the Circle Strong was her first camping experience and it was transformative.
“As soon as you drive onto the campsite, you kind of feel a sense of relief — fresh air and open mind,” she said.
Meeting elders and participating in sweat lodges helped her embrace her Indigenous identity.
The Toronto Star’s Fresh Air Fund has been raising money to send kids to summer camp since 1901. The fund aims to raise $650,000 to send 25,000 kids to a range of camps this summer. How to donate: With your gift, the Fresh Air Fund can help send 25,000 disadvantaged and special needs children to camp. The experience gives these children much more than relief from summer heat — it gives them a break in life and memories to last a lifetime. Our target is $650,000. By cheque: Mail to The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund, One Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6 By credit card: Visa, MasterCard, AMEX or Discover. Call 416-869-4847.
Online: For instant donations, use our secure form at thestar.com/freshairfund The Star does not authorize anyone to solicit on its behalf. Tax receipts will be issued in September.