An organization helping Indigenous girls has put down roots near Okotoks.
The Stardale Women’s Group, with its overarching mission of empowering the lives of Indigenous girls, their families and communities, has created a garden on a plot of land north of town off 32 Street.
“If we’re going to look at healing the next generations, this is what it’s all about,” said Stardale executive director Helen McPhaden.
“Anyone that knows anything about First Nations, Metis and Indigenous people knows the importance of that connection to the land, so that's a pivotal piece.
“It’s really important for the kids to know what it’s like to experience being on the land.”
Once they’re on the land, the next step is equipping the young women to make the most of it.
“The other pivotal piece is life skills, and if we want to teach the girls the life skills, it makes so much sense to have them out here,” McPhaden said.
“The other night when our elder was out to give a prayer, she was like a little child, she was so gleeful.”
That elder was a residential school survivor, McPhaden added.
“She was out here gardening because these are all experiences that were taken away for generations from all the children," she said. “Either the residential schools, Sixties Scoop, and the reserves all permeated throughout that.”
The day's activities were only planting the seeds for a greater project of giving the girls opportunities to interact with the land and grow, harvest and cook their own food.
Stardale program coordinator Ranee Fallorin saw firsthand how the youth benefited.
“They got to reconnect with the land, and a lot of them haven’t actually gardened before so they didn’t know any of the processes," Fallorin said. “So we’re teaching them life skills, they got to play in the dirt, get their hands dirty.
“A lot of them are very excited to see what grows, what doesn’t grow, and take care of it, because they haven’t had the opportunity to do.”
Once they see the fruits of their labour, then comes the next step.
“The plan is whatever we harvest, we’re going to cook with and teach them cooking skills,” Fallorin said. “So it’s not just one project; we’re building on this project by teaching them cooking skills, what we can make with this, or what kind of salads we can do, everything like that.”
Siksika youth Kaylie Pelletier, 16, has been with the group since she was 10.
“You have a lot more confidence in yourself after you’ve joined,” Pelletier said. “They push you outside of your comfort zone, but it’s a way of respecting yourself and being out there more, socializing and stuff.”
Over her time some highlights have been theatre performances as well as music, such as drumming; the Stardale Women’s Group formed an all-girl drumming group, the only one of its kind in Canada.
For more information about the group, visit stardale.org.
