Empowering Indigenous Youth: The Transformative Power of Sports and Connection

Have you ever wondered how sports can transform lives and address equity gaps in Indigenous communities? Join us for this special episode of Give*Amplify*Connect where we share inspiring stories from Spirit North, an organization dedicated to creating sports opportunities for Indigenous youth. Meredith Bratland, Spirit North's director of communications, and a dynamic team of voices – Jennifer MacPherson, Robi Fish, Gabriel (Gabby) Hall, and Megan Imrie – discuss the incredible impact of land-based sports on their lives and the importance of including multiple perspectives in this conversation.

Get ready to be moved by real-life stories, such as Robi's account of a student's journey learning to ride a bike at Nakoda Elementary School and the joy it brought to the entire community. Hear about Gabby and Megan's passion for giving back through sports and how their experiences have shaped their outlook on life. Learn about the power of community and the lessons they've gained through working with Spirit North, from listening to youth and co-creating with communities, to respecting Indigenous traditions and fostering healthy connections. Don't miss the chance to discover the transforming power of sport and the incredible work being done by Spirit North to create access and opportunity for all.

About Spirit North:

Spirit North is a national charitable organization that uses land-based activities to improve the health and well-being of Indigenous youth, empowering them to become unstoppable in sport, school and life. Working in partnership with schools and communities, Spirit North delivers programs to over 10,000 Indigenous youth in 83 communities and 134 schools in Western Canada and the Northwest Territories. 

• Learn more about Spirit North here
• Sign up for their newsletter here
• Check out their job postings here
• View the Photo Voice exhibit here 

About our Guests:

Meredith Bratland - Director of Communication @11:15 Meredith talks about Spirit North's youth leadership program

Megan Imrie - Program Development Manager @7:53 Megan shares about listening and co-creating with community

Jennifer MacPherson - Regional Coordinator @13:31 Jennifer discusses multi-week programs building confidence

Gabriel Hall - Spirit North Leader @3:40 Gabby explains how he first  got involved with Spirit North

Robi Fish - Spirit North Leader @18:13 Robi tells a story about the bike program at Nakoda Elementary 

In this Episode:

0:15 Learning From Spirit North Voices
3:40 Spirit North Connections
6:16 Lessons earned
11:58 Biking with Spirit North
15:56 Empowering Youth Through Photo Voice
24:52 Give Amplify Connect  

What is Give Amplify Connect?

There’s a story behind every action. Give Amplify Connect is a podcast from the Wolfe Pack Warriors Foundation that gives a voice to the Alberta-based charitable organizations creating community impact, changing lives, and making a difference. Driven by honest conversations with host Kristy Wolfe, it’s a chance for passionate changemakers to share their story.

Learn more at wolfepackwarriors.com

Podcast music used with artist permission
"Okay" by Ellen Braun

Transcript

Kristy Wolfe: 0:15

Welcome to Give Amplify Connect, a podcast presented by the Wolfe Pack Warriors Foundation and hosted by me, Kristy Wolfe. Joining me on this episode is Meredith Bratland, Director of Communications with Spirit North, which is not the only voice you'll hear from today. Meredith thank you so much for joining me. And before we introduce the other voices on here, can you please tell us about Spirit North and what their mission is?

Meredith Bratland: 0:41

Yeah, so Spirit North creates sports opportunities for Indigenous youth and we focus on land-based sports.

Kristy Wolfe: 0:49

And then, how did you get involved with them?

Meredith Bratland: 0:51

I started in libraries and had the opportunity to work on many projects about decolonizing libraries, and then I also have worked at the Faculty of Native Studies at the U of A and from there this opportunity came up and I was looking for opportunities to work with Indigenous communities and Indigenous peoples. And then also, I'm not the most sporty person, so Spirit North focuses on inclusivity and having many opportunities to try different sports, and that really resonated with me too, because we're not all professional athletes, but we can all enjoy sport and play.

Kristy Wolfe: 1:30

So normally at the end of this podcast I would ask you about people or organizations that you've worked with that inspire you. But we are kind of flipping this particular episode on its head and we've got four different people's voices that we'll be hearing from, so can you introduce us to the people that we've been working with over the course of this podcast?

Meredith Bratland: 1:50

Yeah. So I'd like to go out to a few of my colleagues to ask the questions that you shared with us. So today we're going to hear from Jennifer MacPherson, and she's the Regional Coordinator at Spirit North for Southern Alberta programs. We also have Robi Fish, and she's a Spirit North leader and she's primarily working in the Bow Valley. We also have Gabrielle Hall. He's a Spirit North leader from Manitoba, specifically Hollow Water, and he's an outdoor educator and also outdoor chef. And we have Megan Imrie, and she is our Program Director and is the administration office at Spirit North here in Canmore.

Kristy Wolfe: 2:32

So there's quite a few different voices we're going to hear from, And one of the things that I wanted to chat with you about is why you wanted to have different voices on this podcast. Normally, I've recorded with one person, but when we talked about that it was a bit of like, hmm, let's try something else.

Meredith Bratland: 2:47

Yeah, right at the start of the programs. It's about a partnership and a conversation between communities and ourselves and what they want to accomplish, and so I'm pleased that that was kind of our go-to in this situation too, because we're many people that have many different perspectives, so one person just giving their perspective doesn't give you the whole picture. The conversation, as opposed to a speech.

Kristy Wolfe: 3:16

I like it. I like it And it made me think about this in a different way, like we have been using just one voice in the episode, but I got to hear all of these clips ahead of time and just get a bunch of different perspectives on Spirit North, and that was really helpful. I had met a few of the people that you invited before, but this just gives me a bit more insight into it, so I really appreciate that. Let's hear from Spirit North leader Gabi.

Gabriel Hall: 3:40

I come from a Northern town. A lot of fishing, hunting, trapping all my life. I had a chance to move around a lot throughout Canada growing up into my schooling and taking chef training. I do all different kinds of work, logging Yeah And came back to the community that I now live in. I call my home Hollow Water First Nation, where I met my wife and that's where we live now. It's just awesome place to live and I've been doing land-based work for over 20 years now in that community and Spirit North. I've worked with them in the past. I love their team, I love the work that they do, and the opportunity came up for me to join that team And I jumped all over to enhance the programming in our community.

Kristy Wolfe: 4:31

Let's hear from Megan.

Megan Imrie: 4:33

Sport had a major impact on my life and all the sport opportunities that were available to me I realized were not available to everyone. So the sport equity piece was pivotal in me joining Spirit North to work on some solutions.

Kristy Wolfe: 4:56

Okay, Meredith, we just heard from Gabby and Megan. What resonated for you out of those two conversations?

Meredith Bratland: 5:02

Well with Gabby. He's very involved in his community of Hollow Water and obviously has a wide depth of experience and I think all of that is really relevant of what Gabi brings to programs. You can hear in his voice what a charismatic, caring man he is. So I love taking that clip. We were sitting in an airport, and then Megan too. I see Megan quite a bit in the office and I'm not surprised that the sport equity part was a big motivator for her.

Kristy Wolfe: 5:37

I appreciated that. It was something that resonated with me as I was listening to all these different clips about the sport equity piece and being a teacher. It was obvious when families had the means to participate in community sport versus families who did not, and so that actually really stood out for me as a teacher as well as parent, as well as growing up with sport in my life.

Meredith Bratland: 5:59

Yeah, I mean sports aren't cheap. Some of the sports that we do with, land-based sports, require a lot of different equipment and expertise and exposure to different situations, so it's tough to get into that sort of thing.

Kristy Wolfe: 6:16

So the next question was what have you learned since working at Spirit North? And we're gonna hear from Robi Fish, a Spirit North leader, as well as Jen MacPherson, who's a Regional Coordinator, and Megan again.

Robi Fish: 6:28

I've definitely learned so much, you know, from watching the kids. you can really see how time connecting with their classmates and community members in the outdoors really promotes a sense of well-being and they seem happy, they're laughing, they just seem refreshed. After our sessions, and definitely when learning a new skill such as biking or skiing, you can often see the kids becoming more confident, more self-assured in what they're doing and kind of embracing that sense of freedom you get from maybe riding a bike down a trail or skiing down a hill. At the same time I've also learned that I just have a lot of respect for the Indigenous traditions from the communities I work with, very evident always when working with members of the community how connected they are to the land, how respectful they are when outside with kids, so really honored to be able to learn from them.

Jennifer MacPherson: 7:41

I have learned the power of community and dedicated people supporting one another. My team is filled with passionate people working to empower the youth we work with and I'm so grateful for all of them and the communities we support.

Megan Imrie: 7:53

So much, I've learned so much from working with Spirit North. I think the biggest one is just honing my ability to listen. And because that's what it comes down to, you know working with youth and programs. You're listening to what is of interest to them, what they love, what they want to do, having them help design the programs. And same with co-creating with communities as well. Every community will come with a new idea of you know what, what they're interested in, what their strengths are, and you can learn so much by listening better.

Kristy Wolfe: 8:37

Okay, Meredith, so we listen to Robi, Jen and Megan. All give their perspectives of what they learned having worked with Spirit North. What resonated with you out of those conversations?

Meredith Bratland: 8:50

So much. They really cover a lot. The experience I think leading is like for me. The listening was a huge one from Megan and working with youth and listening to youth and what their perspectives are, but also with co-creating with community. And that ties into Robi and she spoke about the massive respect she has for Indigenous traditions and learning about that. It ties into this holistic concept called two-eyed seeing where it's like Western methodology and Indigenous worldview and merging the two. And that's sort of what we strive for at Spirit North as well. That all ties back to healthy communities and Jen spoke about community and the impact of connecting with others and moving and being out on the land.

Kristy Wolfe: 9:43

I love it and you know it got me wondering and this might not even be a question that you can answer but I was wondering how long each of these people have worked with Spirit North. Have they seen a few different seasons? I mean, Spirit North has only been around for seven years, is that correct?

Meredith Bratland: 9:58

Yeah, we've been a registered national charity for five years and then before the years prior to that it was a different kind of thing, but it's been Spirit North for five years. Megan has been there for about three years so she has seen quite a bit of changes with the youth and who have gone through different programs. Jen has been there for probably coming out two years and Robi as well.

Kristy Wolfe: 10:23

So getting to see the different programs year round working with different communities. They've all had that opportunity to do that. And would you say, like I know we're going to put words in people's mouth right now, but would you say that you see it across the different communities, like Spirit North is all across Canada now?

Meredith Bratland: 10:38

Well, not all. Across Canada, I think we go as far as the Northwest Ontario, so we're just starting to kick off programs around the communities there in and around Canora and Treaty 3. So we're not in Quebec or the Maritimes just yet.

Kristy Wolfe: 10:55

Just yet. I like that answer.

Meredith Bratland: 10:58

Yeah, we certainly are starting to see changes, and now, with five years, there are children and youth who have been there And youth who have been in our programs for that long, and so they would be coming close to graduating soon, so that's pretty exciting.

Kristy Wolfe: 11:15

The Wolfe Pack Warriors Foundation has been working with Spirit North and we were recently at Maskwacis Secondary School And one of the leaders there had been a student at the school and now he was a leader. a wonder how many times that's also happening, that people are coming back in leadership roles after having been part of the programs.

Meredith Bratland: 11:33

Yeah, we're certainly hoping for that. We have a youth leadership program, so where youth can get experience helping leaders and building their leadership skills and organization skills and everything that takes to help run a program, and we do see some of them come back to become Spirit North leaders for their communities. That's an ideal situation for us.

Kristy Wolfe: 11:58

So, Jen, when she answered the question, what's one of your favorite stories? I kind of looked at the overall programming but both Megan and Robi ended up talking about the bike program. Can you tell us the bike program's fairly new. It's one of your newer programs. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Meredith Bratland: 12:14

Yeah, I will do my best, with the caveat with the co-creation process. Some of the programs look different right Across the different regions and the different communities and what they're trying to achieve, right. So some of them are working with younger kids and they're teaching them how to ride a bike and we might bring in Pro like fleets, like what we did with Wolfe Pack Warriors. So then they it's like right at the school and it's easier to run programs. Other types are with older kids and they're working on some of their other mountain bike skills. But a lot of it is play too and just getting balance. Like I've been to one program where we did a little trail ride And then we also did some skill building exercises, like with the pylons, where everyone tries to stay in the circle And then if your foot touches the ground you go out in order to like build balance, right. Oh, so there with the programs, there's like getting comfortable with the equipment and the bike and trail riding, but also, I guess, physical literacy aspects built into it in games.

Jennifer MacPherson: 13:31

I'm not sure how to choose just one moment or one favorite story, but I'm honestly just blown away by the students that we see weekly. Their confidence and skills have grown exponentially, but ultimately, their smiles and laughter keep us coming back.

Kristy Wolfe: 13:46

So Jen said it was really difficult to choose a particular moment, but she said that the growth that she sees over multi-week programs is something that really stood out with her. Is that something that you see regularly through the leaders?

Meredith Bratland: 14:01

Yeah, certainly, and in my role I visit programs every now and then. So Jen runs a program up at the Canmore Nordic Center, and so I've gone to a few of their programs and I see it in just coming like once a month. It's really special. It's crazy how fast they progress and how brave they become. I love seeing them like go down hills So cross-country skiing for sure. I've seen the progress. And then with mountain biking as well, like in some, some may have had the experience riding a bike and some not. So, like the little ones, there's leaders teaching them how to ride a bike and then you see their progress over a summer and it's wild.

Kristy Wolfe: 14:46

Okay, so we're gonna listen to Megan talk about her experience in Penticton, and then we're gonna listen to Robi talk about her experience at Nakoda Elementary School.

Megan Imrie: 14:54

There are so many stories to choose from, but I would probably say some of the recent programs with biking being out in Penticton in one of the schools there and listening and watching the kids go down a very sandy, loose, sandy steep downhill. They had GoPros on and they're trying to keep it together. You know, both on their bikes, looking cool for their friends and trying not to swear on camera was probably some of the moments. Some of the biggest enthusiastic responses from kids at the end of the day as well. So it was hilarious and some great footage.

Kristy Wolfe: 15:49

Listening to Megan talk about the bike program in Penticton, what stood out for you?

Meredith Bratland: 15:56

So there was a lot of memories for me there too. The landscape in Penticton is absolutely beautiful, right? So this kid is flying down the hill, you can hear the wind, it's like whooosh and the GoPro is so perfect. Some kids have to jump out of the way of his path and then he stops And everyone's like, oh, my goodness, that was crazy. And he's like I almost landed in deep doo doo, but you could like see the pause. He was just like so thrilled about the adrenaline of like flying on the bike and feeling so free. Yeah, I love when we give kids GoPros on bikes.

Kristy Wolfe: 16:44

Now, was that video part of the exhibit that you had at Arts Place?

Meredith Bratland: 16:48

No, I wish it was. This was part of this spring's Photo Voice collection, so we had to get the gallery stuff ready before we had that video, but hopefully in a future one it'll be included, because it is pure gold Will you explain a little bit about what photo voice is.

Meredith Bratland: 17:07

Sure, photo voice is a tool we use that also researchers and academia use to get qualitative Sorry, this is real nerdy talk Qualitative experience from the youth perspective. So we give them digital cameras or disposable cameras or now go-pros, and they take the video or photo of their experience. And then we interview them and ask them some questions in order to get their perspective on how they experienced the program. And then we had a few we had two or three years of photo voice to work with. So Arts Place invited us this year to do an exhibition gallery of their photos.

Kristy Wolfe: 17:58

Yeah, that was pretty neat. I really enjoyed it. You also know, Meredith, that my background is photography and storytelling, so any of those photo voice projects are really of interest to me. I loved it.

Robi Fish: 18:13

Feels like every day I come home with a great story from my programs. But one that comes to mind right recently, with it being springtime and one of the schools in particular, Nakoda Elementary School we've been doing a lot of biking is just seeing the growth in all the students, but one student in particular. I remember we started biking with him last fall. A grade three student and at the first day quite reluctant, kind of not that interested in biking, just maybe thought was something he didn't know how to do. But we were able to get him out on a bike, a pedalless bike, just getting that sense of sitting on the bike and not worrying about pedaling at first And a few weeks in the fall that's what he was doing and he was enjoying just being out, didn't worry about pedaling at first and would even try some of the little downhills without using his pedals And then quite started to enjoy that feeling of going down a little grassy hill kind of would be laughing and very happy.

Robi Fish: 19:31

And then, coming back this spring when we got on the bikes after a long winter, he started out again on the bike without pedals and was happy about that. But partway through the first day he We encouraged him to maybe try the bike with pedals. He was a bit reluctant at first but then he did try it. We had the leaders available to give him a little bit of one-on-one attention and he quickly learned how to ride his bike. And then was so happy and of course didn't want to go back into school after being able to ride his bike and now has been able to get out several times since then and usually I can hear him coming because he likes to make a hooting and hollering sounds while he's riding his bike. So just one of the happy stories of kids out biking at Nakoda Elementary School.

Kristy Wolfe: 20:31

That particular story resonates with me because the bikes that are at Nakoda Elementary School are the ones that the Wolfe Pack Warriors Foundation donated last year when we first did our Power of the Pedal initiative with Spirit North and that's when we were first getting to know your organization. So to get to hear from Robi about a very particular story of a kid just getting to try it out pedalless bike to start out with and the enthusiasm for coming back to that, I think that's something that I can really appreciate and then also be able to share with the team that was building the bikes. We had a group of mechanics that were coming in and volunteering their time. So what stood out for you in that story?

Meredith Bratland: 21:09

Yeah, I think it's like a on the ground story about the growth that kids have in a short span of time being able to be on bikes, and it speaks to me a lot about inclusion piece. So we talk a lot about meeting the kids where they are. We don't always, we don't assume to know the whole story. There probably are reasons why they're nervous, right, and so if we know them where they are and help and try to find solutions to encourage inclusion, then often the confidence grows and then they wanna take on more like naturally, take on more challenges because there's comfort there.

Kristy Wolfe: 21:54

So, yeah, reluctant to exciting is super and that says Well, and I think just that idea that the bikes can be used year after year. So it's one thing to bring in equipment to use once or like over a week or however. some of the different programs are in different ways, but to have the equipment there that kids can keep using year after year also makes a difference to your confidence in being able to use to bike or to cross country ski. I know that you have done different fleets of equipment for different schools with different organizations, so is that something that if people were interested they could focus and kind of come together with Spirit North and do programs like that?

Meredith Bratland: 22:35

Yeah, I mean it all stems from the community and the co-creation and how they have identified if that's a priority for them or not. So that would be the starting place for that conversation.

Kristy Wolfe: 22:47

That's fair. We actually, when we were gonna work again with Spirit North this year, we were concerned that maybe that wasn't the best way to go about supporting you. a fleet of bikes might not be appropriate and they already had a school that was looking for it. So it just happened to be timing with us, I think, and our Power of the Pedal initiative, so I'm really glad that that could work out. So we're gonna finish off with one more voice. We're coming back to Gabby and he's gonna answer the question how has Spirit North made a difference? And let's just have a listen to his answer.

Gabriel Hall: 23:17

I think, just the overall ability to go to places that we normally would like. For me, I live in Hollow Water but now I have an opportunity to travel to Berens River, to Blood Vane and places that I normally wouldn't have the opportunity to do that and to take our experience that we have, because all of us have such unique experiences and being able to transfer that into another community that normally we wouldn't even bother going to. Right now we have this great opportunity to share that with kids that normally wouldn't be able to see team leaders such as us.

Kristy Wolfe: 23:51

Meredith, what stood out for you in Gabby's answer?

Meredith Bratland: 23:56

I think for me it's the community aspect and connecting other communities that maybe far apart from each other, but they have a lot in common, and so sharing experiences across communities also creates opportunity.

Kristy Wolfe: 24:16

That was exactly what was standing out for me as well. Just the idea that you might not go to a given place if there wasn't this Spirit North connection there that brought a leader to a new spot, and just recognizing all of the similarities between people, regardless of where you are, I think really stood out for me as well.

Meredith Bratland: 24:35

And the unique experiences, too, right. When you get chatting to people, yeah, Gabby's right, we all have unique experiences that we bring to the table. Yeah, and you just never know how that's going to connect with another person and impact their life.

Kristy Wolfe: 24:52

Absolutely Okay. So we've heard from now five different people about Spirit North. This podcast is called Give, Amplify, Connect and I'm wondering, Meredith, if you could share any ideas about how listeners could give to Spirit North, how they could amplify what Spirit North is doing or how they could connect with you.

Meredith Bratland: 25:13

You can visit us at our website, www. spiritnorthxc. ca. We have a bunch of stuff and more information on there about locations and impact in our programs, And you can also see the virtual gallery of the Photo Voice exhibit.

Kristy Wolfe: 25:31

Okay, perfect, that's great, and I will put that in the show notes as well as on social media posts that we do about this podcast. I know that you had mentioned. A good place to connect is by signing up for the newsletter to hear what's going on.

Meredith Bratland: 25:44

Yes, that would be fantastic. There's a link to that on our website as well and also on our link tree on Instagram.

Kristy Wolfe: 25:54

Yes, so finding Spirit North on social media, checking out their website, signing up for their newsletter. The other thing that I noticed recently I don't know if it's still up there, but you were looking for more staff, So if people were interested in volunteering or working with Spirit North, is it just go to your website?

Meredith Bratland: 26:10

Yeah, we are actively recruiting for job postings across BC to Manitoba, ontario, so please take a look for that.

Kristy Wolfe: 26:20

Meredith, thank you so much for spending time with me today.

Meredith Bratland: 26:24

My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Kristy Wolfe: 26:28

The purpose of the Wolfe Pack Warriors Foundation is to give, amplify and connect. Help us share what Spirit North is doing. On a final note, remember to take care of yourself and your pack. You matter.