Southern Alberta Blackfoot Resource Hub an urban cultural sanctuary – Lethbridge | 24CA News
Since launching in November of 2022, the Blackfoot Resource Hub in Lethbridge, Alta., has ramped up programming catered to the city Indigenous neighborhood.
The hub provides as much as 4 free periods per week together with workshops, visits to close by Indigenous websites, and Blackfoot language courses.
“Part of what we’re doing is bringing cultural awareness back here to the city of Lethbridge,” mentioned Karen Delaney, cultural specialist with the hub.
Programming is free, consists of lunch, and is open to anybody.
“Not only are they leaving with knowledge, they’re leaving full,” mentioned Joey Blood, cultural specialist, at Blackfoot Resource Hub.
Classes replenish shortly with as much as 20 folks attending every session, in accordance with program administrator Lacey Eagle Plume.
Additionally, susceptible individuals who really feel displaced or disconnected are welcomed on the hub, with choices of a smudging or a go to from a Blackfoot elder.
“This is kind of like a sanctuary for them to come and feel safe and to reconnect with their values, their traditions, their culture,” mentioned Eagle Plume.
Blood references colonization, residential colleges, the Sixties Scoop, the whiskey commerce, smallpox epidemic, and most not too long ago, the opioid disaster that has affected Indigenous Peoples and contributed to intergenerational trauma.
“Through that trauma, through all those tough times, our teachings, our way of life, has managed to maintain,” mentioned Blood.
“Our goal is to plant seeds to go into recovery and perhaps lead their way into a healthier lifestyle and out of addiction,” mentioned Eagle Plume in reference to these affected by the opioid disaster.
Transportation can also be out there to those that can’t get there on their very own with Joey Blood behind the wheel.
“In the meantime, I can kind of build that connection just within that short drive from where they’re at to the office in hopes to break the ice a little bit, not just throwing them in there, and explain who I am and about the program,” mentioned Blood.
Earlier this month, as a part of a partnership with the Blood Tribe and Kainai Nation, Lethbridge metropolis council voted so as to add as much as $40,000 to the hub’s $500,000 yearly working price range this yr and subsequent to help programming.
Eagle Plume is wanting so as to add extra employees within the close to future, in hopes of increasing the hub’s total choices.
“We just try to point people in the right direction if they need help, and we are always here to support people,” mentioned Eagle Plume.
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