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The following is excerpted from Reclaiming Indigenous Planning, edited by Ryan Walker, Ted Jojola and David Natcher.
Planning is about moving beyond the status quo. It is about being proactive as opposed to constantly reacting to day-to-day crises. It involves thinking about where a community wants to be down the road and taking calculated actions to achieve this future. In this way a plan creates hope. It raises expectations and cultivates a belief that a community can be anything and everything it wants to be.
The Kinistin Saulteaux Nation provides an example. They published their plan in December 2009, and in the summer of 2010 community members began exploring the idea of constructing a powwow arbour and hosting their first powwow since the 1980s. Using recycled power poles as supports, an innovative tensile roof structure, and the skills and hard work of many band members, the community built its arbour over a two-week period in mid-July.
The new structure addresses a number of issues identified in the plan including a lack of opportunities to showcase artistic talent, limited cultural activities, a need for spaces to host celebrations, and the ongoing loss of traditional knowledge and values (Kinistin Saulteaux Nation and ceu 2009). The arbour was seen as an opportunity to fortify traditions and create opportunities for celebration and in this way was much more than a physical structure. As one community member articulated, the powwow arbour was about “building hope and the raising of expectations”.
The Kinistin arbour inspired many community members to see that anything is possible. It raised expectations by turning a long-standing dream of the community into reality without being limited by funding or programs.
To learn more about Reclaiming Indigenous Planning, or to order online, click here.
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