2024-25_ImpactReport_ENG_AccessibleWeb - Flipbook - Page 17
FOXY (Fostering Open
eXpression among Youth)
Peer Leader Retreats
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
FOXY’s peer leader retreats bring together
teens from across the North to learn about
healthy relationships, sexuality, and gender
identity. Through youth-led and arts-based
activities, participants build on communication,
facilitation, and leadership skills, emerging
more confident, connected, and equipped to
become community mentors.
ABOVE: The Western Arctic Youth Collective Inuit
Tunniit Tattoo Gathering brings people together
to share knowledge of Inuit tattoo practices across
regions and generations. > Watch
“The information on consent, healthy
relationships, and emotional well-being has
been really helpful in my day-to-day life.
It’s made me more confident in discussing
boundaries and understanding what healthy
relationships look like, not just for myself but
also when supporting my friends.”
– Peer Leader
Inuit Tunniit Tattoo Gathering
Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories
Western Arctic Youth Collective
Before colonization, tattoos played a sacred
role in Inuit cultures. For women, they often
marked milestones like menstruation or
childbirth. As part of efforts to reclaim and
revitalize Inuit tattoo practices among younger
generations, Western Arctic Youth Collective
organized a multi-generational gathering that
drew people from across the region to share
knowledge and reaffirm tattoos as a form of
empowerment and healing.
Multi-disciplinary artist Arsaniq Deer attended
the event and talked about what motivates her
work to bring these practices back: “When I
realized what our people fought for, I wanted to
fight for that too. I wanted to fight for our culture
back. I wanted to fight for happiness, and love,
and accepting my identity back because it was so
hard for me to grow up as an Inuk.”
Northern Strategy
Reflections Report:
Our report on the first
five years of the Northern
Strategy shares key
learnings about developing
sustainable community-based
relationships in the North.
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