SGSA Cultural New Beginnings

SGSA is developing needed programs and services for the Indigenous population. In Canada we have an Indigenous population of 1.8M, of which over 80% are off reserve.

Our goal is to help the Indigenous community feel more connected with their roots and culture. Through-out many years of intergenerational trauma there has been a disconnect of culture, kinship language and traditions. This can be seen through the socioeconomic status of Indigenous people compared to non-Indigenous. They face lower health status, high incarceration rates, education gaps as well as overall job gaps. Indigenous people’s also face higher suicide rates as well as poor mental health. We aim to provide these programs and services to positively impact Indigenous people's lives. We want to utilize our own people and their knowledge and wisdom to help our people feel more connected to their identity. We will have cultural coordinators from our own community to help with many of these programs and services. Our main initiative will help ground  indigenous communities in their roots and their history within Canada. This will create pride, hope, knowledge and belonging within our current generation and future generations.

The healing process will begin within these programs as they will gain knowledge from elders, cultural coordinators, community members as well as educational leaders. While pushing towards bettering our people and their overall health and lives. This will also push towards the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action. I believe this initiative is needed among Indigenous people because it opens up more access to knowledge that can help fulfill this gap that is experienced. This will create a strong cultural identity among the Indigenous community which will positively impact each of their lives. These programs will create stronger kinship, support and overall a healthy life with one another and mother earth with the beliefs and values that they will be taught.

A lot of the histories and traditions, cultural teachings, language have been lost – many of the youth do not know their native language and traditions.  A lot of the youth and indigenous people suffer from generational trauma.  A lot of the initiative renewal will help ground the indigenous communities in their roots and their history within Canada, create pride, hope, knowledge and belonging in our generations and youth.  This is important for the healing process between indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians.  Help with the transition for indigenous people from the indigenous communities into the cities.  Very important that everyone has an identity.  Their cultural identity is critical for a strong and healthy family life.  This expands into a strong cultural identity is key for the whole community and all you contribute and participate in that community.

The indigenous people have lost their connection with the land and mother nature and this has left a gap in their life, a spiritual need.  There is a need to reconnect with traditional connections to the land and connecting with nature to fill that gap.

7 Generations Society of Alberta (7 Gen SA) project includes face to face and technology based solutions to support education, cultural activities and security for Indigenous members that also focuses to preserve our sense of culture. We want to improve the quality of life for Indigenous families and children. We intend to do this through creating a space for our community to engage in cultural activities such as smudging and drumming. We have consistently included elders within our project such as our ground breaking ceremony and various celebrations. We plan to use this space to visit with our Elders to engage in revitalization activities such as learning our language, oral histories, stories as well as teachings of our connection with the environment and wildlife. We will also use this space to do activities such as drumming, drum making, beading, sewing, dream catchers and teepee making. There are also teachings that come with making each of these items. 

Language revitalization is significant to us because it creates a connection to our identity and ancestors. We will have face to face, online and interactive sessions, supported by education self paced programs and learnings through a portal that allow practice and reinforcement that focus on pronunciation, basic greetings/introductions, and the meaning of language.  We will also hold group sharing sessions on language. We will have designated cultural coordinators included in this process so it is planned out accordingly.

We want to hold community events that can focus on gathering ideas for the youth; to excel in Indigenous culture. This will create a connection that can help them sustain their identity and culturally rich values and beliefs. Various teachings that are important not only for youth but for all Indigenous peoples are ceremonial teachings such as sun dance, sweat lodges and feasts which all consist of Indigenous spirituality. Within these community events we can hold group sessions with our cultural coordinators that teach the significance of our cultural history such as traditional foods, food sovereignty, hunting and medicines. Each of these topics will be elaborated on through various classes.

Other various activities we want to create and promote are educational classes that concentrate on reconciliation and support for our community. This will include classes that focus on kinship teachings, health and wellness such as healing circles, parenting, baby bonding, prenatal workshops and grieving workshops. As well as classes that will help enhance Indigenous lives in society such as career development classes that can help with resume/cover letters, taxes, financial management and transitional classes for Indigenous youth to help them become comfortable with living in the city.

Our programs will commence in all the regions of Alberta, and then expand across the other provinces and territories in Canada, then into the USA and globally.  The project will focus to preserve our sense of culture and language revitalization and recreate a connection to our identity and ancestors.

How we will accomplish this:

• Create the foundation for support programs in the community, starting with education programs/events to learn and grow
• Create or find a program for the new homeowners (via CMHC) (with our sister company doing affordable housing) in a cultural centre with events, our services and products.
• Holding some celebration events to promote dance, drumming, traditional ceremonies, language and history, building on the initial ceremonies to create seasonal, year round calendars of events and celebration – building the pride in our traditions and heritage.
• Support other native initiatives across the country, helping strengthen all our communities.
• Share and educate with non-indigenous people -providing hands-on experience with traditional indigenous cooking, language, history/stories, ceremonies/celebrations and culture - to build a stronger community between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
• We will define our values and protocols when interacting with each other and with the elders.
• We want to define and value self sovereignty and home ownership within the communities.

Outcomes and Results:

• kinship reconnection and rebuild connections to each other in the community
• relearning and revitalization of culture, language and heritage, helping everyone to reconnect with their roots
• Emphasis switched from trauma and historical cultural suppression to re-igniting and celebrating Indigenous traditional culture, language and heritage – heal, celebrate, build pride
• Building programs and community events that can be replicated into other communities around the province, country and world
• Communal events for oral histories, sharing language, regalia making, traditional hunting equipment making, traditional cooking, foods and history, crafts, and family traditional teachings.
• Building of a community space where people can come and participate in celebrations, ceremonies, interact with others, and access critical programs and services.
• Completion of the initial teachings and programs, with feedback and preparation for the roll out of the full program calendar.

Community Reconciliation Benefits

• the renewed cultural focus will provide those recovering from trauma and addiction a sense of belonging and community support to guide them in their recovery
• renewed knowledge and pride in traditions, language and culture
• Increased awareness to all Canadians of the rich history for indigenous traditions, ceremonies, ties to nature and lifestyles
• Introduction into urbanization and modernization with understanding to live off-reserve
• Programs and services will eliminate some of the quality of life, educational and employment gaps
• A safe place to go, be supported and cared for without judgement, fostering mental, physical healing and wellness.
• Revitalizing the important role and interaction with Elders, and bridge the gap between Elders and the younger generations.
• Traditional culture can be an avenue for healing and roadmap for addiction recovery that affect our communities and can be used to improve them.

SGSA is a 100% indigenous owned not for profit. It was developed in parallel to 7 Generations Development Corp that is building Affordable housing for Indigenous families off reserve.  Each of these communities will be designed to include a SGSA cultural community hub.   Our team has extensive experience with government, Indigenous communities, and programs.  We have deep ties into all the Indigenous communities in Alberta and across Canada.  The team, lead by Cameron Saddleback and Cynthia Rain, have deep roots into the communities, all chief and counsels across Alberta and the other provinces, and the Elders in the communities.  The years of discussions with them have lead to the development of 7 Generations Society of Alberta. 

7 Generations Society of Alberta (SGSA) mission is to help benefit Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and connect them with community resources to achieve self-sufficiency, as well as facilitate and create cultural opportunities for communities, and organizations. We would like to create and facilitate opportunities for Indigenous peoples that would create positive change in their livelihood and well-being. 7 Generations Society of Alberta (SGSA) was founded on the Seven Generations Principle “Our actions we take today will affect the next 7 generations”. As a team, SGSA is committed to creating diverse, inclusive opportunities for Indigenous peoples that will support the Truth and Reconciliation from the grassroots people.

The mission and vision for SGSA has been developed from years of collaboration, knowledge sharing of Elders and town hall meetings with communities to understand the needs and challenges that we strive to address.  These interactive collaborative sessions will continue as our programs are developed.  We have the support of all the major communities and Treaty regions in Alberta. 

We have implemented components of our products and services in various communities, events and environments.  However the full implementation of the full structure, templates, programs and education systems has not been fully tested.  There fore we feel that we best fit into the Concept definition.   We also have more work to be complete in program development with input from Elders and communities and that will evolve towards the fully implemented system when full design, development and implementation is completed.

We like the mandate and mission of MIT SOLVE and it focus in this challenge to support Indigenous communities, culture and traditions.  Our programs are well supported by the Indigenous communities and Elders but needs help with financial and technical aspects.  Access to financial support to help develop our programs and services as well as access to help with partners who might contribute software or other technologies to our team would be valuable in helping our project move forward.  We also like being pat of the Solver community and potentially working along side other like minded groups for common goals and causes.

Tansi, my name is Ohosis (oo-hoo-sis) meaning little owl in Cree, my other name is Cameron Saddleback from Samson Cree Nation in Treaty 6. I graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Indigenous Studies. Taking this provided me with insight to learn and understand the past, present, and future relationships between Indigenous people and all levels of Government.

I am the president of the 7 Generations Society of Alberta (SGSA) a nonprofit society that was created to provide funding for Indigenous people in programs and services.
One of my greatest assets was being raised up around construction all my life as my father, uncles and grandfathers were either carpenters, sheet metal, plumbers, or gas
fitters. My previous experience I worked as a general laborer with Creeway Contracting and Daves Construction & Foundation.

Cameron has extensive experience in Indigenous Relations building the open communication channels with communities, councils, government, community members and elders.  He will be meeting with communities to identify their needs and work toward solutions that benefit all. He will also provide research, write reports, and prepare community engagement activities..

A lot of the education and development of programs around Truth and Reconciliation are developed and delivered by non-Indigenous individuals who do not have the connection to the culture and traditions themselves.  A lot of this therefore comes across as superficial, insincere, and culturally incorrect or inappropriate.

We will be delivering our teachings and support services with authenticity and from a place of knowing from within the Indigenous community and culture.  All educators, knowledge sharers and service providers will be from Indigenous decent with a common purpose and with authenticity.

By combining practices with tools we can provide better solutions and culturally focused atmospheres for learning, healing and support, empowering community members to grow, prosper and be successful.

We will combine in person and on line learning to provide access to what we offer no matter where the Indigenous person resides, and whether they are local or remote.  Many services assume that the persons are all mobile and can come to an office when this not always the case either because of remote location or mobility challenges.  We over come these obstacles by offering a flexible and variable approach to all our Indigenous members.

We have been working with Indigenous communities, chiefs and counsels and Elders for many years.  From that we have developed our business strategy, plans for programs and services.  We also have had some preliminary events and celebrations to gauge interest and viability of our products services and model.  Our tests proved that this is what is needed for a better future and true Truth and Reconciliation.

Objectives we will achieve:

• to build the foundation elements for the cultural, language, education and programs to be expanded at a later date into a full cultural community centre
• We will create our own cultural protocol to abide by (EG:  protocol around tobacco for Elders)
• Create a group of experts from different communities to participate in the education and teachings in different areas – hunting, hides, teepees, language, crafts (drum making, beading, sewing,etc) and traditional food foraging, cooking, and sharing of traditional recipes.
• Base programs teaching history, traditions, languages – this will be the foundation for the expansion into larger programs that could be shared
• Help build pride in our Indigenous heritage and share that with everyone
• Foster a community that values community input and that everyone’s opinions and input has value within that community, leading to execution and community commitment to the decisions that are made.
• Help set the groundwork to help those who have lost their way find their way back to the Indigenous traditions and values, supported by the community.
• Preservation of oral history and traditional practices for future generations.

Below are our goals and impact.  Through out the project we will be measuring, surveying and collaborating with the Indigenous communities and members and adjusting based on feedback and results.

Community Reconciliation Benefits

• the renewed cultural focus will provide those recovering from trauma and addiction a sense of belonging and community support to guide them in their recovery
• renewed knowledge and pride in traditions, language and culture
• Increased awareness to all Canadians of the rich history for indigenous traditions, ceremonies, ties to nature and lifestyles
• Introduction into urbanization and modernization with understanding to live off-reserve
• Programs and services will eliminate some of the quality of life, educational and employment gaps
• A safe place to go and be supported and cared for without judgement, fostering mental and physical healing and wellness.
• Revitalizing the important role and interaction with Elders, and bridge the gap between Elders and the younger generations.
• Traditional culture can be an avenue for healing and roadmap for addiction recovery that affect our communities and can be used to improve them.
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Objectives we want to achieve:

• to build the foundation elements for the cultural, language, education and programs to be expanded at a later date into a full cultural community centre
• We will create our own cultural protocol to abide by (EG:  protocol around tobacco for Elders)
• Create a group of experts from different communities to participate in the education and teachings in different areas – hunting, hides, teepees, language, crafts (drum making, beading, sewing,etc) and traditional food foraging, cooking, and sharing of traditional recipes.
• Base programs teaching history, traditions, languages – this will be the foundation for the expansion into larger programs that could be shared
• Help build pride in our Indigenous heritage and share that with everyone
• Foster a community that values community input and that everyone’s opinions and input has value within that community, leading to execution and community commitment to the decisions that are made.
• Help set the groundwork to help those who have lost their way find their way back to the Indigenous traditions and values, supported by the community.
• Preservation of oral history and traditional practices for future generations.

Overall we are working on UN goals to support all indigenous members for mental and physical health and wellness, provide education, knowledge and culturally focused services, gender equality, reducing inequalities, helping build affordable housing for Indigenous families with cultural centres and celebrate connections to mother earth and nature.

Our solution is to combine traditional hunting and manufacturing skills, medicine and healing, health and wellness, and food preparation and cooking methods along with modern technologies to support education and training, access to mental and physical wellness services, and community cultural connection using AI, software, virtual reality, training interfaces and technologies.  This would create multi-tiered support, community and cultural support.

• Traditional methods for building and hunting
• Traditional food preparation and preservation
• Knowledge sharing with Elders and knowledge keepers
• Learning of traditional languages, revitalize languages, education in traditional languages and histories
• Traditional cultural medicine and healing

• Preservation of oral history and traditional practices for future generations.
• Educational programs – career development; business startup; adolescent programs (eg:  health); “Moving to the city programs”; taxes/money management; ; health and wellness services - traditional medicines and healing, women hood, mother hood, ceremonies for young women, childbirth, celebrations of life ceremonies, addiction programs/services etc.

This model will allow for people to participate in house or online, regardless of accessibility, location and mobility.  This model we believe will have the largest impact and reach into our Indigenous communities.

The technology advancements and development is still in its preliminary stages and is part of what we are wanting to achieve with this funding and support.

Our initial focus in in Alberta Canada where our non-profit and sister for profit company reside.  We will be focused on developing the products, services and technology infrastructure in this area, using Alberta as a prototype location.  This way we have direct communication and interaction with all the Indigenous communities, Treaty regions, chief and counsels, and Elders.  From there we will expand strategically to other provinces and into the USA.

Our plan is to be operating in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Nunavit, Yukon, Manitoba and BC during the next year.  With the programs and services being accessible online, our reach could extend past these areas to other parts of Canada and the USA. 

6 FT employees currently with 3 PT positions to be filled, for a total of 9.  As the project and demand grows we will be adding experts to the team, such as traditional medicine practitioners.

We also have an extended team of consultants and developers who will participate in the program bringing the total to approximately 12 between staff and consultants.

The preliminary work and vision for our non-profit began over 10 years ago.  It started with discussions of Cameron and Cynthia with Elders and Chiefs and Counsels.   Since they we have been developing the structure the game plan and the support for our plan.  

Our organization is 100% Indigenous owned however we are inclusive and welcoming to all those who share our passion for inclusion, traditions, equity and knowledge.  We have consultants with diverse backgrounds that are like family as well as team members.  We are brought together by a bond of a common mission and vision.

7 Generations Society of Alberta (SGSA) mission is to help benefit Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and connect them with community resources to achieve self-sufficiency, as well as facilitate and create cultural opportunities for communities, and organizations. We would like to create and facilitate opportunities for Indigenous peoples that would create positive change in their livelihood and well-being. 7 Generations Society of Alberta (SGSA) was founded on the Seven Generations Principle “Our actions we take today will affect the next 7 generations”. As a team, SGSA is committed to creating diverse, inclusive opportunities for Indigenous peoples that will support the Truth and Reconciliation from the grassroots people.

Our customer target is all Indigenous People - First Nation, Metis, Inuit.

Our Secondary customer target are anyone else who wants to learn of Indigenous culture and traditions.

Project Plan:

1.  Project timeline and budget verification and validation -- June 2024

2.  Programs and services -- completion of design, development and outline. Templating and documenting all -- Jun - Oct 2024

3.  Test running of the physical programs and services -- to validate completion and templating prior to online program and service development -- July 2024 - Sept 2024

4.  Initial community events with Elder Knowledge and Language knowledge  -- July 2024

5  Online product and service programs using technologies for interactive learning, AI, virtual activities. etc.  (Sept 2024 - Mar 2025)

Why is this needed by our clients:

• the renewed cultural focus will provide those recovering from trauma and addiction a sense of belonging and community support to guide them in their recovery
• renewed knowledge and pride in traditions, language and culture
• Increased awareness to all Canadians of the rich history for indigenous traditions, ceremonies, ties to nature and lifestyles
• Introduction into urbanization and modernization with understanding to live off-reserve
• Programs and services will eliminate some of the quality of life, educational and employment gaps
• A safe place to go and be supported and cared for without judgement, fostering mental and physical healing and wellness.
  
• Revitalizing the important role and interaction with Elders, and bridge the gap between Elders and the younger generations.
• Traditional culture can be an avenue for healing and roadmap for addiction recovery that affect our communities and can be used to improve them.

SGSA is a non profit organization focused on supporting the Indigenous members and communities.  Our funding model includes donations, grants, fund raising events and donations from our for-profit company. 

Our non-profit work began within our for-profit company and in a predecessor company called All Nations, until the non-profit was approved.  In those companies, we had cultural and celebration community feast events that were funded by donations and sponsors. 

We currently have grant and cultural grant funding underway from the following areas:

Indigenous Reconciliation Initiative –pending submission and review -- Cultural and Economic Streams – Each stream is $100,000.00 for a total of $200,000.00

Telus Foundation Grant – submitted for review -- $50,000.00

With our structure between for profit and non-profit organizations, grants, donations, partners and sponsors we are confident of our revenue model and sustainability.  We have support of all levels of government (municipal, regional, provincial, federal, Indigenous communities, chiefs, Elders and National counsels.  As our programs and services that provide knowledge, education, cultural connection, security training and support, and wellness to our Indigenous members, the support for our non-profit will continue to grow and expand so our programs can care for more and more of our Indigenous families.