Mr. Maracle’s Grade 8 class was invited to provide a youth voice and perspective for Sagamok’s Land Use Planning. On December 3, Mis sBritt and Mr. Chirag, consultants from Shared Value Solutions – the group supporting Sagamok with developing its Land Use Plan – visited the Biidaaban classroom as part of their two-day community engagement. They were joined by several members of the Lands, Resources, and Environment (LRE) team – Samantha Keysis, Allen Toulouse, and Mitchell Eshkakogan. Students provided unique and thoughtful points to the discussion!
With fresh, large-scale maps of Sagamok’s territory printed by Mitchell and laid out for all to see, Samantha and Allen assisted with gathering feedback and encouraging students to discuss and consider their priorities and visions for the future of Sagamok. The Consultants and LRE Staff, supported by Mr. Maracle, Ms. Jeanette (Educational Assistant), and Mr. Lester (Physical Education Teacher), conducted an informal discussion with all the students. It was crucial to have the voice of Sagamok’s youth heard and applied to the Land Use Plan, since they are the future citizens and stewards of the land, and offered valuable insights as only someone in their age demographic could. Miigwech to the students for taking a serious approach and interest in the future of Sagamok.
Students openly expressed thoughts, solutions, and provided explanations as to why they valued some things over others, collectively assigning priority to ideas that surfaced, and respectfully listening to ideas shared by peers. They gave careful consideration to placement of their proposed new amenities within Sagamok’s zones based on populated areas [some more recently inhabited/constructed housing zones], a lack of amenities currently available in certain places, improvement models for existing structures to better utilize the resources, the historical value of things in existence such as quad trails and fishing holes, and unanimously choosing to protect/maintain those for future generations to also enjoy! Students courageously suggested some very creative ‘wish list’ ideas as well, which included these interesting things:
· Indoor swimming pool!
· An onsite High School - “so they don’t have to leave community for secondary education”
· Skate/bike park and playgrounds in areas where there currently aren’t any
· A movie theatre, arcade/games hall such as billiards, darts, shuffleboard
· More shops or a Marketplace to display and sell handmade items/arts/crafts
· Museum or Art Gallery to further tell the story of this community and share local talent
· Eagles Arena
· Chicken Coops at Elders Eagle Lodge
Samantha explained to students that this was the first stage of the planning process, and that she would keep the class ‘in the know’ about how things are unfolding as the process will be ongoing. Allen mentioned that the data gathered from this initial round of planning will be compiled into a report to outline the vision of Sagamok for Elders, youth, and the greater community. “When creating a land use plan as we think about Sagamok growing; new infrastructure, housing, buildings, etc., we want to take into account what members want, need, and how to best use the land to meet the desires of the community,” Allen stated. Both he and Samantha encouraged youth to attend the evening session being held the same day at 5pm at the MEC as an opportunity to offer further input and to hear what community members were also offering as feedback. Miigwech to Biidaaban Kinoomaagegamik for collaborating with the LRE to support the students’ involvement in this project to understand and gather their unique perspective and essential input.
