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Elissa Kixen
Written by Sandy Klowak
Elissa Kixen’s spirit name is Black Wolf, though she did not receive it until adulthood. She feels that this name fits her well, though she is still in the process of figuring out what it means for her, as she only received it from an elder this year. The wolf represents a traveling spirit, one that usually travels in packs. Ms. Kixen never goes anywhere without her family, she explains. As wolves are closely tied to different life phases, her spirit name “represents the different paths I’ve taken in my life,” she says, including the reclamation of her culture, an opportunity she didn’t have as a child.
Travelling frequently in her youth, she was not in touch with her Anishnabe heritage until years later. “All throughout school I was sort of ashamed to identify as an aboriginal person because of the racism that you experience as a youth,” she explains. It wasn’t until after graduating high school that she gained a passion for aboriginal rights and land claim, as well as environmental, issues. Still, Ms. Kixen describes a special relationship with animals throughout her childhood: “I never felt comfortable eating meat as a child,” she says. “I couldn’t get past their beauty, their languages, and their lives, and the more I searched for those relationships, when it was presented to me on a plate … it just didn’t seem right.” In her 20’s, Ms. Kixen realized she was never meant to eat meat, and is now a vegan, which is how she and her husband raise their young son.
Ms. Kixen grew up mainly in Winnipeg, as well as part time on Couchiching First Nation outside Fort Frances. In high school, her focus was in theatre and improv, skills she continued to develop while attending Second City in LA, as well as the Academy of Broadcasting in Winnipeg. With the help of Supporting Employment & Economic Development (SEED) Winnipeg, a local organization that helps people start small businesses, Ms. Kixen created and is now the Artistic Director of The Improv Experience, through which she is currently teaching theatre to aboriginal youth in foster care. “At SEED Winnipeg, that’s where I really learned about community economic development and the importance of it.”
Ms. Kixen also works at Ka Ni Kanichihk, a Winnipeg organization whose mandate is to provide resources for aboriginal people in the area of education, training, leadership and healing programs geared toward the reclamation of traditional cultures, among other things. Ms. Kixen is the Aboriginal Youth Coordinator Assistant for the Aboriginal Youth Circle/United Against Racism programs, and her time is largely spent working with youth, public speaking, facilitating anti-racism and cycle of oppression workshops, and creating partnerships with other organizations. Further, one of their mandates is to build better relationships between newcomer, aboriginal and established youth. “We believe that knowledge is power,” says Ms. Kixen, which is why Ka Ni Kanichihk organizes speakers and forum discussions regularly. She explains that there is a strong focus on “having youth know what’s going on around them, not only in the political aspects but in their environment. … Pre-contact we were the keepers of the land so we try to keep those values alive. … We focus on being conscious, knowing that every decision does affect your environment around you.”
“If we had more leaders in the city, I think it would not only benefit the urban settings but it would benefit the communities who actually live off the land and try to take care of it.”
Ms. Kixen explains that traditional aboriginal teachings inherently include environmental aspects, as interconnectedness with nature is part of tradition. She describes the teachings of the drum, in which the drumbeats represent the earth’s heartbeat, and traditional powwows (which do not include greasy food stands at the periphery, she notes adamantly!), in which dancing on the ground represents a connection with the earth.
Personally, Ms. Kixen finds that it’s the little things that add up when it comes to sustainability—she shops locally, does not eat animal by/products, uses public transportation regularly, as well as the classic Reduce, Reuse and Recycle trio.
“When I heard about [boreal conservation initiatives], I remember being really torn,” says Ms. Kixen. This is because though she feels that conservation projects are incredibly important, she also recognizes that aboriginal land rights issues are inextricably tangled in conservation efforts. In the past, when certain areas of forest were designated as conservation areas, First Nations people lost their rights to hunt and fish there. “That was my one concern – this is just another way that aboriginal people get their rights taken away, but then I also have to think about the rights of the environment, which are nonexistent. So, as aboriginal people, if we ever want to hunt or fish or anything ever again, we have to start conserving these different environmental places—especially boreal forests.” The good news is that the 2003 First Nations Protected Areas Accord between Manitoba and First Nations ensures treaty rights are maintained in any newly established protected areas, including parks.
Ms. Kixen feels that more aboriginal people need to take the lead in boreal conservation. “If we had more leaders in the city, I think it would not only benefit the urban settings but it would benefit the communities who actually live off the land and try to take care of it.”
Specifically, she explains that youth leaders are essential to this initiative. “[We need more] youth programs, because ultimately it’s going to be the youth who are going to take over,” she says. Ms. Kixen asserts the importance of understanding what it means to live off the land, and suggests a program that would give urban aboriginal youth the opportunity to live traditionally. However, as always, time and resources are barriers to the creation of such a program, at the moment.
Still, Ms. Kixen sees hope for such a program in the future: “I don’t think all hope is lost, I really have faith that something like this could happen.”
If you want to become involved in boreal forest conservation visit the Aboriginal Boreal Conservation Leaders volunteer/employment opportunities.
June 19th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I was informed of a program through SEED Winnipeg, it’s a youth initiative to bring those skills back.
For more information please visit the SEED Winnipeg website.
Peace!
June 25th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Elisa has got it right - Aboriginal youth need to get out on the land, learn about, and protect it.