Welcome to Gedakina
Gedakina is pronounced /g' dah keen nah/ and means, "Our world, a way of life" in the Abenaki language.
Our Mission
Gedakina is a multigenerational endeavor to strengthen and revitalize the cultural knowledge and identity of Native American youth and families from across northern New England and to conserve our traditional homelands and Sacred Places.
Our Roots
In the summer of 1999, at a camp for at-risk Native children and teenagers in Maine, a group of educators, human service professionals, activists and traditional family and community leaders discussed the challenges and hardships that our youth are facing, the lack of consistent youth programming and the impacts of multi-generational exposure to systemic oppression and violence. Out of these continuing discussions emerged the concept of Gedakina. The foundation of our organization is based on our traditional cultural values therefore we focus on the health and wellness of our children, communities and the environment. Gedakina was officially founded in 2002, and is a 501c3 organization incorporated in Vermont, and registered in New Hampshire and Maine.
What We Do
Gedakina is a region-wide organization that currently works with Native American youth and families from rural, urban and reservation communities in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. Our goal is to develop new ways of reaching Native American youth, rooted in traditional cultural teachings and values, which will provide our young people with the skills and resources to better navigate the challenges they face in a changing landscape. Our programs focus on leadership development, community health and wellness, indigenous traditional ecological knowledge (ITEK), healthy relationships and cultural revitalization. Our approach emphasizes interconnected programs to reach Native American youth and families, with clear recognition that the challenges our people encounter on a daily basis are also interconnected. We organize through grassroots community initiatives, regional alliance-building, and public programs with a broad outreach.
Community based initiatives are continuing multi-year programs undertaken in response to the requests and needs of our constituency, which reflect our long-term organizational vision. We incorporate a multigenerational approach, involving community Elders, youth and volunteers with a wide range of experience and knowledge; we believe that everyone has something to share and that we can always learn something from each other. All of our programs embed lessons that enable our constituency to develop the skills and knowledge essential to being strong family and community members and leaders. Community-based activities for Native American youth focus on outdoor education, cultural survival and TEK (Traditional Ecological Knowledge) activities including indigenous language revitalization, hand-drum making & learning traditional songs, native plant identification, tracking & orienteering, basketry, canoeing, snowshoeing, nature walks/hikes, trips to places of historical and cultural significance, and traditional storytelling.
Our broad public educational programs include our Native American film & discussion series, presentations by regionally & nationally known Native authors, and our series on oral traditions and spoken word - storytelling, poetry and song. Additionally we are developing a directory of Native Community Knowledge Keepers as a resource for schools, museums and environmental organizations. (Resource Directory)
Key Areas of Interest
Community Building (Erasing barriers that divide us)
Community Health & Wellness (Strengthening ourselves physically, spiritually and mentally
Domestic & Sexual Violence Prevention, Education and Healing
Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK)
Native Language Revitalization & Cultural Survival
Food Security & Economic Development
Donations
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