Inside the NWT’s new on-the-land camps for teenagers

“We had 56 applications for this camp. We could only take 10 – we were only supposed to take eight.”

Donald Prince says the level of interest in an on-the-land treatment camp he just led for northern youth shows the pilot program needs to be permanent.

“There are 46 other kids that didn’t get a chance to come here. The need is there. It’s huge,” he said as one of two pilot camps concluded north of Yellowknife this week.

In October, the NWT government told Cabin Radio it was trying on-the-land camps for teenagers whose problems might previously have seen them sent to residential facilities like Fort Smith’s Trailcross, which closed last year.

The territory says its philosophy is now that group homes for teens should be a “last resort” rather than the standard model.

Prince was hired to run the pilot camps after spending the past 30 years helping communities address mental health and addiction. He is a former executive director of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation.

The new program aims to integrate counselling and Indigenous ways for the duration of the camp, then offer several months of aftercare to youth when they return home.

“How can we build better youth with more skills and more knowledge that they can walk out of here and be OK with themselves, to at least advocate for themselves?” Prince asked, framing the camp’s purpose.

“We’re looking at encompassing everything. How can I build something around this person that’s going to help them in the future?”

Prince said the program differs from camps that might offer cultural activities, nature and history, but don’t include the support needed to address root causes.

Not all programs “deal with some of the trauma, addiction, things like that,” said Prince. “This is different. We’re helping the kids address some of the most traumatic things that have happened to them.”

Camp Connections hosted the two pilot camps, where youth aged 12 to 18 spent 14 days learning new skills, building connections – and resting.

“I really think the rest is the most important,” said Ashley Okrainec, a member of the program’s support staff and “camp Auntie.”

“That rest means our camp succeeded for that person,” said Okrainec. “We are here to support them in getting that 14 days of rest, which makes a huge difference for mental health.”

Youth begin each morning with a fire ceremony, then Okrainec checks in with them and goes over the daily schedule.

Activities include watercolour painting, cooking, making traditional medicines, workshops and medicine walks.

Over the two weeks, staff said they noticed positive results in youth who learned communication and coping skills and expanded their support network.

Prince said youth needed to be built up “to the place where they feel good about themselves” but also given security that, “when I have a problem, I know there’s somebody I can turn to that’s going to help me in the long term.”

“When they show us who they are underneath their really high walls, and their shells crack a little and they let their light out, it’s just magical,” said Okrainec.

One participant said he was ready to share his experience with others. Joshua Norman said his favourite part of the camp was at the end of the first week, when he was painting and started “feeling better.”

“The first day was quiet. After a couple days, we started talking,” said Norman. “I made new friends … I learned not to be shy.”

Norman spent the last day at camp tending the fire outside. He says he volunteered because no one else did.

“I just watch the fire,” said Norman. “When it burns out, I just put more wood on.”

Prince says youth in the territory need this program year-round so they can access skills training, mental health support and cultural activities from Indigenous people with lived experience.

“They leave here with big, huge smiles, with big, huge voices, with big, huge confidence that they didn’t come in here with. We succeeded. We made a huge difference,” said Okrainec.

“We’re on the land, we’re Indigenous-run, we are connecting with these youth in the way that they need to. That’s what’s important.”

Okrainec hopes the camps grow across the territory, using this pilot as a blueprint for other communities.

“The importance of this safe space is something that almost every single youth in the North should experience, because a lot of times, the youth we’re working with are in communities surrounded by things that are not safe,” she said.

“I was these kids. I needed this. I was lucky enough and I did enough work that I could succeed in life, and be here and have that wisdom to share.”