New film documents the success of Friendship Centres in Alberta

by Jake Cardinal

(ANNews) – A new documentary short entitled “Rise up: Take a Stand” has recently been finished and is available free for online viewing. The documentary, created by Checkered Owl Media and released on July 28, highlights the successes of Friendship Centre youth across Alberta.

The youth featured in the film participate in Rise Up: Empowering Urban Indigenous Youth, the Rise Up: Take a Stand provincial youth forum in Edmonton on March 6 – 8, 2020, and their positive contributions to their Friendship Centre communities. The documentary showcases the wondrous work done by the Alberta Aboriginal Youth Council.

Rise Up is an ANFCA initiative focused on empowering urban Indigenous youth by providing training and learning opportunities that help promote the agenda and meaningful outcomes of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Some of the specific objectives of the initiative have been to:

– Define reconciliation from a Friendship Centre youth standpoint

– Increase youth awareness of UNDRIP

– Increase community awareness of the TRC Calls to Action

– Increase opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth to collaborate on community initiatives around reconciliation

– Create a community-based plan to address relevant TRC Calls to Action

These objectives however, are only a handful of things that the initiative is trying to do for Indigenous youth across Alberta. For more information and to watch the documentary for free, you can visit the Alberta Native Friendship Centres Association’s Facebook page here.

Jake Cardinal is a local journalism initiative reporter.