Fostering cultural understanding at One Kids Place

The children’s friendship social at One Kids Place has become an annual affair.

Laurie Braidwood is program manager at One Kids Place.

She told BayToday they have a great partnership with the North Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre and they wanted to have an event to celebrate all the work they do together.

She says it’s important that children and families who use One Kids Place have a deeper understanding and respect for indigenous culture.

She says the day is full of all kind of activities.

“Dancing, drumming. We have a give away table where we exchange gifts. We have crafts. They’re making traditional medicine pouches,” she says.

Braidwood says this is all about sharing cultural knowledge.

“We’re explaining the dances and the drumming and what the significance is. We’re getting more communication to the kids and what it all means so they have a deeper understanding,” Braidwood says.

She says children are learning from children about culture in a fun way.

(photo by Linda Holmes BayToday)