Donate to the Indigenous Culture and Language Resurgence in the Canadian North Fund
DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT: Donations to this Fund will be matched 1:1 in honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day 2025 from June 19th to June 22nd*
Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian North are some of the most self-reliant in the world, thriving in what can be an unforgiving environment. However, Northern Indigenous ways of life are under considerable threat. Residential schools, forced relocations, the giving and extinguishing of rights, and religious coercion have all had a hand in exploiting and disenfranchising Indigenous Peoples in Canada. These colonial efforts to assimilate Indigenous Peoples into Western culture have profoundly negative impacts on connections to communities, homelands, and languages.
Your donation to the Indigenous Culture and Language Resurgence in the Canadian North Fund helps support the preservation and resurgence of Indigenous language and culture. Plus, to help increase your impact, gifts will be matched $1 for $1 when you give from June 19th at 12 a.m. EST to June 22nd at 11:59 p.m. PST*.
$63,034
$ Amount raised
462
# of supporters
Ensure the Sustainability of a Critical Part of Indigenous Culture – Indigenous Language
Having control over language and culture is critical to the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples and their communities. Canada is home to over 60 distinctive Indigenous languages. All but one are considered critically endangered.
Thankfully, we are in a period of Indigenous cultural and political resurgence in the North. Leading the charge are community-led organizations who are focusing on the following critical priorities like:
- Increase the long-term sustainability of existing community-based culture and language resurgence programs.
- Generate emerging community-based culture and language resurgence programs that have the potential for long-term innovation.
- Promote knowledge sharing amongst community partners
- Advocate for policies that protect and amplify Indigenous culture and language.
- Increase fluency in Indigenous languages and the practice of critical cultural ways of knowing and being.
Support the Resurgence of Language and Culture in the Canadian North
Although we cannot change the past, we can ensure a better future for all. Donate today to the Indigenous Culture and Language Resurgence in the Canadian North Fund. Your gift will assist in amplifying Indigenous leadership, accelerating Indigenous culture, and furthering Indigenous governance and stewardship of homelands. Together, we can support the preservation and resurgence of Indigenous language and culture, and help achieve self-determination and equity for all.
Some examples of projects that donations to this fund have supported include:
- Yukon Adäka Cultural Festival – Song & Language Celebration
- Yukon Children of the Taku Society – Lingít yoo x’atángi aan eetí Land Immersion Language Program
- NWT Yellowknives Dene First Nation Daycare Early Childhood Language
- NWT Rainbow Coalition Youth Fish Camp
- Nunavut Nunavut Music Week Culture
- Nunavut Tumikuluit Saipaaqivik Early Childhood
- Nunavut Kitikmeot Heritage Society Language & Cultural Programming
- Nunavut Pirurvik Adult Education
- Nunavut Ilitaqsiniq Literacy Programming
ABOUT THE INDIGENOUS CULTURE AND LANGUAGE RESURGENCE IN THE CANADIAN NORTH FUND
The Culture and Language Resurgence fund will provide support to many community-led initiatives throughout northern Canada through our partner MakeWay.
Projects will be varied and chosen after due diligence by MakeWay’s northern program staff in Yellowknife and Iqaluit, most of whom are Indigenous northerners. Funding is granted based on established priorities, including early childhood education language immersion, adult education focused on language and culture, cultural and arts festivals, literacy programs offered in Indigenous languages, and youth camps focused on traditional activities.
MakeWay is working with partners to develop and implement a return on investment approach to evaluate the impact of this programming and will be piloting the approach with key grant partners in the coming years. The evaluation approach will be measuring the food security, ecological, health and wellness, and economic impacts of key supported programs.
About MakeWay
At MakeWay we build partnerships and offer tools that enable community-led transformation. The MakeWay Northern program is staffed by experienced northerners, with deep relationships to the communities they live and work in across the North. The team is made up of:
Killulark Arngna’naaq, Northern Program Specialist (Yellowknife)
Delma Autut, Senior Associate, Community Initiatives (Iqaluit)
Stephen Ellis, Program Lead, Northern Canada (Yellowknife)
Lori Tagoona, Northern Senior Associate (Iqaluit)
References
* National Indigenous Peoples Day 2025 Match Offer valid for donations of a minimum of $3 made on CanadaHelps.org to the Indigenous Culture and Language Resurgence in the Canadian North Fund and the Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Fund beginning Thursday, June 19, 2025, 12:00 AM EST and ending on Sunday, June 22nd, 2025 at 11:59 PM PST to a combined maximum aggregate amount of $25,000.
Donors will receive a tax receipt for the value of their donation through CanadaHelps. Offer is only valid on one-time donations and does not include the donation of securities, P2P or third-party events, API donations, new or existing monthly donations, and the purchase or redemption of Charity Gift Cards. While supplies last. CanadaHelps reserves the right to end the promotion at any time.