Danita Lewis is an intergenerational survivor pursuing her Masters of Indigenous Language Revitalization at the University of Victoria.

When moving away from her home community to pursue higher education, Danita had to make the tough decision to take unpaid leave from work and significantly decrease her income. With help from the FG Foundation, Danita was able to relieve some of the financial stress and focus her time and energy on attaining her education goals.

This program offered Danita the opportunity to revive Indigenous language, culture, traditions, and education for herself and share what she has learned with future generations. Danita has learned skills and tools that she will carry with her throughout her life.

“Funding from the FG Foundation had helped motivate me to complete my studies. I have furthered my personal skills and knowledge while contributing to my community.  My community has and will continue to benefit from my culinary program, as I will provide my community my skills and knowledge by teaching and educating about meal preparation and nutrition information.”

“I am grateful for the support from FG Foundation and continue working with the Dene Youth in my community of Fort Good Hope, NWT. My research focus has been on the impacts of residential school trauma on youth, while finding ways to empower them in their Dene identity. I aim to strengthen myself and my community with my research.  My research has been challenging but funding has helped me continue my studies.”

“The FG Foundation has enabled me to find the balance I needed to manage the many educational goals I set for myself while achieving my Master’s Degree.  I intend to share my knowledge, experiences and teachings with my community and hope I can give back in any way.  I have been endlessly inspired, supported and encouraged by my community. I cannot thank the FG Foundation enough for their support and I will be forever grateful.”

“My goal is to be in my community, giving back as much as I can, but also focusing on my community elders and youth. I say this because our elders are our teachers and the youth is going to one day be our leaders. I want to show them, that through hard work and dedication, no matter where you come from, you really can obtain all your goals and dreams.”

“The FG Foundation has helped me reach my education goals towards becoming an Electrical Engineer. This scholarship allowed me to focus on my studies and maintain an above average grade point. I plan to find, design and implement better, safer and more renewable sources of energy in and outside my community. I aim to contribute to a cleaner and greener Mother Earth as environmental protection is important to my First Nations culture.”

“The knowledge I gained from these cultural teachings have made a big difference in my life. I learned the traditional way of living and how to live off the land of Mother Earth. I was taught how to hunt, how to properly smoke meat, how to set nets for fish, and how to prepare duck. I am proud to be able to practice my culture while also learning to speak my language.  I am thankful and grateful I was selected for funding to learn my culture and the traditional way of life.”

“My cultural learning experience has been humbling. I have had the opportunity to learn my Mi’kmaq traditions and knowledge. My family had taught me that it’s our responsibility to share our knowledge and I am so grateful to now to have learned about my culture. I hope to share these teachings with my community. My experience with the FG Foundation was simple and straight forward.  Each and every person I spoke with was so efficient, professional yet very friendly.”

“I am grateful to have been chosen as a recipient of the FG Foundation. My goal as a future physician is to work with First Nation communities and address issues on inadequate primary health care. I also want to focus on mental health issues that are affecting First Nation communities at epidemic rates. As a First Nation doctor, I will be able to advocate for our communities and make a change.”