CAMPS

The Summer of 2013, we held our first “earth” camp.  Since that summer we have had annual earth camps at varying locations throughout the state of Maine.  The primary focus of our camps is to connect Native youth with Cultural Knowledge Shares and western science professionals, often on ancestral lands.  These camps afford students an opportunity to understand the cultural heritage first-hand, acknowledge current environmental changes and learn ways forward to manage the lands to incorporate a broader and more holistic understanding of environmental stewardship.

There is no charge for this summer camp for Wabanaki students.

As a part of the “camp” experience and seeing a desire to continue the year-long connection with students, cultural knowledge shares and natural resource professionals, we have initiated “mini-camps”. These seasonal activities (spring, summer, fall, winter) focus on one topic for a 2 1/2 day period. Younger students are encouraged to participate, as well as their parents, at the mini-camps to help ready them for the week-long earth camp when they are older. The melding of native culture and western knowledge is the thread throughout the mini-camps. These hands-on, outdoor programs engage all ages in the environmental and cultural experiences that connect the next generation to invest in their cultural heritage and legacy of environmental management and stewardship on tribal lands.

Upcoming WaYS camps:

2024:
Winter mini camp, February 9-11, 2024, Nibezun
Spring mini camp, May 3-4, 2024, Nibezun
Earth camp, June 17- 21, 2024, location tbd
Fall mini camp, October, 18-20, 2024, Nibezun

2025:
Camps TBD