dan kellar Kitchener, ON – Ahead of the Sunrise Ceremony and celebration for the 5 year anniversary of Land Back Camp on June 21st, CKMS News spoke with Bangishimo, an organizer of the event and an Indigenous advocate in the region. June 21st is also National Indigenous People’s Day and the summer solstice.
Bangishimo told CKMS News that the Sunrise ceremony will run from 7am to around 9am in the courtyard at the Willow River Centre in downtown Kitchener. For the first time the ceremony is being held in partnership with the multicultural festival which runs over the weekend in Willow River Park.
The Sunrise ceremony will feature a ceremonial fire, drumming and song, and words from youth activist Skye Smoke, and advocate, educator, and Residential School Survivor Lila Bruyere.
Bangishimo, a coordinator at the Willow River Centre also discusses the impact that “Land Back Camp” has had locally in the five years following land reclamation action.
Amy Smoke and Bangishimo of the Willow River Centre join Bob Jonkman on a web conference to give a lesson on the Mohawk language, explain what is meant by “Land Back”, provide some breaking news for CKMS-FM listeners, and make a pitch for tenants in the Willow River Centre.
Bangishimo talks about their photography; Amy and Bangishimo give a run-down of upcoming events, and Amy talks about Indigenous and Gender intersectionality.
Charity Partner: finance@waterlooregion.org for a charitable donation through the Social Development Centre Waterloo Region; include a note that your donation is for “Land Back Camp”.
Bob gets a language lesson in Mohawk from Amy. Amy tells us about losing and learning their language from Conversational Mohawk courses at the University of Waterloo. They tell us about Ohèn:ton Karihwatéhkwen, the Mohawk thanksgiving address. Bob tells Amy about the need for a Mohawk language radio show on Radio Waterloo.
9m02s
What is “Land Back”? Bangishimo explains: It is literally giving land back to Indigenous people, to reclaim, empower themselves, decolonize, whatever that may look like, in their spaces, on their territories. Amy gives several examples. It’s the five-year anniversary of Land Back in Willow River Park. Bangishimo tells us of the many ways that show the need for land back. Amy tells us of solidarity with other allies: the Black community, the Muslim community. After the Black Lives Matter march in June of 2020 Amy and Bangishimo set up a teepee in Willow River Park. When all the Indigiqueer, Trans, Non-binary, and Gender-nonconforming youth showed up it morphed into what it is today. Amy and Bangishimo knew enough about treaties that they knew they couldn’t be forcibly removed from their lands, and they could erect any kind of structure like teepees. They were exercising their treaty rights to occupy their own lands. They pushed the Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo to recognize their rights to the land. There have been little tiny steps of progress towards reconciliation, such as free access to City facilities. They sat with City of Waterloo staff to create jobs like the Senior Indigenous Initiatives role.
21m00s
Breaking News: The City of Kitchener will be building a permanent gathering space in Willow River Park! A nice change from the pushback that they’ve received for land back of the transit centre, for example.
21m35s
The Willow River Centre is looking for tenants! There are three floors, a gorgeous space with track lighting on the walls. There are offices upstairs, a courtyard, a shared kitchen… They’re looking for grass-roots groups that share their values.
23m43s
The Willow River Centre does bi-monthly arts markets for the racialized and queer communities, getting traffic from the Kitchener market across the street. Also bi-monthly talent nights, with ticket sales going back to the artists. There’s an art gallery with rotating exhibits. Right now they’re showing art by Lolo whose work has been up for the last three months. Bangishimo knows what it’s like not to have access to space, so they make the Willow River Centre accessible to groups that have no gathering space. Check out the layout of the space, and e-mail O:se Kenhionhata:tie if you want to rent!
Talking about Bangishimo’s photography. Their work has been displayed in public areas, where it’s been vandalized. Bangishimo says: “When you use your work to amplify the voices of racialized people, queer people, a lot of people don’t like that.” It got to the point that Waterloo mayor Dave Jaworsky went on TV to condemn the violence. In one case, at an outdoor exhibition, the only picture that wasn’t vandalized was a picture of a white family. And there was vandalism to the Willow River Centre, spray-painted grafitti targeting Bangishimo and Amy personally.
36m27s
Events planning! June is their busiest month, since it’s both Indigenous Peoples Month and Pride Month. They’re kicking off the month with a celebration at the Kitchener Market at 10:00am on Sunday 1 June 2025. They have a partnership with the Kitchener Market, so much of the logisitics have been taken care of. And they’re partnering with CAFKA, hosting an outdoor exhibit on the side of the Willow River Centre by Brandon Hoax a Queer, Oneida artist living on the East coast. And for the first time, the Willow River Centre is partnering with Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Festival, opening up the event with a Sunrise Ceremony at 7:00am on 21 June 2025, followed by a fire on the island in Willow River Park starting at Noon and going the rest of the day. And they’ll be at other events: On 4 June 2025 they’ll help open the Waterloo Celebrates Pride event on Willis Way; they’ll be at Spectrum’s Gala in mid-June. They’re trying to be everywhere!
41m30s
Amy talks about the intersection of Indigeneity and Gender. Gender is a social construct, and Indigeneity is a core aspect of being, like eye colour or shoe size.
43m47s
Long term plans for Willow River Centre: Continuing work on projects, demanding seats at many tables. Keeping pressure on Waterloo Region for land back, especially at the Kitchener downtown transit terminal; making changes at Willow River Park, both the name and the statue. The name has become more visible on the radio, in magazines, in stores, but it needs still more advocacy.
47m02s
Amy gives the contact info for Willow River Centre: Social media, e-mail, donation sites. Bangishimo tells us we need to do more, more than just a land acknowledgement.
49m02s
Bob thanks Amy Smoke and Bangishimo, and gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections Hour One airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 on Monday from 11:00am to Noon, and Hour Two airs alternate Fridays from 3:00pm to 4:00pm.
dan kellar
Waterloo – A new Indigenous reading circle at the Waterloo public library will explore a variety of short stories, essays, and poetry by Indigenous writers. Amy Smoke, a co-facilitator of the reading circle, told CKMS News “people think we are stuck in the past and only write about ceremony or history”, however, she noted “we write sci-fi, we write all kinds of things”. Smoke added “we are so much more than our trauma”.
The first book to be discussed isLove After the End, an anthology of queer Indigenous speculative fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead.
The casual reading circle at the WPL’s main branch is a collaboration with the Willow River Centre.
This show features an interview with self-described “book fanatic” Amy Smoke, an IndigiQueer, two-spirit parent, teacher, and community organizer, and a co-director of the Willow River centre.
Two dates are booked, January 16th and February 13th from 7-8pm, register at wpl.ca.
The Willow River Centre in Kitchener is advocating for more meaningful support for Indigenous people and culture instead of what they characterize as routine performative gestures from municipalities and organizations.
The Center, which serves Indigenous, racialized, Two Spirit, and LGBTQ youth, is hosting Summer Solstice Saturday on June 22nd to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Month. The Willow River Centre co-directors Amy Smoke and Bangishimo said that their past efforts on the day have often resulted in overwork and stress.
“It’s been so many years now since the TRC calls to actions came out and still to this day for a lot of organizations and spaces, we’re still considering an afterthought where, where we get emails like the week of before June and these organizations and corporations are looking for somebody to sing and dance for them,” Bangishimo told CKMS News.
The Summer Solstice Saturday will be held on Saturday, June 22nd at the Kitchener Farmer’s Market from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
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