Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority

11/07/2025

The second video in the Maskawizii Video Series - Hypertension 🩶🤍🖤

Elders and doctors share about Hypertension, or High Blood Pressure, which is a chronic disease starting to affect our young people.

Ceremony and being in nature can help us find peace and lower blood pressure. So can losing weight by eating less bread and carbs, drinking more water, and getting daily exercise.

The Mashkawizii Video Series for Youth Wellness was created by Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority, in collaboration with Nu Media Productions, to address a chronic disease crisis in our young people. We called on Anishinabe Elders and Health practitioners in our member communities to share inspiring teachings that will help community youth and their families prevent or reverse chronic diseases before they develop complications.

Link to the Hypertension video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/xQ09u6WIgmY

11/06/2025

The first video in the Mashkawizii Video Series - Water Teachings 🩶🤍🖤

Listen to the Water Song.

Grandmothers and doctors tell us that water is the most important medicine our children need for their health. We encourage our youth to drink water as their main drink. Water can help you lose weight, if sugar drinks are removed from the diet. Water is the best medicine to reverse the effects of diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease and renal disease.

It takes one month to get used to drinking water as their only drink, if a child has been drinking sugar drinks like fruit juice or pop. For the first week, they will go through withdrawal symptoms, such as fatigue, crabbiness, restlessness and craving sugar. By 2 weeks, the withdrawals will be over. By the third week, youth will notice the skin on their face is glowing and their eyes are sparkling more. By the fourth week on water and off sugar drinks, they will notice that they are losing 1 or 2 pounds per week until their weight stabilizes to their normal.

The Mashkawizii Video Series for Youth Wellness was created by Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority, in collaboration with Nu Media Productions, to address a chronic disease crisis in our young people. We called on Anishinabe Elders and Health practitioners in our member communities to share inspiring teachings that will help community youth and their families prevent or reverse chronic diseases before they develop complications.

Link to the Water Teachings video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/qbxLrOpfBio

11/04/2025

Premiering online now: The first video in the Mashkawizii Video Series - Water Teachings 🩶🤍🖤

Listen to the Water Song.

Grandmothers and doctors tells us that water is the most important medicine our children need for their health. We encourage our youth to drink water as their main drink. Water can help you lose weight, if sugar drinks are removed from the diet. Water is the best medicine to reverse the effects of diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease and renal disease.

It takes one month to get used to drinking water as their only drink, if a child has been drinking sugar drinks like fruit juice or pop. For the first week, they will go through withdrawal symptoms, such as fatigue, crabbiness, restlessness and craving sugar. By 2 weeks, the withdrawals will be over. By the third week, youth will notice the skin on their face is glowing and their eyes are sparkling more. By the fourth week on water and off sugar drinks, they will notice that they are losing 1 or 2 pounds per week until their weight stabilizes to their normal.

The Mashkawizii Video Series for Youth Wellness was created by Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority, in collaboration with Nu Media Productions, to address a chronic disease crisis in our young people. We called on Anishinabe Elders and Health practitioners in our member communities to share inspiring teachings that will help community youth and their families prevent or reverse chronic diseases before they develop complications.

Grandmothers and doctors tells us that water is the most important medicine our children need for their health. We encourage our youth to drink water as thei...

11/03/2025

Last week, Elders and Health providers gathered with Community members at the Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre to launch a new video series for youth wellness, the Mashkawizii Youth Video Series, produced in collaboration with Nu Media Productions.

Strong Spirits! Strong Bodies! Strong Youth!

We will begin sharing these videos online this week. Stay tuned!

Photo Credit: Lucas Kent, Michael Dorie. Photo editing: Giigewigamig.

🩶🤍🖤

10/20/2025

Tomorrow! 😊 Everyone welcome.

All are Welcome!! 🌟

Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre launches new video series to support Manitoba Indigenous Youth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – OCTOBER 14, 2025

Sagkeeng First Nation Traditional Territory, Manitoba. On October 20, beginning at 10 AM, the Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre, located within the Pine Falls Health Complex, will be hosting the launch of an exciting new video series dedicated to First Nation youth in Manitoba. The Mashkawizii Youth Video Series consists of six short videos created by the Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority (GFNHA), an independent First Nation community-led health advocacy organization based at the Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre, and NuMedia Films. GFNHA called upon the knowledge and expertise of local Anishinabe Elders and health practitioners, to draw attention to the chronic disease health crisis affecting First Nation youth in Manitoba, and to share solutions in a hopeful and encouraging way. Mashkawizii is an Ojibway word, meaning “strong bodies and strong spirits.”

The content of the videos aims to educate Indigenous youth in southern Manitoba and their families on major health topics, including Fatty liver Disease, Hypertension, Carbohydrates 101, Water Teachings, Type 2 Diabetes in Children, and Reducing Screen Time. The strategy emphasizes accessibility to health information, cultural safety, and digital engagement. “We are creating a dialogue for change and creating a movement - a movement of action - reclaiming our health and finding our own solutions. It is about finding balance and harmony on our life journeys,” said Michelle Bushie, Director of Health of Hollow Water First Nation and a member of Giigewigamig’s Elder Council leadership team.

Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority is a culturally grounded, community-driven organization committed to advancing the health and well-being of First Nation Peoples in Manitoba. Rooted in traditional knowledge, language, and the sacred responsibility of caring for the next seven generations, Giigewigamig works in collaboration with member First Nations communities to restore wellness based on their ancestral Anishinabe way of life. Giigewigamig operates the Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre within the Pine Falls Health Complex, to achieve a strong balance in creating a culturally appropriate and safe healing place for all citizens.

Giigewigamig means “Place of Healing” and empowers youth, Elders, families and communities through integrated initiatives that reflect Indigenous values and contemporary best practices. Through education, prevention, early intervention, and community engagement, Giigewigamig is leading a movement toward health equity, self-determination, and culturally safe healthcare. “It is of great utmost importance that our children be given the opportunity to have a better healthy lifestyle,” said Lucy Bird, Director of Health at Black River First Nation.

The Mashkiwizii video series brings community Elders’ teachings and doctors’ advice to our screens, as part of a community engagement approach to address a crisis of chronic disease in First Nations children. Manitoba has one of the highest rates of child diabetes in the world, according to The Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. From 2009 to 2011, two Giigewigamig Member First Nations tested children and youth and discovered that 84% of children already had some marker of chronic disease, including diabetes, hypertension, anemia, renal and liver disease. Chronic disease, not present in children until recent years, is considered by community Elders to be one of the impacts and symptoms of colonization, due to a forced displacement from their original land-based and spiritual way of life. A high local child prevalence was identified in one Giigewigamig community in 2011, including diabetes and prediabetes rates of 12% (one out of five overweight children), hypertension rates of 24%, kidney disease or elevated markers rates of 9%, liver disease rates of 12%, iron deficiency anemia rates of 30%, and vitamin D deficiency rates of 99%, and overweight or obesity rates of 60% in its children and youth aged four to eighteen.

Currently Giigewigamig is working on a flagship restoration initiative with member First Nations to offer chronic disease testing to children in Sagkeeng First Nation, Black River First Nation, Hollow Water First Nation and Bloodvein First Nation. Recognizing that contemporary western medicine has not been that effective in addressing the root causes of chronic disease related to colonization and displacement, the communities plan to engage their own Elders and members to develop strong, culturally grounded healing initiatives, that include elements of language, ceremony, traditional medicine, land-based practices, family connections, food and water sovereignty, and Elder leadership. The six new videos are part of this restoration approach that Giigewigamig hopes will engage and empower First Nation community families to reclaim their health.

“The Child Wellness Initiative videos are powerful resources that help communicate the importance of taking proactive steps to prevent chronic disease. They are clear and thoughtfully incorporate Anishinabe cultural values and practices,” said Bernie Robinson, Director of Health at Sagkeeng Health Centre. “I watched the videos, added Martina Fisher, Giigewigamig’s Elder Council representative from Bloodvein. They are all good. They are informative. We want to send good messages about Mino-Pimatisiwin, our good way of healthy life.”

The video launch will include speakers and a light buffet lunch, followed by a viewing of the videos, which will run all afternoon. All Giigewigamig community members from Sagkeeng, Black River, Hollow Water and Bloodvein First Nations along with all members of the public, patients and staff at the Pine Falls Health Complex are invited. After the official launch, the Mashkawizii video series will be shared on Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority’s YouTube and pages.

- 3 -

Media Contact: Sabina Ijaz, GFNHA A/Executive Director
giigewigamig@gmail.com
204-

10/15/2025

“The Child Wellness Initiative videos are powerful resources that help communicate the importance of taking proactive steps to prevent chronic disease.”

“They are clear and thoughtfully incorporate Anishinabe cultural values and practices,” said Bernie Robinson, Director of Health at Sagkeeng Health Centre.

✨

All Sagkeeng First Nation, Black River First Nation, Hollow Water First Nation, Bloodvein First Nation Members and members of the public, patients and staff are welcome to attend the Video Launch and Open House at Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre on Monday Oct 20 at 10 am.

10/15/2025

“We are creating a dialogue for change and creating a movement - a movement of action - reclaiming our health and finding our own solutions. It is about finding balance and harmony on our life journeys,” said Michelle Bushie, Director of Health of Hollow Water First Nation and a member of Giigewigamig’s Elder Council leadership team.

✨

All Sagkeeng First Nation, Black River First Nation, Hollow Water First Nation, Bloodvein First Nation Members and members of the public, patients and staff are welcome to attend the Video Launch and Open House at Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre on Monday Oct 20 at 10 am.

10/14/2025

All are Welcome!! 🌟

Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre launches new video series to support Manitoba Indigenous Youth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – OCTOBER 14, 2025

Sagkeeng First Nation Traditional Territory, Manitoba. On October 20, beginning at 10 AM, the Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre, located within the Pine Falls Health Complex, will be hosting the launch of an exciting new video series dedicated to First Nation youth in Manitoba. The Mashkawizii Youth Video Series consists of six short videos created by the Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority (GFNHA), an independent First Nation community-led health advocacy organization based at the Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre, and NuMedia Films. GFNHA called upon the knowledge and expertise of local Anishinabe Elders and health practitioners, to draw attention to the chronic disease health crisis affecting First Nation youth in Manitoba, and to share solutions in a hopeful and encouraging way. Mashkawizii is an Ojibway word, meaning “strong bodies and strong spirits.”

The content of the videos aims to educate Indigenous youth in southern Manitoba and their families on major health topics, including Fatty liver Disease, Hypertension, Carbohydrates 101, Water Teachings, Type 2 Diabetes in Children, and Reducing Screen Time. The strategy emphasizes accessibility to health information, cultural safety, and digital engagement. “We are creating a dialogue for change and creating a movement - a movement of action - reclaiming our health and finding our own solutions. It is about finding balance and harmony on our life journeys,” said Michelle Bushie, Director of Health of Hollow Water First Nation and a member of Giigewigamig’s Elder Council leadership team.

Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority is a culturally grounded, community-driven organization committed to advancing the health and well-being of First Nation Peoples in Manitoba. Rooted in traditional knowledge, language, and the sacred responsibility of caring for the next seven generations, Giigewigamig works in collaboration with member First Nations communities to restore wellness based on their ancestral Anishinabe way of life. Giigewigamig operates the Giigewigamig Traditional Healing Centre within the Pine Falls Health Complex, to achieve a strong balance in creating a culturally appropriate and safe healing place for all citizens.

Giigewigamig means “Place of Healing” and empowers youth, Elders, families and communities through integrated initiatives that reflect Indigenous values and contemporary best practices. Through education, prevention, early intervention, and community engagement, Giigewigamig is leading a movement toward health equity, self-determination, and culturally safe healthcare. “It is of great utmost importance that our children be given the opportunity to have a better healthy lifestyle,” said Lucy Bird, Director of Health at Black River First Nation.

The Mashkiwizii video series brings community Elders’ teachings and doctors’ advice to our screens, as part of a community engagement approach to address a crisis of chronic disease in First Nations children. Manitoba has one of the highest rates of child diabetes in the world, according to The Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. From 2009 to 2011, two Giigewigamig Member First Nations tested children and youth and discovered that 84% of children already had some marker of chronic disease, including diabetes, hypertension, anemia, renal and liver disease. Chronic disease, not present in children until recent years, is considered by community Elders to be one of the impacts and symptoms of colonization, due to a forced displacement from their original land-based and spiritual way of life. A high local child prevalence was identified in one Giigewigamig community in 2011, including diabetes and prediabetes rates of 12% (one out of five overweight children), hypertension rates of 24%, kidney disease or elevated markers rates of 9%, liver disease rates of 12%, iron deficiency anemia rates of 30%, and vitamin D deficiency rates of 99%, and overweight or obesity rates of 60% in its children and youth aged four to eighteen.

Currently Giigewigamig is working on a flagship restoration initiative with member First Nations to offer chronic disease testing to children in Sagkeeng First Nation, Black River First Nation, Hollow Water First Nation and Bloodvein First Nation. Recognizing that contemporary western medicine has not been that effective in addressing the root causes of chronic disease related to colonization and displacement, the communities plan to engage their own Elders and members to develop strong, culturally grounded healing initiatives, that include elements of language, ceremony, traditional medicine, land-based practices, family connections, food and water sovereignty, and Elder leadership. The six new videos are part of this restoration approach that Giigewigamig hopes will engage and empower First Nation community families to reclaim their health.

“The Child Wellness Initiative videos are powerful resources that help communicate the importance of taking proactive steps to prevent chronic disease. They are clear and thoughtfully incorporate Anishinabe cultural values and practices,” said Bernie Robinson, Director of Health at Sagkeeng Health Centre. “I watched the videos, added Martina Fisher, Giigewigamig’s Elder Council representative from Bloodvein. They are all good. They are informative. We want to send good messages about Mino-Pimatisiwin, our good way of healthy life.”

The video launch will include speakers and a light buffet lunch, followed by a viewing of the videos, which will run all afternoon. All Giigewigamig community members from Sagkeeng, Black River, Hollow Water and Bloodvein First Nations along with all members of the public, patients and staff at the Pine Falls Health Complex are invited. After the official launch, the Mashkawizii video series will be shared on Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority’s YouTube and pages.

- 3 -

Media Contact: Sabina Ijaz, GFNHA A/Executive Director
giigewigamig@gmail.com
204-

09/05/2025

We extend our heartfelt condolences to the community of Hollow Water First Nation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends, and all those affected by the recent tragedy. We stand with you in mourning and support.

08/27/2025

Today!! ❤️⛺️🏕️❤️

08/20/2025

08/19/2025

Are you an experienced beader from Sagkeeng, Black River, Hollow Water or Bloodvein First Nation. Do you know how to bead Eagle Feathers?

We are looking for someone to do traditional beading on our Eagle Feathers for our sacred lodge.

Please inbox, email giigewigamig@gmail.com, or phone Kathy at 204-367-5440 if you are interested and available.