Our holiday youth newsletter is out. Click here to read the visual design version:
Holiday greetings from LFMO Board of Directors, Staff & Youth Council
As the winter season settles across the Métis Homeland and families gather close, the Board, staff, and Youth Council of Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak send our heartfelt Christmas greetings to Métis women, girls, and gender-diverse youth and to all the families who hold us together.
This time of year has always carried a special meaning for our people. It is a season of visiting, sharing meals, telling stories, and remembering the teachings passed down through our mothers, aunties, grandmothers, and matriarchs. These winter gatherings around a kitchen table, a warm stove, or a fire outside, remind us of who we are and the strength we inherit from the women who came before us. They carried our families through hardship and celebration. Their spirit continues to guide our communities.
To Métis youth, we see your kindness, your creativity, and the pride you carry in your culture. This season is a reminder that you are surrounded by community, supported by ancestors, and valued by all of us. Your voices and leadership give us hope for the future, and your commitment to culture, land,, and one another makes our Nation stronger.
As we welcome a new year, we look forward with optimism. We step into 2026 carrying our traditions, our responsibilities, and our love for one another. We renew our commitment to uplifting Métis women, supporting gender-diverse youth, strengthening families, and protecting the wellbeing of our communities.
From our families to yours, we wish you a joyful holiday, a peaceful winter season, and a new year filled with health, warmth, and connection.
Manitô Okîsikaw and may the new year bring strength, and good things for us all. The year ahead opens pathways to learn, lead, and grow.
Teachable Moment: Michif Word for Christmas
In many Métis communities, Christmas is called “Manitô Okîsikaw, or Li Zhoor di Nowel” depending on the regional Michif dialect. The word is rooted in the idea of feasting and celebrating, especially in winter, when families gather, share food, tell stories, and travel from house to house, sharing warmth, laughter, and good company.
From October 3–5, 2025, over 50 Métis youth from across the Motherland travelled to Ottawa for Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak’s National Métis Youth Summit. It was a vibrant, intergenerational gathering that empowered youth leaders while grounding them in community, culture, and the strengths of Métis matriarchs and Knowledge Keepers.
Guided by the LFMO National Youth Council, the Summit was intentionally youth-led, youth-driven, and culturally focused. With a theme rooted in connection, identity, and leadership, the gathering blended policy discussions, cultural teachings, hands-on connections, and powerful moments of reflection.
Through teachings on traditional medicines, tobacco protocol, hide tanning, and community care, Elders reminded participants that Métis strength has always come from working together “in a good way.” Elders teachings remain rooted in lived experience, emphasizing that Métis ways of knowing are alive, evolving, and renewed every time community comes together.
Throughout the weekend, they remained a guiding presence, especially during Fireside Chats. Youth and Elders exchanged stories about identity, resilience, and walking in two worlds.
Guest Speakers
The Summit also featured dynamic guest speakers who brought personal and cultural insight into the conversations unfolding. Gabrielle “Gabby” Fayant, Co-Founder of the Assembly of Seven Generations, delivered a powerful talk about reclaiming culture and building community through heart work and responsibility. She spoke openly about her own reconnection journey and inspired youth to see identity as a place of strength rather than uncertainty.
Dr. Laura Forsythe, a leading Métis scholar from the University of Winnipeg, added another layer of depth with her keynote on Métis matriarchs, resilience, and the importance of reclaiming our stories. She reminded youth that Métis women have always been intellectual leaders, decision-makers, and protectors of community, even when systems attempted to erase those truths.
Policy conversations filled the days. Youth harvested teachings about leadership, advocacy, and cultural resurgence. They explored topics such as environmental protection, reproductive justice, and mental wellness.
Closing Sashing Ceremony
A particularly meaningful moment unfolded during the Youth Sashing Ceremony, a practice long rooted in Métis culture. Across generations, the sash has been used to mark belonging, recognize community responsibility, and welcome individuals into new roles. Building on this tradition, the first ever LFMO youth sash was designed specifically for Métis youth. It’s woven in colours chosen to honour the vibrancy, strength, and future leadership of the next generation.
By gifting a youth-specific sash, the Summit honoured traditional sashing protocols. The ceremony served as a powerful reminder that Métis youth are wrapped in history. The colours, threads, and patterns carry stories of our ancestors. The sash binds those stories to the individual, anchoring them in culture, kinship, and future promise.
As the Summit drew to a close, the final stories were shared and the last embraces exchanged. It affirmed Métis youth lead with culture, community, and the strength of matriarchs and Elders.
20th Anniversary: Sisters in Spirit Vigil
On October 4, youth from the Summit made their way together to Parliament Hill. There, they joined the 20th annual Sisters in Spirit Vigil, a solemn and powerful moment that grounded the Summit in advocacy and remembrance.
The Vigil, originally founded by the Native Women’s Association of Canada, brings families, survivors, and allies together each year to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, and to call for real, lasting change.
This year’s Vigil carried a particular weight, marking two decades of collective grief, resilience, and unwavering advocacy. Youth stood shoulder to shoulder with families holding photos of their loved ones, listening to songs, words, and prayers offered in their memory. The Vigil served as a grounding ceremony and a call to action, connecting youth to the broader movement for justice and amplifying their commitment to ending violence.
Those early years, spent fishing, harvesting, camping, and listening to stories about the land, laid the foundation for the work she does today.
Kirsten’s connection to water began long before she ever stepped into a university classroom. As a child, she spent countless hours on the lake with her family, learning how to read the water, how to harvest respectfully, and how to understand the rhythms of the seasons. These teachings shaped her worldview, instilling a sense of stewardship that guided her into adulthood. When she pursued her Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences at MacEwan University, Kirsten carried those early teachings with her, determined to show that Indigenous knowledge and Western science do not contradict one another, they strengthen each other. She now works with a nonprofit monitoring water quality on lakes across Alberta to protect them for future generations.
As a lifelong Métis harvester, Kirsten also leads fish monitoring studies and teaches Métis families traditional fishing practices (like setting gill nets), blending Indigenous knowledge with Western science in her approach to conservation. She loves sharing the lessons passed down from her ancestors and is dedicated to keeping Métis harvesting traditions alive.
In April 2025, Kirsten was honoured with the King Charles III Coronation Medal for her outstanding contributions to water stewardship and Indigenous education. She even took on the role of co-MC at theYouth Summit, ensuring the event was welcoming and rooted in Métis culture. Kirsten’s journey, recently featured in Thrive magazine, shows how one young woman’s commitment to land and community is paving the way for future generations.
In every aspect of her work, Kirsten demonstrates that water stewardship is about the environment, family, heritage, and the future. She stands as a powerful example. who aspire to careers in science, conservation, or community leadership: proof that when we honour where we come from, we can help shape where we are going.
Participants also explored how to weave traditional practices into existing frameworks, calling for more accountability in healthcare so that Métis people can receive holistic, safe, and respectful care. This dialogue made it clear that reproductive health rights are individual and community issues.
Proposed Youth Environmental Declaration
Protecting the Land, Protecting Ourselves: Shaping our First Métis Youth National Environmental Declaration. Our work with Métis youth on environmental protection began with a simple but powerful question: What does the land mean to you?
At our first engagement session, youth from across the homeland gathered to talk about the land, water, animals, and places that shaped their childhoods. They spoke about picking medicines with grandparents, learning to read the water with aunties and uncles, fishing with cousins at sunrise, and finding calm on the land during difficult times. Many shared that climate change and land loss weren’t abstract issues.
We are now entering the next phase: gathering youth feedback on the proposed declaration. This is your chance to shape a national Métis youth vision for climate action, land protection, and environmental justice.
We want your feedback: Proposed Guiding Principals
1. Governance and Participation
2. Environment, Land, Water, and Biodiversity
3. Education and Knowledge Systems
4. Health and Well-being
5. Food Sovereignty and Nutrition
6. Safety, Culture, and Spiritual Practices
7. Emergency Preparedness and Climate Resilience
8. Security and Safety
9. Economic and Livelihood
10. Infrastructure and Innovation
Declaration Details go to www.metiswomen.org
Email Feedback to info@metiswomen.org