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The Onaway Trust is proud to announce its support of Good Mind Grappling, a new project offering coaching in wrestling as well as social and emotional resilience factors to at-risk and wounded Indigenous youth in Canada and the US.

The project is run by multi-time Canadian national Greco-Roman wrestling champions, Thomas and Phillip Barreiro. As Wolf-clan Mohawks from the Akwesasne community, the brothers have a deep insight into the challenges that their people face and wish to use their skills as experienced coaches in both grappling and youth development to make a positive difference.

Their holistic programme has been designed to guide young people in Indigenous communities to use sport as a positive physical outlet for overcoming intergenerational trauma by gaining productive coping strategies, invaluable transferable skills and a positive outlet for their emotions.

However, despite the significant need for projects such as this in neglected and marginalised Native communities, it will not be possible without the help and encouragement of those who share the brothers’ vision of justice and a better future for Indigenous youth. Please consider joining the Onaway Trust in our support of Good Mind Grappling and make a tangible difference to the lives of Indigenous youth, helping them to break the cycle of trauma for generations to come.

If you would like to make a donation to the Good Mind Grappling project, please get in touch.

To find out more, read the full story here.

We are pleased to share a positive update from Care Across Communities about the education project funded by the Onaway Trust in December 2021. Throughout this year, essential items such as school bags and stationery have been successfully distributed to 300 marginalised and Indigenous primary school pupils in Bangladesh.

Local parents, teachers and volunteers report that this project has helped to boost the self-esteem of these children, who have never received special attention or gifts before, and that as a result they are now more motivated to attend school and to continue their studies.

The children benefiting from this programme come from marginalised Indigenous groups such as the Tripura and Garo communities, with many of their parents having left school early to earn low salaries working as slash-and-burn cultivators, day labourers, or in beauty parlours. As they are unable to afford to support their own children’s education, the poverty cycle inevitably continues and the next generation is now facing the same struggle to break free and fulfil their potential.

It is hoped that, by carrying out initiatives such as this, children living in these disadvantaged communities who may otherwise have left school to get married or start work in order to support their own families will now see the other possibilities that become available to them when they are offered a little support and encouragement.

The Onaway Trust is proud to have provided funding that was able to bring joy and empowerment to children with so much potential and enthusiasm to follow their dreams and build a better life for themselves and their families.

Click here to find out more about this project and to read all about Onaway’s partnership with Care Across Communities.

“The awarded work invites us to step outside the news cycle and reflect on the devastating effects of colonisation and the importance of preserving indigenous knowledge.” – World Press Photo Foundation

Various photographic series representing the perspectives and plight of indigenous peoples and the environment have been awarded the title of global winners of the 2022 World Press Photo Contest. 

The overall winner of the World Press Photo of the Year title has been very deservedly granted to photographer Amber Bracken for her striking and evocative image depicting red dresses hung on a row of crosses, captured at the site of the former Kamloops Residential School in Canada, to commemorate the thousands of children who tragically lost their lives in the residential school system.

After the recent discovery of up to 215 unmarked graves at this site, Amber decided to use her photography skills to honour and commemorate the children, highlighting their suffering and the unthinkable injustices they faced at these institutions.

Residential or factory schools were first established in Canada in the late 19th century with the aim of removing indigenous children from their families and communities in order to indoctrinate them to conform to the dominant Western way of life, while forcefully and often violently eradicating their native cultures and languages.

Although these horrific institutions are no longer in operation in Canada and the US, similar factory schools still exist today around the world in countries such as India and Malaysia. An estimated 2 million indigenous children are still being subjected to these abusive and racist practices, which are designed to create an obedient future workforce but are leading to thousands losing not only their cultures, but also their lives as a result.

The competition’s other three global winners consist of similarly striking images highlighting indigenous and environmental issues, from the plight of tribes in the Amazon rainforest as a result of the deforestation, logging and mining taking place at the merciless hands of Jair Bolsonaro, to the loss of ancestral knowledge and heritage in Ecuador following colonisation and forced migration, and the vital role of the indigenous Nawarddeken people of Australia in preventing wildfires and protecting the environment.

The recognition of these projects and the voice they give to global indigenous perspectives at such a crucial time in history is something to be celebrated. In the words of the global jury chair, Rena Effendi, “All four of them, in their own unique ways, address the consequences of humanity’s rush for progress, and its devastating effects on our planet.”

Find out more about the World Press Photo Contest and the stories behind this year’s winning submissions and their creators.