PRFN launches youth arts camp: workshops with Indigenous artists

PROPHET RIVER, B.C. — Registration is open for Prophet River First Nation’s (PRFN) inaugural Youth Arts Camp set to take place in August.

According to a Facebook post on PRFN’s page, the week-long camp is designed to “build foundational knowledge and create connections” between participants.

PRFN’s youth coordinator, Lisa Wolf, said preparations for the camp began last fall after the First Nations’ youth committee went to get feedback from the community.

She points out the importance of youth expressing themselves through differing mediums.  

“They reached out to other youth and started to get feedback from the community,” said Wolf. “We got feedback through surveys and social media.”

“We’re trying to target youth with various workshops each day.”

Workshops involved in the camp include beadwork, painting, printmaking, songwriting, and poetry.

Facilitators during the camp include Indigenous entrepreneurs, sound engineers, and Indigenous musicians.

They include Craig Edes, a hip-hop artist better known as the Northwest Kid.

Edes is of Gitxan descent and was nominated for a Saskatchewan Music Award in 2021.

The PRFN Youth Arts Camp will run at the Sikanni Ranch on PRFN grounds from August 11th to August 17th and is open to Indigenous youth aged 13 to 25.

Meals and accommodation will be provided for attendees.

Wolf, however, says space is limited to about 20 participants but hopes to expand as funding becomes available.

More information about the camp is available through PRFN’s Facebook page.