Cheyenne Toms is a St. Francis Xavier University graduate, working to break down barriers between Indigenous communities and post-secondary education through positive early exposure to campus environments. “This is especially important given the history and lasting impacts of residential schools, which could continue to affect trust and access to education,” she shares.
Cheyenne’s initiative, Mini University (Mini U), grew out of a pilot project originally conceptualized by one of her professors. From the early stages, Cheyenne played a key role in shaping the program, stepping into a leadership position to guide its development and delivery in her fourth year of studies. “One of my goals for the program was to enhance and strengthen it, aligning it with community goals to increase sustainability and create more opportunities for Indigenous youth,” says Cheyenne.
The Mini U runs for eight weeks from October to November and welcomes youth from Paqtnkek community. “Many children started the program very shy and intimidated, but by the final weeks they were brave, bold, and standing alone in front of their classmates voluntarily to express themselves, which was absolutely amazing to see,” says Cheyenne.
Each day of Mini U features a wide range of activities, including a daily Indigenous Learning Lodge, which some weeks included dancing, singing, drumming, medicine gardening, and storytelling. Second session of the day being an elective which changes each week some examples being biology and ocean-based learning, theater, art, business, or anthropology. Right before lunch the youth engage in some physical activity by playing and learning lacrosse. The day ends with on-on-one tutoring, where each student is paired with a university student to work through worksheets and strengthen their learning. “I’m really focused on bringing in Indigenous professors within the university, so that the students can see Indigenous people in leadership positions,” Cheyenne shares. “It is so important for the youth to imagine themselves in post-secondary spaces and feel represented by the Indigenous students, staff, and volunteers.”
The Pathy Foundation Fellowship offers a unique opportunity for young changemakers to design and implement an initiative to strengthen a community they care about. “I was drawn to the Fellowship because I was able to work with a community that I am connected to. This connection allowed me to continue my cultural learning journey as I didn’t grow up in community or really knowing much about Indigenous culture,” Cheyenne explains. “I would have loved a program like Mini U when I was in elementary school, especially being one of the only people of colour in my whole elementary school, it would have been such an important connection for me to have started my cultural journey sooner.”
Looking to the future, Cheyenne is prioritizing scalability and sustainability in her work. “The Mini U needs to continue to reach more youth. With the Fellowship, hopefully we will be able to expand it to work with more youth and more communities,” says Cheyenne. “The program needs to be adapted to individual communities to address their specific needs and barriers, so really aligning the program with the community’s commitments is hugely important.” Cheyenne has collaborated with Lacrossing Barriers, a Calgary-based non-profit, to bring expanded lacrosse programming to Paqtnkek. She also secured Paqtnkek’s affiliation with the Jays Care Foundation, enabling her to introduce and lead a new 8-week baseball program for youth in the community.
“The Fellowship has exceeded my expectations in terms of the level of support we have received. I believe it’s like a spider web that keeps growing because there’s so many connections and everyone is so willing to help,” Cheyenne shares. Fellows are provided with comprehensive training, dedicated wrap-around supports, and $50,000 in funding to make a sustainable impact in their chosen community and to support their growth as active and effective leaders and changemakers. “It’s opened way more doors than I was expecting from the network of people you can reach out to. People are always sending new opportunities that support our initiatives,” she shares.
For Cheyenne, success in her initiative has been “watching the youth grow over the weeks, gaining confidence, feeling included, welcome, seen and safe at the university.” Cheyenne also found success personally in returning home to St’at’imc territory for the New Year’s Powwow. “Everyone there was speaking and singing in our native language! Seeing and feeling everyone’s warmth and passion was beautiful! Being there and getting to experience it all was unforgettable and how much it meant I can’t put into words. It was an amazing trip, more than I could have ever hoped for.”
To learn more about Cheyenne’s Pathy Fellowship initiative, or the Pathy Foundation Fellowship, please visit PathyFellowship.com.
