Missinipe is located 80 kilometers north of La Ronge. (Submitted photo/Dean Roberts)

By Derek Cornet

on the land

Missinipe location of men’s healing camp

May 23, 2025 | 4:26 PM

Three dozen men and boys had a unique father-son experience this week in Missinipe (Otter Lake).

The Men’s Healing Wellness Camp was held May 20 to 23 and it was spearheaded by the Prince Albert Indian and Métis Friendship Centre’s Shane Bird. The event included teaching from Elders, survival skills, plant and medicine identification, filleting and deboning fish, and learning how to operate a boat and safety aspects of being out on the water.

Each morning began with a pipe ceremony and the day ended with a sharing circle.

“These fathers and young men basically went out there and they were well taken care of,” said Lac La Ronge Indian Band Coun. Dean Roberts.

“He (Bird) had the idea of holding a father-son camp. There’s a lot of stuff for adults, but there’s that connection of a father-son bond that wasn’t really pushed in terms of being outdoors and being on the land. We collaborated and this is what came of it was the camp.”

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The event was open to all people, and it included members from Lac La Ronge, Montreal Lake Cree Nation, James Smith Cree Nation, and other southern First Nations. In total, there were 37 participants with 16 classified as youth.

Accommodations, foods and boat rentals were free of charge thanks to sponsorships and partnerships. Bird and Roberts would like to make the Men’s Healing Wellness Camp an annual occurrence.

“We had one guy who was struggle with his mental health and he said this is the best thing he has ever been a part of and that right there is the reason why we do these,” Roberts said.

“A lot of people struggle with mental health and all of that. He’s in an urban setting, and for him to come to the North and experience the water and the bush, for him to take that back home, we did our job.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com