Hello, my name is Cedar, and my Native name is White Eagle Woman. Right now, I am part-time student at Georgian as well work full-time at Cape Croker Park. I am working on some storyboards for an online series of my cooking diary. Eventually, I want the vlog to show personal and professional views of the cooking world from ingredients and where they come from, budgeting, and creating a menu. Cooking is a true passion of mine and showing the world how important it is for myself is one of my personal goals. One of my professional goals is to own and run a food truck.
In 5 years, I see myself walking a peacefully balanced between traditional ways and modern society life. With a self-sufficient garden, a food truck for the summer, and I would ultimately like to build a program to help train youth (Indigenous/local), with building life skills, coping, addictions, trauma, cooking, budgeting, seasons of farming (farming moons), farming skills, learning self-sufficient lifestyle/diets, meal preps, nutrition, fire making, seven grandfather teachings.
Steps I will be taking to achieving my goals are: continuing my studies in social work, continue learning and absorbing my culture and teachings, practicing and participating in ceremonies, practicing sharing knowledge in a healthy safe way (leadership/Peer Mentor CRE Program). I will be working on getting a Refreshment Vehicle Driver’s Licence and a Refreshment Vehicle Assistant’s Licence to drive the food truck. I will be starting a logbook of how each farming season goes which will include my types of plants, cycles, frosts, and which ones co-aside together. Looking into homey corn cooking, hunting procedures and protocols, fishing seasons, and I want to learn more about food sovereignty, and how these foods and their teachings were our ancestors’ ways of life.
In my spare time, I like to go for drives (long/short), entertain company, visit people, and go for nature walks. I make it to the gym every once and a while. I love to cook, swim, bike and take photography. I am also learning the process of making and producing maple syrup. But I mainly spend most of my down time just watching Netflix and munching out.
My Mother and Grandmother inspire me. And I also look up to Cynthia Bell, one of my old bosses, and my two peers, Akeesha Footman and Kaitlyn Adams from Toronto. Continuing with Peer support programming is important to myself because I have two younger siblings, 17 and 19 years old, and I would like to build our younger generations up to pave even brighter paths to come.
This Peer program has helped me still work on my dreams as well as to continue in social work in a way I feel comfortable. The peers I have met have inspired me and are great to work with.