Boozhoo relatives, friends and supporters.
My name is Zachary White. I am a Native father from northern Minnesota who has spent the last couple years organizing mutual aid, cultural gatherings, community support efforts and land-based healing spaces for our people and anyone willing to learn in a respectful way.
After many prayers, travels and conversations with communities across Minnesota, we were blessed with an opportunity to begin building something long-term.
That vision is now becoming Camp Giiwedin. “Giiwedin” means north, and the name felt right for us. We are building this community in the forests and open lands of northern Minnesota surrounded by lakes, ponds and the quiet teachings of the land itself. Camp Giiwedin is an Indigenous-led, land-based community centered around cultural preservation, environmental stewardship, healing, mutual aid and reconnecting people to healthy ways of living together. This is not a protest camp. This is not a commercial retreat. This is not a nonprofit organization.
Camp Giiwedin is a long-term effort to create a safe and welcoming space where families, elders, youth, volunteers and community members can reconnect with culture, ceremony, land, traditional teachings and one another. We believe many people today are disconnected from community, from the earth and from themselves. We are trying to rebuild healthy relationships through shared work, shared meals, cultural teachings, ceremony, storytelling and respect for the land.
A normal day at Camp Giiwedin might look like: helping cook breakfast together, cleaning camp, chopping wood, working on gardens or community structures, participating in workshops, spending quiet time praying or reflecting in the woods, preparing dinner together, sitting around the fire listening to songs and stories, laughing with community and resting peacefully under the northern sky. We are currently in the early stages of building camp infrastructure. Right now we have tents, a trailer, basic camp supplies, a generator, storage areas and a small group of volunteers helping us begin this work.
Our immediate goals include - Building shower and laundry systems, Expanding our communal kitchen, Establishing food and medicine gardens, Creating family-safe gathering spaces, Building storage and utility structures, Organizing volunteer teams and leadership roles, Creating sustainable water and power systems, Hosting workshops, cultural gatherings and educational events.
Some of the teachings and activities we hope to regularly host include are Sweatlodge ceremonies, Drum and dance gatherings, Beading workshops, Regalia workshops, Storytelling and cultural teachings, Gardening and land stewardship, Indigenous skills education, Community meals and mutual aid events.
Camp Giiwedin is intended to remain community-run and guided through leadership, elder guidance and consensus-based decision making. Families and respectful allies are welcome to learn and participate alongside us. Because children and families are involved, long-term residents and core volunteers are expected to follow community safety standards, accountability processes and trial periods to help maintain a respectful and safe environment for everyone present.
Your support helps us cover essential costs such as Fuel and transportation, Firewood, Food and cooking supplies, Building materials, Camp equipment and tools, Gardening supplies, Volunteer support, Emergency mutual aid, Infrastructure and sanitation systems, Family and community needs while building camp. We are trying to create something lasting. A place where people can heal. A place where culture is practiced openly and respectfully. A place where future generations can learn directly from community, land and lived experience instead of only through books or screens.
Our dream is simple, to help restore healthy ways of living together while preserving Indigenous teachings, stories, skills and relationships to the land for future generations. Every share, gift, supply donation, volunteer hour and prayer helps bring this vision closer to reality.
Miigwech from all of us at Camp Giiwedin.
That vision is now becoming Camp Giiwedin. “Giiwedin” means north, and the name felt right for us. We are building this community in the forests and open lands of northern Minnesota surrounded by lakes, ponds and the quiet teachings of the land itself. Camp Giiwedin is an Indigenous-led, land-based community centered around cultural preservation, environmental stewardship, healing, mutual aid and reconnecting people to healthy ways of living together. This is not a protest camp. This is not a commercial retreat. This is not a nonprofit organization.
Camp Giiwedin is a long-term effort to create a safe and welcoming space where families, elders, youth, volunteers and community members can reconnect with culture, ceremony, land, traditional teachings and one another. We believe many people today are disconnected from community, from the earth and from themselves. We are trying to rebuild healthy relationships through shared work, shared meals, cultural teachings, ceremony, storytelling and respect for the land.
A normal day at Camp Giiwedin might look like: helping cook breakfast together, cleaning camp, chopping wood, working on gardens or community structures, participating in workshops, spending quiet time praying or reflecting in the woods, preparing dinner together, sitting around the fire listening to songs and stories, laughing with community and resting peacefully under the northern sky. We are currently in the early stages of building camp infrastructure. Right now we have tents, a trailer, basic camp supplies, a generator, storage areas and a small group of volunteers helping us begin this work.
Our immediate goals include - Building shower and laundry systems, Expanding our communal kitchen, Establishing food and medicine gardens, Creating family-safe gathering spaces, Building storage and utility structures, Organizing volunteer teams and leadership roles, Creating sustainable water and power systems, Hosting workshops, cultural gatherings and educational events.
Some of the teachings and activities we hope to regularly host include are Sweatlodge ceremonies, Drum and dance gatherings, Beading workshops, Regalia workshops, Storytelling and cultural teachings, Gardening and land stewardship, Indigenous skills education, Community meals and mutual aid events.
Camp Giiwedin is intended to remain community-run and guided through leadership, elder guidance and consensus-based decision making. Families and respectful allies are welcome to learn and participate alongside us. Because children and families are involved, long-term residents and core volunteers are expected to follow community safety standards, accountability processes and trial periods to help maintain a respectful and safe environment for everyone present.
Your support helps us cover essential costs such as Fuel and transportation, Firewood, Food and cooking supplies, Building materials, Camp equipment and tools, Gardening supplies, Volunteer support, Emergency mutual aid, Infrastructure and sanitation systems, Family and community needs while building camp. We are trying to create something lasting. A place where people can heal. A place where culture is practiced openly and respectfully. A place where future generations can learn directly from community, land and lived experience instead of only through books or screens.
Our dream is simple, to help restore healthy ways of living together while preserving Indigenous teachings, stories, skills and relationships to the land for future generations. Every share, gift, supply donation, volunteer hour and prayer helps bring this vision closer to reality.
Miigwech from all of us at Camp Giiwedin.