Dinjii Zhuh Adventures & RCMP present ‘Youth of the Yukon’ Canoe River Trip

July 14, 2022
Yukon River, Yukon

News release

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Dinjii Zhuh Adventures and the Yukon RCMP are proud to announce the first ever Youth of the Yukon Canoe River Trip. The Youth of the Yukon Canoe River Trip is a Yukon First Nations Youth land based camp which will be held on August 13th -26th hosted by the Yukon RCMP. The Yukon RCMP has collaborated with Dinjii Zhuh Adventures to deliver a culturally relevant, 14-day Yukon First Nation community youth canoe experience on the Yuk Han-Yukon River. Dinjii Zhuh Adventures is an Indigenous owned and operated canoe-outfitting company in the Yukon and will provide customized culture programming. Fourteen selected youth from each of the Yukon First Nation communities will accompany three professional Indigenous guides and participate in the experience with three RCMP officers from some of their home communities. Yukon First Nation Elders and RCMP members from the communities along the river route will join the group to share experiences along the way.

The Youth of the Yukon Canoe River Trip is the cornerstone activity of the Yukon RCMP's broader Indigenous Youth Outreach Program (IYOP), an RCMP youth engagement program in Yukon communities for Yukon First Nation youths aged 13-17. The IYOP began rolling out in a number of Yukon First Nation Communities in the spring of 2022 with the intention of being fully implemented in all First Nation Communities by the end of fall 2022. The Yukon RCMP deliver the program in schools where students learn from Indigenous elders, community health and wellness services, and other positive role models. Students also participate in experiential learning opportunities focussed on exposing them to the RCMP and discussing important community safety based issues in a positive and culturally empowering way. Our program engages Yukon First Nations youth in fun and collaborative justice-based activities, which empower youth to reach their full potential. The IYOP will help build the confidence, critical thinking and leadership skills of youth. It is focused on promoting the development of relationships between community youth and the RCMP by storytelling and a bilateral exchange of knowledge. It celebrates Indigenous customs that are specific to community, practices and beliefs, and advances reconciliation.

At the conclusion of the Youth of the Yukon Canoe River Trip, these youth will be invited to continue their development in community engagement by participating in a Youth Consultative Group that will advise the Yukon RCMP on policing topics that are important to young Yukoners. The Youth Consultative Group's recommendations will help shape the Yukon's RCMP policing priorities.

For further information, please contact Yukon RCMP at YFN-RCMPLandBaseCamp@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

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Contact information

Yukon RCMP

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