SASKATOON, SK, April 29, 2022 – The Oẏateki Partnership is a unique and unprecedented collaboration among three leading post-secondary education institutions in Saskatchewan designed to transform education and employment systems to support success for Indigenous youth.
Join founding partners the Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI), Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT), and the University of Saskatchewan (USask), and Indigenous youth and community members, to celebrate the launch of this bold initiative on May 3, 2022.
Date: May 3, 2022
Time: Afternoon program 1-4 pm, evening program 5-8 pm
Location: Wanuskewin, RR #4, Penner Road, Saskatoon, SK
Itinerary: Engaging, entertaining and educational events and presentations will be ongoing throughout the afternoon and evening, with representatives of all institutions onsite.
Committed to supporting 32,000 First Nations and Métis youth on their path to post- secondary education and on to meaningful livelihoods, the Oẏateki Partnership seeks to create more dynamic, integrated, ‘wholistic’, and responsive education and employment systems that meet the needs of Indigenous youth and involve them directly in decision-making.
In partnership with the Mastercard Foundation’s EleV program, which aims to support Indigenous youth in their pathways through education and on to meaningful work, Oẏateki is enabling Indigenous young people in Saskatchewan to lead in their communities and to contribute to self-determination. This work is part of the Foundation’s commitment to building a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper, with sustained efforts to enable young people in Africa and young Indigenous people in Canada to access quality education and meaningful livelihoods aligned with their values and aspirations.
The concept of Oẏateki as a symbol of this collaboration was gifted to the partnership by Kunsi Connie Wajunta of Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation. Oẏateki is a Dakota word meaning: all people together and leaving no people behind.
