This July, Canada is turning 150 years old! What a history we as Canadians have had. Our quilt of multicultural heritage and diversified Canadian Identity has truly blossomed. 150 years later, our rich origins with the Aboriginal People of Canada are finally receiving the necessary spotlight.
The Confederation Centre of Canada has invested $1.5 million in the Dream Catcher Project, which is touring from the Pacific to the Atlanta, to unite and educate Canadian youth about the environment, inclusion and reconciliation.
The program is focused on the youth of Canada so that they may have a better grasp and understanding of what the future of Canada can entail – to be a successful and prosperous nation in the wealth of people and culture. The Confederation Centre is asking for young Canadians to create videos, artwork and written words that describe their vision of Canada past, Canada present and Canada future.
“THE YOUTH OF OUR COUNTRY HAVE SUCH INCREDIBLE IDEAS FOR THEIR FUTURES, FOR THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY!” ~Stephanie Ripley, The Dream Catchers
Stephanie Ripley is the project’s associate producer helping coordinate the journey across Canada. Educating the twenty youth in each province about the environment, inclusion and reconciliation. 
Each youthful Canadian has the opportunity to create their very own unique dreamcatcher with the guidance of Indigenous Artist, Nick Ward. Each of the individual dream catchers will be combined to create a six metre high dreamcatcher to become a central feature at the Confederation Centre this summer during the Canada150 festivities.
This has more to do about sustainability than upon first glance. Economically, there is direct investment in Canadian Culture, ensuring the stimulation of ideas and educating the youth is important subject matter. Environmentally, the youth and media followers are being engaged and educated about the importance and uniqueness of the Canadian environmental and geographic beauties that are in need of preservation. Socially, with such a rich and diversified multiculturalism aspects throughout the existence of Canada, its is extremely important to involve individuals who are becoming the future influencers throughout the next 150 years in Canada, and the world.
Finally, there is becoming a greater appreciation for understanding and reconciling the mistakes throughout the 150 years with Canadians and the Aboriginal Peoples. Luckily as UBC Students, we have this amazing opportunity to witness it first hand with the new Reconciliation Totem Pole and Dialogue Centre.
So go on, ask the questions and understand the past!
This is a great perspective on a very timely issue that is haunting Canada’s past and present! Engaging and educating the future leaders of society is a great move to reconciliation, while creating a future that is more cognicent of Canada’s wrongs. As youth education is curated by each province and territory, many Canadians did not receive the opportunity of learning about the injustices to the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada. An important critique of the Dream Catcher Project is the diversity and differences of the Aboriginal cultures of Canada. i.e. A dream catcher may have meaning and ties to one identity or region, while other Nations may have no history of using a dream catcher, thus this forms appropriation and generalization. I am interested to see how they manage this.
While UBC’s Reconciliation Pole and Dialogue Centre are empowering, there is limited funding going into supporting First Nations education, programs, groups, and clubs on campus that would be invaluable Canada’s future.