Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag

Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag An employment, mentorship, and pathway to postsecondary program for Indigenous youth. Designed by Elders, professional mentors, and educators.

Weaving together cultural teachings with landscape architecture and environmental conservation.

The NDG youth move with intention as they clean different winged one’s feathers, creating a smudge fan for future genera...
07/26/2026

The NDG youth move with intention as they clean different winged one’s feathers, creating a smudge fan for future generations — with care, humility, and gratitude. Each feather becomes a reminder of relationship: to the birds who gifted them, to the land that holds them, and to the teachings that guide their hands. As they clean the feathers together, they practice patience, respect, and the quiet responsibility of creating something that will carry prayers forward. In this time, the youth are stepping into their roles as future knowledge keepers, weaving their own spirit into a practice that will bring balance, clarity, and kindness to the generations yet to come.

NDG youth continue to reclaim the ancestral practices of bent marker trees at Biidaasige Park for the second year, along...
07/25/2026

NDG youth continue to reclaim the ancestral practices of bent marker trees at Biidaasige Park for the second year, along with our partners Two Row Architect, Trophic Design, WaterfrontTO, and City of Toronto Parks and Recreation.

We started the day with a youth-led opening ceremony at the Drum design by Tawaw Architecture Collective Tawaw Architecture Collective Inc..

The youth then selected the 5 trees we will bend in August. Each of these trees speak to where they stand within the park. And once bent, will point to the enduring relationships with the waterways that formed this land, and with Indigenous governance across Michi Saagig Anishinaabek territory, and how these are interconnected with profound understandings of the great mystery of the universe.

We concluded out morning at the powerful sculpture by Oluseye OLUSEYE titled CROWN Act (“Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair”), a U.S. law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination.

Chi Miigwetch to Erik, Terence, Shannon, Lisa, Chanelle, and Kayla for your mentorship and opportunity for the youth to strengthen their learning and connection.

NDG@Culinaria deserves a Michelin star!! Our 5th summer together with our dear collaborators Chef Kelsey Kilgore and for...
07/18/2026

NDG@Culinaria deserves a Michelin star!! Our 5th summer together with our dear collaborators Chef Kelsey Kilgore and forager John Herda, and a second year with Chef Taylor Parker Taylor Parker and Phil has been incredible. We were also so pleased to have visiting with us Indigenous House Director, Tanya Senk and Culinaria founder, Prof. Dan Bender. John taught us how to cook the cattail corn-on-the cob, and from the pollen we made pancakes. The flavor of the cattail is so distinct and offers a wonderful balance to wheat flour. Earlier in May, we foraged Redbud flowers at the UTSC campus and prepared jelly for this forage-cook-feast occasion with scrumptious biscuits Chef Taylor baked. Chef Taylor smoked duck and with the serviceberry we foraged at New College two weeks prior, he made a sauce with cedar that was to die for. We also made a sweet sauce for the ice cream which was incorporated milkw**d flowers essence. The deep fried burdock root was one of the youths’ favorites. Earlier in May, we also foraged spruce tips, which along with the roasted cedar seed pods made complementary condiments for the smoked sockeye salmon. Finally, Chef Taylor packed the Norway Spruce cones with brown sugar which he will tend to for several weeks until it becomes a thick syrup - can’t wait to have some of that! Nya-we Chef, thank you John, Kelsey and Dan for sharing your gifts and knowledge with us, and always opening your doors to host us so beautifully. Our bellies and hearts are full.

Our second day at the UTSC campus started off with an incredible forage in the Highland Creek cattail marsh with long st...
07/15/2026

Our second day at the UTSC campus started off with an incredible forage in the Highland Creek cattail marsh with long standing mentor John Herda and dear colleagues Chef Taylor Parker Taylor Parker and Phil. From John we learned about the vast benefits and uses of the cattail. The starchy roots are highly nutritious, the shoots are tender and taste like mild leeks, the sticky jelly is antiseptic, the pollen is exceptionally rich in protein and is a great sub for wheat flour (in fact we learned that it produced 16 times more flour than wheat per acre), the flower spike can be eaten like corn on the cob, the leaves can be woven into cordage and baskets, the fluffy seeds can be used for diapers. From Chef Taylor we learned about the use of Norway Spruce cones to make a thick syrup as an alternative to maple syrup, the edible milk w**d flower, and the beautiful flavor of the white cedar seed pods. What a beautiful morning that was - we felt transported even though we were in the middle of the city.

Our 2-day visit to the UTSC was fantastic. A huge thanks to Tanya Senk and team at Indigenous House for hosting NDG last...
07/15/2026

Our 2-day visit to the UTSC was fantastic. A huge thanks to Tanya Senk and team at Indigenous House for hosting NDG last week. Our deep gratitude to Mark Neilson for our ongoing collaboration on the land stewardship around the campus.

We loved visiting the garden we co-designed with Public Work and learning to identify the plants we planted last summer.

We also loved pulling DSV from the red oak grove. This is our 4th year tending to and helping with the restoration of this plant community. It is remarkable to see the transformation from what used to be a mowed lawn to an understory of goldenrod, butterfly w**d, plantain sedge and several other native perennials.

We concluded day one in residence cooking chili and cornbread together, sharing lots of laughs and a very competitive card game.

Our woodland garden in New College is thriving and gifted us with luscious serviceberry and sharp wild ginger. Hemlock, ...
07/13/2026

Our woodland garden in New College is thriving and gifted us with luscious serviceberry and sharp wild ginger. Hemlock, ferns, moose maple, which hazel, spice bush, black cohosh, anemone, columbine and dozens of other species grow symbiotically in what used to be mowed lawn just 4 years ago.

On June 30, NDG spent the day Evergreen Brick Works with urban ecologist, Olivia Dziwak, and April Nicolle, Land-Based ...
07/12/2026

On June 30, NDG spent the day Evergreen Brick Works with urban ecologist, Olivia Dziwak, and April Nicolle, Land-Based Community Program specialist. Our partnership with Evergreen extends back to 2020, and we are grateful to contribute again to the restoration of this post-industrial site.

In May, thanks to the TorontoPFR Urban Forestry Greening Partnership Grant, we planted 100 native shrubs in the parking lot circular mounds. We had conditioned the compacted soil last summer by seeding radishes which biodegraded and increased porosity and health of the soil. This summer, NDG is working on the design of a garden alongside Mud creek.

We started the morning with our circle gathering protocol and then helped to remove DSV from a recently planted garden. We learned about the geography of the site and the consequences of being located within the floodplain. We saw a young snapping turtle take a dive into the creek and learned about the wildlife that have been inhabiting and shaping the post industrial site along with humans, including the beavers, otters, owls, moths and butterflies. We learned about the interrelations between plants and insects, the incredible evolutionary traits of Monarch lookalikes, and antiseptic and anti inflammatory properties of plants.

The industrial and human history of this site and impact it has had on the Don River, the City and the Canadian economy is mind blowing. Likewise, the new project titled The Loop has the potential to be as transformative in its city wide scale and ambition, yet in a generative and restorative manner.

We are so grateful that our long standing mentor and supporter Marc Ryan of Public Work joined us along with Joyce Chau of Evergreen to share with us the inspiring vision for this project.

NDG 2026 summer program officially opened last week. This is our 9th year together and we feel grateful and privileged t...
07/06/2026

NDG 2026 summer program officially opened last week. This is our 9th year together and we feel grateful and privileged to work with such brilliant, kind, and respectful youth. Chi Miigwetch Elder Whabagoon for your inspiring teachings and your unwavering dedication to the youth all these years. The studio already feels cozy and lived in thanks to our grad mentors Katherine and Ray and the beautiful spirit that everyone brings into our space.

NDG has had the immense privilege to work with PUBLIC WORK and the UTSC Indigenous House team on the Gathering Circle Ga...
06/27/2026

NDG has had the immense privilege to work with PUBLIC WORK and the UTSC Indigenous House team on the Gathering Circle Garden the last 3 years.

Don Campbell, editor and senior writer at UTSC, wrote a lovely article titled “Roots of Knowledge” about the relational concepts that inform the planting design and guide the stewardship work the NDG youth program contributes to at the UTSC campus.

Alex Bozikovic published an article in the Globe and Mail about Indigenous House - which was designed by Alfred Waugh (member of the Fond du Lac Denesuline Nation) of Formline Architecture + Urbanism in collaboration with LGA Architectural Partners and Public Work - and we are honored to be mentioned in his article:

“There are also views south across Ellesmere Road toward the adjacent river valley, and east to a landscape that is an integral part of the project. Landscape architects PUBLIC WORK collaborated on the garden with Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag, a program that connects Indigenous youth with professional landscape architects. One hundred and fifty trees and 5,000 perennial plants join benches filleted out of salvaged oak. Behind them, pine logs have been left to break down and sustain a new grove of trees.”

See our Linktree for more details.

NDG is honored to receive the 2026 Friends of Credit Conservation Award along with the Hart House Farm team in recogniti...
06/27/2026

NDG is honored to receive the 2026 Friends of Credit Conservation Award along with the Hart House Farm team in recognition of the land restoration initiative that the NDG youth co-lead with HHF, Credit Valley Conservation and the Bruce Trail Conservancy.

We are grateful to all our fabulous collaborators and sponsors, Takla Foundation, Invasive Species Centre, and the City of Toronto Urban Forestry.

See our Linktree for more details.

Address

University Of Toronto
Toronto, ON

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm

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