In 2023, the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Economic Development Commission (FNQLEDC) awarded eleven (11) Nikanewin Bursaries of $2,500 in addition to one $5,000 Bursary. These grants were awarded specifically to First Nations people aged 18 and over living in Quebec (inside or outside the communities) who have a business project in mind and want to take action.
Today, we present to you one of the recipients of the 2023 edition, Ms. Lily Duchesneau, and her Hutte de médecine étoilée (starry medicine hut) project.
A community project
Lily Duchesneau, a Huron-Wendat from Wendake, is a start-up entrepreneur with a very specific objective of creating a safe commercial space to teach yoga and pass on her knowledge of Indigenous crafts: this is how the Hutte de médecine étoilée comes into play.
Since she has been a yoga teacher and artisan for many years, this project is the perfect realization of Lily’s passions and values. As the company is 100% First Nations, it therefore has easy access to the environment and knowledge from a cultural and symbolic perspective, for example. This yoga and crafts centre is, however, not just the fruit of her ambitions but the result of a community desire to share cultural knowledge.
It all started the day Lily had the idea of launching a circle to share and learn about original treatments. In the weeks that followed, many members of the community began to take an interest in her practice.
“From that point on, I had lots of people telling me how much they would like to learn how to make earrings, or how to make a drum or a dream catcher, and even people who wanted to follow yoga classes on the Thirteen Mothers! So, one thing led to another, and I realized that the demand was there and, the more things went on, the more I organized craft workshops and yoga classes.”
According to her, it was thanks to the encouragement of her family members, her non-Indigenous friends and a few members of the community that this collective idea was able to come to life. For Lily, this project aims to foster reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
What the grant allowed her to do…
It all started during a call with Stéphanie Légaré, an Entrepreneurship Officer for the FNQLEDC.
Basically, Lily wanted help to put together her business plan. During their discussion, Stéphanie encouraged her to apply for the Nikanewin Bursaries, for which her project was eligible. With only four days remaining to prepare and submit her application, Lily quickly got to work.
“I sat down in front of my computer, and I said to myself: listen, if you can complete a master’s degree in nursing, you are quite capable of doing this in a couple of days! I was a little concerned about being too last minute, but once I started, I realized how simple the process was. Even for someone with just a week left before the application deadline, presenting a project is still realistic.”
And her efforts paid off! Just four days later, she presented her application. The following week, she was notified that she had won one of the $2,500 grants!
“It was so wonderful! I remember thinking that it had been well worth the effort.”
For Lily, this motivation to take action to apply also encouraged her to invest more in her project so that it could get underway much more quickly. “For me, this grant really gave me the kick in the behind I needed to quickly kick off the business plan, call the surveyor and actually start getting the wheel turning.”
For Lily, this $2,500 grant came at just the right time. It allowed her to pay for the land surveying to be able to present her project to the Conseil de la Nation huronne-wendat.
Would you like to know more about the Nikanewin Bursaries? The application period for the 2024 edition has now begun and will close on March 31st. We invite you to visit nikanewinbursaries.org to find out more.
