In an effort to give the First Nation’s children something to do after school, as well as give them some incentive to go to school every day, Naicatchewenin First Nation opened the The Sagaankwat Youth Centre on Wednesday Nov. 26, 2025.
The centre is named for a young boy who drowned in the river near the centre which now bears his name.
Steve Bruyere is the Children’s Services Supervisor for Naicatchewenin, and he said the name was chosen to honour the boy and his family.
“We recently lost a young man, he was about six years old, and he drowned in this river here, the river that the building is beside, and it was a very traumatic event,” Bruyere said.
“It was very sad and very hard losing such a young one and the tragedy that unfolded. So we wanted to honour him with this youth centre that is a safe place that we’re providing for all the youth, elders and parents as well.”
Members of Sagaankwat’s family were in attendance for the opening and dedication ceremony of the youth centre.
Rhonda Smith addressed the gathering on behalf of Naicatchewenin’s chief and council.
“It is an honour to acknowledge Sagaankwat in this way. The spirit name Sagaankwat refers to the morning sunrise at the break of dawn,” Smith said.
“He will always be remembered. The Youth Center will be a safe and welcoming environment for our youth to visit with their peers, elders, and other family members. It will provide many activities to keep our youth on a positive path.”
Built in the shell of the community’s former water treatment plant, the youth centre has pool and pingpong tables, a dart board, TV, and retro arcade-style gaming cabinets.
Smith praised those who worked on the project.
“I’d like to say many miigweches to the staff that were involved in the reality of this youth centre. Because of their hard work, this is a reality today,” she said.
“The building we are in was once a water treatment plant. Now, it is our youth centre.”
Bruyere says they hope the centre can be a hub for the community’s youth and bring them out of their shells.
“Since I started working here, youth have been struggling after COVID, re-engaging with the community and with each other again and socializing and even getting back to school,” Bruyere said.
“So the purpose of this youth centre was to bring the youth back together again and show them it’s ok to be together and socialize because we feel that the last few years they’ve been really lacking.”
Bruyere also hopes to use the youth centre as an incentive to see the children getting to school.
“Our youth have been struggling to get to school, our attendance hasn’t been very good,” he said.
“So the other incentive to this as well is that we’re going to have a point system where each child who goes to school every day gets rewarded through the point system and that system turns into a currency. So when we do movie nights or activities if they want to buy pizza or whatever they can use that as well.”
There are about 190 youth members of the First Nation, with 60-70 living in the community.
Smith says it is important for the community to continue to invest in its young people.
“It is important that our community continues to invest the time, energy, and money into our youth and children,” She said.
“After all, one day they will be leading our community. Let’s continue to empower and support them, whether it is through sports, our cultural ceremonies, the arts, music, or whatever that may be.”
