'A sense of home': The Comeback Society to expand Indigenous cultural programs in new space
A local non-profit is hoping a new office space can help reconnect Indigenous youth to their culture.
At the start of the month, The Comeback Society (TCS) moved into a space on the second floor of the building that houses the Regina Food Bank.
“I’ve been a mother and a podcast co-host, so I never in a million years expected to now be in a building and managing The Comeback Society as an agency,” said Alicia Morrow, TCS founder and chief visionary officer.
TCS started out as a podcast with Morrow and her sister Lexie. The two used the platform as a way to amplify Indigenous voices while discussing their experiences growing up as “urban Indigenous,” living in the city without access to their culture.
“I didn’t really know who I was and then I was brought back home and was adopted back into my community and I really started to build those ties,” Morrow said.
“I realized through the conversations with the podcast that I really wanted to do something more.”
The non-profit organization is the “something more” that Morrow was looking for. TCS offers cultural programs to Indigenous youth and adults in Regina. They host workshops in land-based education and traditional practices including hide tanning, ribbon skirt and regalia making, beading and powwow.
“I hope they take a sense of belonging in community and a sense of kinship that’s really been missing in our community, and a sense of home,” said TCS cultural collaborations director Chanel Daniels.
Before moving into the new space, TCS held programs in other community businesses in partnership with other organizations. The hope is to expand those programs into their building to create a safe space to learn.
“It’s going to be an open door for people to either find their identity or find their community that I didn’t have when I was younger,” said TCS executive director Pearl Daniels.
“That’s how they are going to find themselves with these programs offered through The Comeback Society.”
Daniels and her sister Chanel started volunteering with TCS a year ago. Now, both of the sisters are part of the team, helping run the agency that has a goal of being self-governed by 100 per cent Indigenous leadership.
“It’s important that we as Indigenous folks lead the way that we go forward from here, and that we lead in everything that we do,” Morrow said.
When Morrow started the podcast, she said the goal was to reach five people. Three years later, she said hundreds have accessed TCS workshops, and thousands have been fed under the organization’s food sovereignty programs.
Each week, TCS hosts Soup Bowl Sundays in partnership with the Regina Food Bank. Morrow said the group has provided more than 16,000 meals in the last year.
In an effort to make the food program 100 per cent sustainable, TCS harvests its own meat, including buffalo, and will soon grow its own fruits and vegetables in community gardens beginning this year.
“We really want to, as an Indigenous organization, implement the ways of our lives prior to colonization to really make this program sustainable,” Morrow said.
Alicia Morrow shows off her hand tattoos dedicated to The Comeback Society. (Allison Bamford / CTV News)
Morrow has her own comeback story. She suffered serious injuries from a car accident about four years ago.
Following the crash, she said she had a dream, which is what inspired TCS.
“I didn’t know what it meant and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with it,” Morrow said.
“But I knew that coming back was something that meant I was in my own life coming back from the car accident, coming back as an Indigenous person and kind of re-learning.”
Morrow hopes she can inspire comeback stories in other Indigenous people’s lives through reconnecting with their culture.
“There’s nothing else I want to do in my life,” she said.
“We weren’t supposed to be here and for us to be here and in this capacity, that’s the beauty in it.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.