WILLOW RIVER CENTRE FACES FUNDING CUTS
Willow River Centre will temporarily close its doors due to a lack of funding.
The Centre has served as the first dedicated space for the Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous community in the region.
Bangishimo Johnston and Amy Smoke, co-founders of the Willow River Centre, are looking to sublet their current space while simultaneously looking for a smaller, more inexpensive place to relocate the Centre.
The Centre will remain open through June; after that, the Centre will no longer have the funding to remain open.
Johnston said that they originally began reclaiming space when they started Land Back Camp in Willow River Park in June 2020.
Four years later, the co-founders of the Centre moved into their physical building.
Ever since, the Willow River Centre has been a space for gathering and collaboration. Most importantly, it has provided a one-of-a-kind safe space for Indigenous and queer folks in the community.
“I think we’ve really cultivated a safe space and authentic space for folks to be whoever they are,” Smoke said.
“There’s been so many great firsts that we’ve witnessed … someone saying for the first time, ‘I’m a queer person,’ or someone saying, ‘I found more about my grandmother, my connection to my Indigeneity’—that can be lifesaving,” they said.
Roni Noodle, facilitator of the Queer, racialized, Indigenous, Black group (QRIB) through Spectrum—which runs in partnership with the Willow River Centre—said the Centre has been a healing space.
Specifically, Noodle said the space allows them to feel a sense of belonging with regards to both the queer and Indigenous pieces of their identity.
“When I’ve been in spaces where I could be racialized, I didn’t feel like I could be queer because it wasn’t safe,” Noodle said.
“When I go to a queer space, I’m the only racialized person there, and so I don’t feel like I can be both racialized and queer, but [Willow River Centre] has been really helpful for that,” they said.
“Everyone deserves a space where they can be their whole selves and not just to be tolerated but celebrated. I think that’s a really big deal,” Noodle said.
Willow River Centre was first started through the Upstream Fund, which was originally allocated to Black and Indigenous groups in the Waterloo region.
“The region then decided that it should go towards numerous groups in the region, not just black and Indigenous,” Johnston said.
“It’s great that all these groups can have money, but now there’s very little money being dispersed across all these groups, and a lot of these groups aren’t being supported with a long-term plan,” they said.
In addition to looking for a smaller space to relocate, the co-founders are open to partnering up with another organization to share their current building, making it more affordable to stay long-term.
“We chose the site specifically because of the racialized and gender-based violence that has occurred in Willow River Park,” Smoke said. “It’s got quite a violent history. So, we chose to put our bodies on the land in that space.”
Smoke said that, prior to colonization, the Grand River Watershed was an economic hub of activity where InterNations would meet and gather, making it a significant location for the Centre as well.
“Our community is still struggling for space today, and not only the Indigenous community, but so many other grassroots groups, so many other racialized groups, queer groups, artistic groups, we’re all fighting for space in the region because there’s so little,” Bangishimo said.
With June being National Indigenous People’s month and Pride month, Smoke is encouraging the community to support local Indigenous folks and donate.
“Look to the people around you and how you can be a better ally. Be an accomplice, not an ally,” Smoke said.
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