Youth Council

April 2025: This webpage is undergoing updates.

The vision of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization Youth Council is to strengthen the youth voice by empowering, inspiring, and actively engaging with youth from the 32 SCO member First Nations. The Council is dedicated to cultivating relationships, creating meaningful opportunities, and enhancing accessibility to culture, with the overarching goal of positively impacting the next seven generations.

About the Council

The SCO Youth Council was established in March 2018. Membership of the Youth Council consists of two representatives from each of the following Tribal Councils:

Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council
Interlake Reserves Tribal Council
Southeast Resource Development Council Corp.
West Region Tribal Council
Independent First Nations members of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization

The SCO Youth Council distinguishes itself by having two Youth Chiefs who play crucial leadership roles, overseeing the Council. Notably, these Youth Chiefs hold a voting position at the SCO table, like all other Chiefs in the southern region. This unique opportunity does not exist anywhere else on Turtle Island and serves as a testament to SCO’s unwavering commitment to elevating and honouring the voices and perspectives of youth.

Major pillars statement

The SCO Youth Council is founded on three fundamental pillars that guide its mission and initiatives:

Empowering and uplifting the youth voice
Increasing accessibility to culture
Strengthening youth leadership

Youth voice

The Youth Council serves as a dedicated platform for young people hailing from across Anishinaabe and Dakota Territory in southern Manitoba. The SCO Youth Council is driven by the mission to establish meaningful connections with youth across these Nations. The Council focuses on fostering relationships to ensure that young people’s unique perspectives, experiences, and voices are recognized and uplifted, allowing young people to be actively involved in decision-making processes that affect their lives and Nations.

Culture

The Youth Council is also committed to enhancing accessibility to culture by providing opportunities for youth to connect and celebrate their culture. This includes organizing events, workshops, and activities that allow youth to learn and practice their culture, language, and traditional teachings while also providing the opportunity for youth to connect and learn from Elders and Knowledge Keepers.

Leadership

It is crucial for youth to understand the significance of their voices and to feel empowered as leaders in their communities and beyond. The SCO Youth Council plays a pivotal role in providing a platform for young leaders from First Nations across southern Manitoba to form a collective and work together towards common goals.

One of the key ways in which the Youth Council facilitates leadership development is by offering opportunities for representatives to participate in various conferences, gatherings, and sessions. This allows Youth Council members to advocate at local, provincial, national, and international levels. By engaging in such forums, the Youth Council ensures that its members are exposed to a wealth of opportunities and experiences.

The SCO Youth Council aims to build a strong leadership foundation for the future leaders of our Nations, provinces, and country.