Theland Kicknosway

Theland Kicknosway

Culture, Heritage, and Spirituality (2018)

Walpole Island Bkejwanong Territory, Ontario 

“Everything that I do is to give back to all Peoples of our Nations, I want to help the youth learn more from the Elders and pass it along to the future generations so they can walk and create the new path that all of us have begun.”

Theland Kicknosway is Potawatami and Cree, and a member of the Wolf Clan. At just fourteen years old, he is an activist, a role model, and an educator who weaves his culture into all that he does.

In grade three, Theland wrote a letter to his school explaining why an annual pow wow would be an excellent teaching opportunity for the school and community. As a result of Theland’s pride in his culture and his willingness to share it, Century Public School celebrated its fourth annual pow wow in 2017.

For more than five years, Theland has been a mentor and leader at the KAIROS where he has taught over 1,500 Indigenous and non-Indigenous people about the realities of Indigenous youth in Canada. Theland is also one of the most active facilitators of the KAIROS Blanket Exercise where he educates others about Indigenous culture and history. He also offers a round dance and teachings to LGBTQ2S youth at the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity.

In 2017, he completed his third annual 130km run from Ottawa to Kitigan Zibi in partnership with Families of Sisters in Spirit to raise awareness for the children of missing and murdered Indigenous women.