Mission Statement

The mission of Akii-gikinoo'amaading is providing youth with experiences to develop their confidence as leaders and individuals who have the power to make a difference in the world around them and maintain healthy relationships as caretakers of their community, the earth, and keepers of cultural heritage through Ojibwe Cultural Traditions.


An extremely important part of the mission of Akii-gikinoo’amaading is to engage students in learning focused on respecting, protecting, and caring for Gookomisakiinaan, Our Grandmother Earth, through Traditional Ecological Knowledge combined with today’s world science, skills, and technologies.

Cultivating, hunting, and gathering our traditional foods, and respecting the land that sustains the flora and fauna we depend on, in large measure makes us who we are. Growing and gathering the same plants as our ancestors, saving seeds, protecting Akiing, and fighting for economic and social equality and justice does more than just honor our ancestors. Raising our own food and using fresh, unprocessed ingredients is not only greatly empowering, it also represents an attempt to mend our disconnect to our cultures and to the land that sustains us. Eating healthfully also means we become aware of where our food comes from, how it is prepared, by whom. Mihesuah, D. A., Hoover, E., & LaDuke, W. (2019).

Our successful students will:

  • Have developed and can display a Strong Anishinaabe Identity (Culture) by engaging in traditional and modern tribal practices and learning their language.
  • Knowledge and experience in our tribal seasonal harvesting practices
  • Practice food sovereignty, which is healthy and culturally appropriate food through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.
  • Assert their role as stewards of the Earth through sustainable living as Akii-ogichidaa (Earth warriors).
  • Have the the ability to succeed and navigate in today's world.
  • Have learned and applied life skills throughout their time at Aki and can transfer them to lifelong learning.
  • An increase in students' ability to communicate in Ojibwemowin by graduation.