Citizenship Code - Aseniwuche Winewak Nation

Membership Code

Update on Draft Membership Code and next steps.

Since 2018, AWN (with support from partners) has been pursuing a project aimed at establishing a clearer direction regarding the community’s membership and how it is determined. This work provides an important contribution to updating the by-laws to reflect who AWN is, and how it wants to govern its membership moving forward. At the June 20, 2024, meeting, Urban Matters and AWN staff reviewed the community’s feedback from the community engagements, and JKF Law provided an update on key areas of the draft membership code.

The draft code is currently developed, and an information package is available – please visit or contact the AWN office to learn more.
The next community meeting is being planned for fall 2024, and the goal is to connect with members who may have questions or concerns about the draft membership code. The meeting date and details have not yet been determined but will be shared with the community in the coming weeks. Next steps for this project include an upcoming vote process that could be established for the acceptance or denial of the draft membership code by the community.

Citizenship is a political and legal concept that profoundly impacts individuals and families’ sense of identity and belonging…a formal Citizenship Code [can] either serve to further divide the community or to bring the community back together. The open and welcoming working group meetings and these Elder and youth directed activities…centred and embodied the grounded and inclusive nature of belonging, of wahkohtowin (all our relationships) and miyo-wichetowin (creating good relations) in the AWN community. These principles and practices remain the core of AWN’s on-going citizenship work.

Excerpts from the AWN Citizenship Report by Dr. Shalene Jobin and Dr. Hadley Friedland,
Co-Leads, Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge,
University of Alberta, December, 2020.

7 Cree Principles

Supplementary work exploring the foundational values of the community as told by Elders

Our Journey Here

This work has taken a lot of careful time and effort. Below is a detailed time line of work completed since 2008.

Download a copy of the Membership Work Timeline .

7 Cree Principles

Supplementary work exploring the foundational values of the community as told by Elders

We are Aseniwuche winewak
A Film by Aseniwuche Youth

Another important component of this research process was a youth-led film project, where community youth worked with two Indigenous filmmakers, Jodi Stonehouse and AWN community member Chehala Leonard, to create a short film focused on AWN’s unique identity and history. The film debuted at the spring gathering in April 2019.

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