How friendship centres support, heal and connect urban Indigenous people

When Mi'kmaw elder Marjorie Muise made the move from the small town of St. George's, N.L., to the bustling city of St. John's a decade ago, she was met with more than just a change in scenery. 

The shift from a small, close-knit community to an urban environment left her feeling overwhelmed and out of place.

"Coming into the city, it was like, 'Oh my God,'" Muise said in an interview with Unreserved. "The different diversity threw me back for a bit."

For Muise, it wasn't just the pace or the crowds that were difficult to navigate, she was also disconnected from the culture and traditions that had always been a part of her life.

It was through attending First Light, an Indigenous-led friendship centre in St. John's, that Muise found a path back to the community and ceremonies she had lost.

"It creates … the home feeling," Muise said. "It's a space where [we] can just be without judgment." 

First Light is part of a broader network of 125 friendship centres across Canada, based on 2021 numbers from the National Association of Friendship Centres. 

These Indigenous-led community hubs offer culturally appropriate programs and support services to First Nations, Inuit and Métis people living in urban areas. 

They began to take shape in the 1950s, with the establishment of the first centres in Winnipeg, Vancouver and Toronto.

Jocelyn Formsma, CEO of the National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC), says that the creation of these centres was a grassroots, organic response to the increasing migration of Indigenous people from rural communities and reserves to cities in search of job and educational opportunities. 

"As the community was growing in all of these urban centres, naturally, we congregated. We got together, regardless of which community we were coming from," she said.

"[People] would say, 'OK, well, you're going to the city, call so-and-so when you get there, they'll help you get set up.'"

In 2020, the NAFC estimated that friendship centres had provided nearly 9.5 million points of service. According to the organization, each one represents an instance of offering support and resources to Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members. 

These services include housing and health-care access, to cultural programming, language classes and employment support.