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NOHCIMIHK LAND & WELLNESS COLLECTIVE
Nôhcimihk Lands & Wellness Collective is an Indigenous-led non-profit organization focused on land-based wellness, youth leadership, cultural revitalization, and community energy futures.
What began as grassroots gatherings between friends, youth, artists, land users, and energy advocates has grown into a collective rooted in healing and action. We work at the intersection of Indigenous knowledge systems and Western approaches to energy, climate, and wellness, braiding knowledge in a way that is practical, community-driven, and grounded in culture and lived experience.
We believe that reconnecting to land is essential to rebuilding healthy communities. Through shared experiences on the land, we create space for learning, healing, creativity, and future-building.
Jordyn Burnouf
Director of Sustainability & Wellness
Jordyn Burnouf is a Nehîyaw woman from the community of Île-à-la-Crosse, SK, and a member of Black Lake First Nation. Her work is rooted in land-based wellness, Indigenous energy futures, and relationships to land, water, and community.
Jordyn is the CEO of Origin Energy and is completing her Masters of Sustainability in Energy Security at the University of Saskatchewan. She is also a member of the Wah-ila-toos Indigenous Council and serves on the Board of Directors with the Canadian Climate Institute, supporting Indigenous-led approaches to climate, energy, and community resilience.
A 500-hour yoga teacher, land guide, hunter, wild rice harvester, and plant medicine gatherer, Jordyn’s work is deeply informed by time on the land. Her practices include harvesting birch sap and bark, gathering medicines, and supporting youth and communities in reconnecting with Indigenous knowledge systems through movement, storytelling, healing, and environmental stewardship.
Through Nôhcimihk, Jordyn works to create spaces where people can reconnect with culture, creativity, wellness, and regenerative futures grounded in wahkohtowin and responsibility to future generations.
Wade Lavallee
Director of Culture & Creativity
Wade Lavallee is a Nehîyaw creative, land-based facilitator, and storyteller from Kahkewistehaw First Nation. His work is grounded in culture, movement, creativity, and connection to community.
Wade has spent many years working alongside youth through sport, mentorship, and land-based programming. His experience includes leadership roles with Ranch Ehrlo and Leading Thunderbird Lodge, where he supported youth through relationship-building, wellness, and community care. A lifelong athlete and coach, Wade has coached basketball and rugby and through rugby competed internationally in Fiji, New Zealand, Vancouver, and across Canada.
As an artist, Wade is the lead singer, songwriter, and composer for the band KOYOT and is currently writing his first novel. His creative work is deeply connected to storytelling, identity, and emotional expression.
Wade also brings experience in environmental monitoring, tree planting, and land-based work, helping shape Nôhcimihk’s approach to stewardship, outdoor education, and youth engagement. Through his work with Nôhcimihk and SYEC, he creates spaces where youth and communities can reconnect with land, creativity, movement, and one another.
SYEC
Sakitawahk Youth Environmental Circle
(SYEC) is a youth-led grassroots collective rooted in Sakitawahk (Île-à-la-Crosse), Saskatchewan, made up of local high school students and recent graduates. As a core part of the Nôhcimihk Lands & Wellness Collective, SYEC helps lead community-based environmental, energy, and land stewardship initiatives grounded in Indigenous knowledge, youth leadership, and relationships to land.
SYEC has supported renewable energy education, community clean-up initiatives, environmental awareness projects, and early-stage community energy planning while creating opportunities for youth to build leadership, technical skills, and confidence grounded in culture and community. The group has presented their work nationally, including in Whitehorse, Yukon, and has been featured on Unreserved with Rosanna Deerchild, sharing stories about youth leadership, land, and environmental action in northern Saskatchewan.
Youth voices and leadership continue to play an important role in shaping the vision and direction of Nôhcimihk through storytelling, environmental action, wellness, and community engagement.
Learn more at:
youthenvironmentalcircle.ca