Katarokwi Native Friendship Centre

About the Centre

The Katarokwi Native Friendship Centre (KNFC) was incorporated on September 14, 1992 and became a member of the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centre (OFIFC) on October 24, 1992.

The KNFC welcomes all First Nations people as well as people of non-Native ancestry, who support and wish to learn more about Native customs and beliefs. Membership is open to all people of any nation. The KNFC was established in 1992 and is a member of the National Federation of Friendship Centres (NAFC).

It is the only Friendship Centre between Tyendinaga (Desoronto) and Akwesasne (Cornwall), and is committed to bringing positive changes to the daily lives of the Aboriginal community in the Kingston and surrounding rural areas. The KNFC provide Aboriginal people with a safe and enjoyable venue to stay in touch with their communities, and assist them by allowing them to receive culturally appropriate programs for individual and family needs.

Aims and Objectives

• To respect the Creator as one, who from the beginning of creation gave us our spiritual beliefs, language, tradition and place here on Mother Earth, which provides us with the essential needs for survival;
• To recognize, promote, and defend our ancestral laws;
• To respect and defend the traditions of Aboriginal women within First Nations society as mother and providers of life;
• To provide opportunity for First Nations people to be involved in programs and services that meet their social, economic, spiritual, political, emotional and cultural needs;
• To be a forum to identify and address the issues and concerns of First Nations people in conflict with the law;
• To encompass the unique community within the Kingston area, recognizing the diversity of the people so that it reflects the reality of uniqueness indigenous to this area. We believe that we are all leaders and must take responsibility to ensure the healthy development of our Nations;
• To foster mutual support among members to enhance cooperative growth and development of the individual and the community and to recognize that we all have an equal voice in addressing issues;
• To honour the belief of supporting the unity of Aboriginal First Nations People without regard to the legal distinctions which may be drawn between us (i.e. status, non-status, Métis, or Inuit People); and
• The above objects will be carried out subject to the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act and the Charitable Gifts Act, for the objects aforementioned, to accept donations, gifts, grants, legacies and bequests. The Corporation will be carried on without the purpose of gain for its members and any profits or other accretions to the Corporation shall be used in promoting its objectives.

Programs and Services

Akwe:go, Alternative Secondary School, Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, Community Action Program for Children, Community Mental Health, Community Wellness, Health Babies Healthy Children, Life Long Care, Urban Aboriginal Healthy Living, and Wasa-Nabin.

Through its programs and services, the KNFC provides cultural activities including ceremonies, sweat lodges, local gatherings, drum circles, drum making classes, and community feasts. The Centre also hosts First Nations awareness workshops, Meals to Make/Meals to Take, Nutritional Bingo, and craft classes.

Through advocacy work and fundraising efforts, the KNFC operations the Nokomis Early Years Literacy Program, Program for Early Parent Support (PEPS), and Mother Earth Play Group.