Why Alberta family fundraising to build ceremonial lodge in honour of girl who loved her Indigenous culture
Duration: 02:24
Arizona Cardinal-Burns' family is raising money to honour the girl who died from a brain tumour, by finishing a ceremonial lodge in which to hold Indigenous ceremonies she loved participating in. Sarah Komadina reports.
Arizona's memory lends boost to cultural
healing centre
The spirit of young Arizona Burns is helping to put together the rest of the construction of the Indigenous Turtle Lodge on the Alexander First Nation.
Mar 22, 2021 By: Scott Hayes
The Indigenous Turtle Lodge Society is building this healing centre on the Alexander First Nation, now with the support of the family of Arizona Cardinal-Burns, a nine-year-old girl who recently lost her battle with brain cancer.
It was tragic to see Arizona Burns be sick and die so young, but so much good has been gained, her mother Sharice Cardinal says.
“Her sickness has healed a lot of people. It brought a lot of people together. It brought a lot of my family members back together. It brought my community together. It brought the Morinville community together. How one little girl brought so many people together ...”
The nine-year-old girl passed away in February from a form of aggressive brain cancer. She was only diagnosed in the fall of 2020 but her tumour was determined to be a grade 4 terminal glioblastoma. Arizona was already too immunocompromised to participate in Halloween activities with other kids, so the community rallied in October to bring a parade past her house. That gave her joy.
Community and culture were so important to Arizona, making her short years as full as possible. That’s why there’s still one big thing that her mother hopes will come out of her legacy: the completion of the Indigenous Turtle Lodge.
“She and the other kids would always ask, ‘When is this going to be done? When are we going to be able to use it?’” Cardinal said. “I raised my children really close to our Indigenous culture. It helped me break the cycle of intergenerational trauma in my life and for my children.”
The building under construction on Alexander First Nation still has most of the way to go toward a goal of $30,000 to fund the rest of the project. According to the Arizona Strong fundraiser page on GoFundMe, Arizona's great-grandfathers came together three decades ago to build a “ceremonial and spiritual foundation with a vision to reach their children, grandchildren and future generations.”
Cardinal said that Arizona loved ceremony and being with her siblings and cousins and other kids, often acting like a “Mother Hen” to them, making sure that they were healthy and happy.
“Just being with kids, she was so happy,” she said.
The lodge, once completed, will be a “community driven, traditional education and healthcare centre designed to raise Indigenous children and youth through oral history, land-based protocols and spiritual law,” according to its Facebook page.
It must be and will be completed, Cardinal continued, though it has already taken three long years to get to this point. Without any government or industry support whatsoever, volunteers have built the foundation and structure up, and a roof and siding have recently been added. Everything has been done through community donations.
“We’re still doing it. Arizona has passed on but I know that she’s going to help us from where she is to make this happen for other kids, to have a safe place for other kids to come and learn about themselves. Our Indigenous culture teaches you how to love yourself and how to treat other people and how to fix things within yourself that you struggle with,” she offered, noting how being with one’s community is a way of healing the spirit and strengthening the culture.
“That's the whole idea of the Indigenous Turtle Lodge. We don't have really any place to go to gather. We gather in the mountains, or we gather random places, but we don't have any place to offer programming to children and youths. That's what we're trying to create for our community. My kids are part of our community, and I want to see my kids have something like that in their future, too. It's a bridge for them to cross away from drugs and alcohol or those lifestyles that are unhealthy for people.”
Once finished, the Indigenous Turtle Lodge will be not just for the Nêhîyawak people on Alexander First Nation but for all the people who come from across Canada and anywhere else to receive programming and learn about ceremony so they can come closer to their culture, their communities, and the Great Spirit. So many people are so strong already, Cardinal said. She’s very proud of them and happy to know that Arizona’s legacy will help make the lodge a reality to bring strength to others.
“There's so much influence out there to keep your mind strong. That's how I know this will be really successful and help a lot of people in a good way.”
The spirit of young Arizona Burns is helping to put
Mar 22, 2021
By: Scott Hayes
The Indigenous Turtle Lodge Society is building this healing centre on the Alexander First Nation, now with the support of the family of Arizona Cardinal-Burns, a nine-year-old girl who recently lost her battle with brain cancer.
The Indigenous Turtle Lodge Society is building this healing centre on the Alexander First Nation, now with the support of the family of Arizona Cardinal-Burns, a nine-year-old girl who recently lost her battle with brain cancer.
It was tragic to see Arizona Burns be sick and die so young, but so much good has been gained, her mother Sharice Cardinal says.
“Her sickness has healed a lot of people. It brought a lot of people together. It brought a lot of my family members back together. It brought my community together. It brought the Morinville community together. How one little girl brought so many people together ...”
The nine-year-old girl passed away in February from a form of aggressive brain cancer. She was only diagnosed in the fall of 2020 but her tumour was determined to be a grade 4 terminal glioblastoma. Arizona was already too immunocompromised to participate in Halloween activities with other kids, so the community rallied in October to bring a parade past her house. That gave her joy.
Community and culture were so important to Arizona, making her short years as full as possible. That’s why there’s still one big thing that her mother hopes will come out of her legacy: the completion of the Indigenous Turtle Lodge.
“She and the other kids would always ask, ‘When is this going to be done? When are we going to be able to use it?’” Cardinal said. “I raised my children really close to our Indigenous culture. It helped me break the cycle of intergenerational trauma in my life and for my children.”
The building under construction on Alexander First Nation still has most of the way to go toward a goal of $30,000 to fund the rest of the project. According to the Arizona Strong fundraiser page on GoFundMe, Arizona's great-grandfathers came together three decades ago to build a “ceremonial and spiritual foundation with a vision to reach their children, grandchildren and future generations.”
Cardinal said that Arizona loved ceremony and being with her siblings and cousins and other kids, often acting like a “Mother Hen” to them, making sure that they were healthy and happy.
“Just being with kids, she was so happy,” she said.
The lodge, once completed, will be a “community driven, traditional education and healthcare centre designed to raise Indigenous children and youth through oral history, land-based protocols and spiritual law,” according to its Facebook page.
It must be and will be completed, Cardinal continued, though it has already taken three long years to get to this point. Without any government or industry support whatsoever, volunteers have built the foundation and structure up, and a roof and siding have recently been added. Everything has been done through community donations.
“We’re still doing it. Arizona has passed on but I know that she’s going to help us from where she is to make this happen for other kids, to have a safe place for other kids to come and learn about themselves. Our Indigenous culture teaches you how to love yourself and how to treat other people and how to fix things within yourself that you struggle with,” she offered, noting how being with one’s community is a way of healing the spirit and strengthening the culture.
“That's the whole idea of the Indigenous Turtle Lodge. We don't have really any place to go to gather. We gather in the mountains, or we gather random places, but we don't have any place to offer programming to children and youths. That's what we're trying to create for our community. My kids are part of our community, and I want to see my kids have something like that in their future, too. It's a bridge for them to cross away from drugs and alcohol or those lifestyles that are unhealthy for people.”
Once finished, the Indigenous Turtle Lodge will be not just for the Nêhîyawak people on Alexander First Nation but for all the people who come from across Canada and anywhere else to receive programming and learn about ceremony so they can come closer to their culture, their communities, and the Great Spirit. So many people are so strong already, Cardinal said. She’s very proud of them and happy to know that Arizona’s legacy will help make the lodge a reality to bring strength to others.
“There's so much influence out there to keep your mind strong. That's how I know this will be really successful and help a lot of people in a good way.”
“Her sickness has healed a lot of people. It brought a lot of people together. It brought a lot of my family members back together. It brought my community together. It brought the Morinville community together. How one little girl brought so many people together ...”
The nine-year-old girl passed away in February from a form of aggressive brain cancer. She was only diagnosed in the fall of 2020 but her tumour was determined to be a grade 4 terminal glioblastoma. Arizona was already too immunocompromised to participate in Halloween activities with other kids, so the community rallied in October to bring a parade past her house. That gave her joy.
Community and culture were so important to Arizona, making her short years as full as possible. That’s why there’s still one big thing that her mother hopes will come out of her legacy: the completion of the Indigenous Turtle Lodge.
“She and the other kids would always ask, ‘When is this going to be done? When are we going to be able to use it?’” Cardinal said. “I raised my children really close to our Indigenous culture. It helped me break the cycle of intergenerational trauma in my life and for my children.”
The building under construction on Alexander First Nation still has most of the way to go toward a goal of $30,000 to fund the rest of the project. According to the Arizona Strong fundraiser page on GoFundMe, Arizona's great-grandfathers came together three decades ago to build a “ceremonial and spiritual foundation with a vision to reach their children, grandchildren and future generations.”
Cardinal said that Arizona loved ceremony and being with her siblings and cousins and other kids, often acting like a “Mother Hen” to them, making sure that they were healthy and happy.
“Just being with kids, she was so happy,” she said.
The lodge, once completed, will be a “community driven, traditional education and healthcare centre designed to raise Indigenous children and youth through oral history, land-based protocols and spiritual law,” according to its Facebook page.
It must be and will be completed, Cardinal continued, though it has already taken three long years to get to this point. Without any government or industry support whatsoever, volunteers have built the foundation and structure up, and a roof and siding have recently been added. Everything has been done through community donations.
“We’re still doing it. Arizona has passed on but I know that she’s going to help us from where she is to make this happen for other kids, to have a safe place for other kids to come and learn about themselves. Our Indigenous culture teaches you how to love yourself and how to treat other people and how to fix things within yourself that you struggle with,” she offered, noting how being with one’s community is a way of healing the spirit and strengthening the culture.
“That's the whole idea of the Indigenous Turtle Lodge. We don't have really any place to go to gather. We gather in the mountains, or we gather random places, but we don't have any place to offer programming to children and youths. That's what we're trying to create for our community. My kids are part of our community, and I want to see my kids have something like that in their future, too. It's a bridge for them to cross away from drugs and alcohol or those lifestyles that are unhealthy for people.”
Once finished, the Indigenous Turtle Lodge will be not just for the Nêhîyawak people on Alexander First Nation but for all the people who come from across Canada and anywhere else to receive programming and learn about ceremony so they can come closer to their culture, their communities, and the Great Spirit. So many people are so strong already, Cardinal said. She’s very proud of them and happy to know that Arizona’s legacy will help make the lodge a reality to bring strength to others.
“There's so much influence out there to keep your mind strong. That's how I know this will be really successful and help a lot of people in a good way.”
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