Catch da Flava Radio - Native Canadian Centre of Toronto (NCCT)

For our May 22nd episode of Catch da Flava Youth Radio, host Travis invited a very animated, fun guest from the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, Edward Cyr. Starting with assisting members of the NCCT with housing concerns, he gradually moved to different departments and now works with youth for the organization. He chatted with us about how NCCT was created as an alternative outlet for the Indigenous community who did not find a lot of community meeting space that were not Christian and consequently places they couldn’t identify with. Now gradually becoming bigger and better, it serves a huge community and even invites people who don’t identify as Indigenous.

In discussing the various programs available at the centre, Edward chatted with Travis about the Okichitaw Indigenous Martial Arts Program and specifies how this is a different type of martial arts, specific to the Indigenous community. Most of what we know of martial arts originates from China and stars like Jacky Chan and Bruce Lee have made it famous. Okichitaw is a different type that doesn’t originate from China and Edward mentions that in this practice, it is taught how to kill attackers and steal their belongings, which was essential in the time it was created. Now it has evolved to a self-defence practice and still very much respectable. There are a lot of other great youth services for the community, but also many more that look toward other age groups.

We would like to greatly thank Edward Cyr for coming on air and chatting about the wonderful resources at NCCT and for bringing his great energy and vibrancy to our studio. For more information on the organization, check out their website: http://ncct.on.ca

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