Curtis Cardinal, owner and founder of Tee Pee Treats Indigenous Cuisine, makes it his mission to give back where he can.
Over the past seven years, Cardinal and his team of volunteers have cooked thousands of meals for the houseless community and those in need as part of his Giving Back to the Streets initiative. It began as an annual event in 2018. Cardinal turned it into a monthly gathering in 2022.
“Our people have gone through a lot of struggle,” he said. “Even today they’re dealing with residential schools and many people are grieving, are hurt or have issues from that and a lot stems from residential schools. I think a lot of the ones who are living out there on the streets are the ones also dealing with those issues.”
On December 21, 2024, Cardinal hosted a Christmas dinner edition of Giving Back to the Streets, which served a meal of turkey, ham, potatoes, salad, stuffing, bannock and more at Boyle Street Plaza. Over 600 meals were served and donations of winter jackets, shoes, clothing and hygiene products were handed out.
Cardinal said the event gives the community a sense of family and a safe and warm place to gather, talk, smudge and take in some cultural performances.
“I wanted it to be community members coming together, where people can listen to Indigenous artists and drummers, eat bannock and bring them back to where they’re from. Some of them don’t have that feeling of family and are losing their culture,” said Cardinal.
The City of Edmonton sponsored the monthly Giving Back to the Streets events in 2024 through Nék̓em, an Indigenous non-profit organization with outreach programs providing support to the houseless community in Edmonton. Through Nék̓em, the City’s Indigenous Relations Office (IRO) sponsored the food cost for the events.
The IRO also put together care kits, filled with hygiene products, socks, underwear and more, for November’s edition of Giving Back to the Streets and helped set up the venue at Boyle Street Plaza at a few recent events. City staff also volunteered their time during the events, including helping out at the donation table.
The majority of houseless people in Edmonton identify as Indigenous, which is a result of colonialism and the effects of Canada’s residential school system, says Kayla Bellerose, Indigenous Consultant with the IRO.
“It’s important for the City to partner on Indigenous-led events like this because these grassroots events bring together some of Edmonton’s most vulnerable and creates a safe space for them to have a healthy meal, stay warm and create positive connections to culture and community,” said Bellerose.
“City staff having the opportunity to volunteer at these events has shown many of us the need to advocate for vulnerable Indigenous relatives who are experiencing mental health issues, addictions and barriers to accessing social programs and housing.”
Tee Pee Treats’ Cardinal knows a lot of the people that attend his events don’t have access to social media or the internet, so he promotes Giving Back to the Streets in an intentional way. He updates the Tee Pee Treats social media accounts with information about each event, and he also hands out flyers to people living on the streets or encampments in the downtown area.
Cardinal is hit with mixed emotions when he sees the number of people in the food line at the Giving Back to the Streets events—it’s good to see the community gather together, but it also reinforces the need for the event and shows that there are a lot of people in Edmonton who need help.
“Our people are really lost, angry, and certain things in the past have happened and some things continue to happen and we just try to help as much as we can,” he said, adding that the majority of the people who come through the food line at events are Indigenous.
Follow Tee Pee Treats on Instagram and Facebook and visit the company’s website for more information about Giving Back to the Streets. Cardinal is currently seeking a location in the downtown area for a dine-in location for Tee Pee Treats.
Editor’s note: the photo at the top of the post shows Curtis Cardinal, owner and founder of Tee Pee Treats Indigenous Cuisine, packaging bannock in preparation for the 22nd Giving Back to the Streets event in December 2024.