Andrea Dykstra:
Award recipient eyes federal cabinet post
Article by Cheryl Petten
She
has a long list of accomplishments to her name, yet Andrea Dykstra
has never really considered herself a role model. At least not
until she attended this year's National Aboriginal Achievement
Awards ceremony held in Vancouver on Jan. 27.
"I had these young people come up to me and tell me that
I was an inspiration to them, and it made me misty," said
Dykstra, the 2006 recipient of the youth award.
"I've spoken to young people at career fairs or I was a
motivational speaker and stuff like that, but I've never had
somebody actually come up to me and say, 'You're a role model.
You're an inspiration,'" she said. "I had hundreds
of people coming up to me, shaking my hand and congratulating
me and saying all these wonderful things. It made me feel like
a rock star. Like an Indian celebrity."
Winning the achievement award put Dykstra in very good company,
and she was thrilled to get the opportunity to share the stage
with people who she's looked up to as her own role models.
"It was a real treat to meet (National Aboriginal Achievement
Foundation CEO) Roberta Jamieson. And Taiaike Alfred, he was
sitting beside me at the awards ceremony and I have a lot of
respect for him. And Tony Belcourt, I knew him from my Liberal
days. And Sakej Henderson. Meeting all of those people who are
of great importance to me was just amazing."
Dykstra, who grew up in Black Point, N.S. and is a member of
the Pictou Landing First Nation, graduated from ...
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