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Published April 13, 1998   The Saskatchewan Indian Federated College hosted another fine powwow on April 4 to 5 in Regina. The powwow is the third largest indoor powwow in North America, and attracts dancers, drummers and singers from across Canada and the United States, particularly home grown talent like Darcy Anaquod (left) of Cupar, Sask.   Photo Credit: Brian Cross Powwow well attended by Brian Cross First life memberships awarded at friendship centre by Pamela Green Keeping Wayne alive - one family's struggle by Allison Kydd National program a first for Métis women by Paul Sinkewicz Achievement honored by Bruce Weir Dancing is a family affair for McCallums by Paul Sinkewicz Wayerhaeuser, Woodland Cree bands ink deal by Paul Sinkewicz Learning with my boys by Denis Okanee Angus Here is a full list of additional stories featured in the April, 1998 issue of Saskatchewan Sage. If you are not receiving your own copy of Saskatchewan Sage, then you have missed all this information. Click here for Saskatchewan Sage subscription information. Community celebrates drum group's success Share in the spirit of the dance Helping others in need is actor's life work More work ahead for Métis women Powwow well attended By Brian Cross Sage Writer REGINA Over the years, Regina resident Charles Pratt has learned a lot about organizing the nationally-renowned annual Saskatchewan Indian Federated College Powwow. He's also learned that the continued success of the event requires a year-round planning effort - something dedicated organizers have contributed each year since the SIFC powwow was born back in 1978. "We start looking forward to this event about a year before it happens," said Pratt, event chairman for the past six years. "We'll have a little break for a couple of weeks because a lot of people are kind of tired, but we will have a review meeting in about three weeks. We'll start right away and look at where we can improve; then we'll set our dates so we can start publicizing for next year already. It's not a full-time job, but it takes a lot of supervision over a long period of time," he said. Judging by the turnout at this year's event, Pratt and his committee are doing a masterful job ensuring the SIFC powwow retains its reputation as one of the best in North America. Between 8,000 and 10,000 people attended this year's celebration, held April 4 to 5 in Regina. All told, about 750 dancers from throughout Canada and the United States competed at the event. About 35 drum groups from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Montana, South Dakota and New Mexico also attended. According to Pratt, the organizing committee has focused its efforts on establishing the event as one of the largest and most successful indoor powwows in North America. Only two other indoor powwows - one in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the other in Denver, Colorado - rival the SIFC event in terms of size and reputation, said Pratt. Tim Eashappie agrees with that assessment. Eashappie, who hails from Hays, Montana, has attended the SIFC powwow 12 times in the past 20 years and is impressed with the event each time he returns. "It (the SIFC powwow) seems to be getting bigger and better every year, and there seems to be a lot more young people," he said. "It's really important that the younger people start getting involved because they're learning about their culture and because there's so much alcohol and drugs around these days." According to Pratt, the SIFC powwow has always been a big draw for Aboriginal youths, even if they aren't participating in the cultural events. "A lot of young people come here just to socialize and that's important too," Pratt said. "Even if they're not dancing or whatever, they're still looking on and they're learning something. They're learning about their roots and they're being attracted to their culture." "There's something here that's very healthy for the individual and there's something that's very healthy for the different social groups that are here as well," Pratt continued. First life memberships awarded at friendship centre By Pamela Green Sage Writer LLOYDMINSTER Two former members of the board were honored with the first lifetime memberships given by the Lloydminster Native Friendship Centre, as part of the new centre's springtime celebrations. The ceremony, with 50 guests in attendance, was held by the centre to formally thank Corp. Merve Pointer and teacher Ian Belyea for their years of dedicated work and support to the Aboriginal community in Lloydminster. The two former residents, who now both live out of province, had been slated to receive their lifetime memberships at the grand opening of the new centre last summer, but conflicting schedules had made that impossible. But as luck would have it, the two former board members were finally able to cross paths again this year, and join in the celebrations given in their honor by old friends, family and board members. The men were honored in a ceremony that included prayers, a sweetgrass smudge, hand drum songs by Bruce Thunderchild and Conrad Naistus and a round dance. As well as a certificate giving them both lifetime memberships, each received a handmade work by artists Norman Moyah (ceremonial stone axe) and Lawrence Meetos (painting). A lifetime membership is something that isn't given out freely, explained Executive Director Sharon Sawchuk; it is something that is held in very high regard. "The board wanted to recognize the fact that these two men had done a lot for the friendship centre over the years, especially in terms of cross-cultural understanding, and that they had offered important input in areas of what they believed the non-Native members of the community needed to know from us," she said. Pointer, who served with the local RCMP, and Belyea, a former Native Studies instructor at the local high school, both shared a genuine sensitivity, caring and respect for the Native community and culture and gave freely of their experience and expertise in management and organization, Sawchuk explained. "This really added to our board meetings and always brought us back to what our members wanted and needed in a friendship centre, focusing on important issues rather than getting caught up in personal agendas." The long term commitment of the two men, neither of whom are of Aboriginal descent, helped to foster a real cross-cultural exchange among the members, and each expressed how honored they had been to have been allowed to share and learn about Native spirituality and culture. RCMP officer Pointer said he was thrilled to return from the Yukon and receive such an honor, and added, that although he had seen the centre weather some tough times, it had braved the storms and come out ahead. Belyea expressed similar sentiments. "To come back and see where we are today ( and I say 'we' because I still consider myself to be part of this place) and how far we have come, especially with this beautiful new facility, makes a person feel very good and I know that I've grown a lot personally because of the centre and the people in the centre." Keeping Wayne alive: one family's struggle By Allison Kydd Sage Writer Pheasant Rump First Nation The family of Wayne McArthur of Pheasant Rump First Nation, near Kisbey, Sask. have undertaken a labor of love - to prolong the life of the man who is either brother, son, father, husband, nephew or uncle to them all. Doctors have told them that a bone marrow transplant is Wayne's best chance for survival, so his family is trying to find a donor whose genetic (DNA) profile matches his. All family members have been tested in the hope of finding a match. It is standard practice to test the family first, as there is on average a 25 per cent chance of finding similar genetic coding between close family members, such as siblings. Unfortunately, no match was found in the family. So they turned to the Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry of the Red Cross. "Wayne is the strength behind our family; he is our backbone," said Donna Knebush, one of McArthur's several sisters. Their rancher brother was diagnosed with leukemia in 1994. Wayne is a strong proud man who doesn't know how to ask for help, though he has always worked hard to help other people, said Knebush. "A lot of people are keeping us in their prayers," she said. Her brother, aged 38, manages Red Thunder Ranch, though he can no longer ride a horse and run the trail rides because of his illness. He worries about the future of the ranch. The ranch has been very important to the family and to others as well. It's home to one of the prairie's ancient medicine wheels in the Moose Mountain district, southeast of Regina. About 600 Canadians a year need bone marrow transplants, said Val Figliuzzi, the northern Alberta co-ordinator for the registry. Leukemia is the most common disease for which the procedure is used, but other forms of cancer and cancer-like conditions also can be treated with transplants. In Alberta, there are about 24,000 names on the registry, in Canada about 160,000 and in the world about 4.4 million people. When a potential donor is tested for the registry (there is a three-stage process that a donor goes through) his or her genetic information becomes part of a worldwide network. This sounds encouraging (4.4 million possible donors and only 600 recipients per year in Canada,) but it is less encouraging when one realizes that most of the registered donors are Caucasian. For an Aboriginal person, including Métis, or any ethnic minority, the process is, in Figliuzzi's words "challenging." Four-and-a-half years after Wayne was diagnosed, the family is still searching for a match. Though Wayne is status, his racial mix is Métis. His family is asking that Métis people, especially, take their plea for Wayne's life to heart. Unfortunately, Métis people represent a very small percentage of all donors on the Canadian Red Cross Society Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Knebush expresses her frustration that there is so little education about bone marrow donation. Though people often join the program because they hear a personal story such as Wayne's, Figliuzzi speaks of the importance of joining the registry with no strings attached. There just aren't the resources to test for just one person, she said. For those who join the registry, there is about one chance in 150,000 of being called on to be a donor. "You may be able to help my brother," she said. "If not . . . perhaps someone else's life may be saved. If one other family doesn't have to go through what we're going through, it will be worth it." To join the registry the donor must be between the ages of 17 and 59 and in good health. National program a first for Métis women By Paul Sinkewicz Sage Writer PRINCE ALBERT A first-of-a-kind event took place in Prince Albert recently - an event featuring fiddle music and a foot-stomping beat. The first-ever national training program sponsored by the Métis National Council of Women took centre stage in the lives of a group of 10 young Métis women from all across western Canada and as far away as Ontario. They were participating in an eight-week course training them to be Métis Headstart Preschool supervisors. Jigging and traditional Métis cooking were a key part of the program, along with first aid, early childhood development and computer training. The women, aged 16 to 25, came from Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. Janice Henry, Prince Albert co-ordinator for the Métis National Council of Women, said the goal of the Métis Women Youth Headstart Training Project was to prepare young Métis women for work in Headstart preschools across the country, while strengthening their understanding of their culture. "This is a first-ever," Henry said. "We're hoping it's just the beginning of the Métis National Council of Women in being able to assist our youth in being able to participate in the workforce." The Aboriginal Headstart preschool program exists throughout Canada, providing a culturally-friendly atmosphere for Aboriginal children to develop in their first classroom. Henry said the Headstart program got started in response to a significant drop out rate of Aboriginal youth from public school. "A critical part to that is the cultural aspect as well. It's very important," Henry said. "It prepares kids for starting school and ultimately ensures success in that system." The uniqueness of the Headstart program is its work with the families instead of just the children, according to Henry. Parent participation is mandatory. That's why the trainees must have a good grounding in their culture and have training in crisis prevention. They will be dealing with all sorts of family problems and their cultural influence often filters back into the home, benefiting the entire family. The course also helps the participants see how similar they are to each other although they are from different provinces. "It's a surprise to some of the girls. For some it's their first time away from home. It's been a tremendous growing experience ." Each of the participants will each receive a certificate from the Métis cultural class and will be able to transfer the work they've done in early childhood education to their home provinces. Rhoda Roy, 20, from Green Lake, Sask. heard about the program when it was advertised on radio. She was already interested in child care and was interested in the first aid and CPR training being offered as well. Roy said learning about her Métis culture during the program was very helpful to her. "It taught me about Batoche, Louis Riel, Dumont, how we became Métis," Roy said. "Which was helpful because I've never learned it through school or anywhere else." Roy may not have had the historical knowledge about her culture before coming to the program, but she said her family does live traditionally. They do jigging and square dancing, which is where she learned it, and also hunt for wild meat and cook bannock and stews. Still, the program has interested her enough that she will be applying for the next phase when it's offered. "I think the whole process has been very, very positive," Henry said. With the success of the program, the next step will indeed be to set up a second phase to the course." Achievement honored By Bruce Weir Sage Writer TORONTO This year's winner of the National Aboriginal Achievement award for lifetime achievement is no stranger to public accolades. Buffy Sainte-Marie has received a medal from Queen Elizabeth II, a Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Regina, France's "Best International Artist" and won numerous awards, including a Juno, a Gemini and an Oscar for the song "Up Where We Belong." She has even been involved in creating new awards, including the Best Aboriginal Music of Canada Juno, which she won in 1997. All these acknowledgments stem from her work not just as a musician, but also as a social activist, and the lifetime achievement award acknowledges her contributions to Native education and other social causes as well as her art and music. Her interests have grown since she first made a name for herself as a singer in the 1960's. She is also a visual artist who paints on her Macintosh computer and the founder and president of the Nhihewan Foundation for American Indian Education. These interests reflect her own educational background ,which includes a Ph. D in fine arts and degrees in Oriental Philosophy and teaching. The 57-year-old Sainte-Marie was born in Saskatchewan's Qu'Appelle Valley and, after being adopted, was raised in Maine and Massachusetts. Today, she lives in Hawaii where she devotes a great deal of her time to The Cradleboard Teaching Project. In fact, this summer she has a limited touring schedule so that she can dedicate herself to the various tasks of the educational initiative. The project was started in 1996 and includes lesson plans and a curriculum for use in schools, but it also takes advantage of new technology to link communities separated by both cultural and geographical distance. "It reaches both Indian and non-Indian children with positive realities, while they are young," says the project's web site. The Cradleboard Teaching Project stems from Sainte-Marie's involvement with Kids from Kanata, a similar organization run in partnership with The Canadian Education Association and the Faculty of Education at York University. Students in Canada and the United States can now chat online and share their different experiences and create a better understanding between Natives and non-Natives. The Cradleboard Teaching Project is just one of the tools that Sainte-Marie is using to create awareness of contemporary Native cultures. But whether her vehicle is music, art, television (she was a semi-regular on Sesame Street from 1976-1981) or the Internet, her message is the same: "Indians Exist." "The reality of the situation is that we're not all dead and stuffed in some museum with the dinosaurs; we are here in this digital age," she writes on her home page. She says that Natives have led the way in some aspects of new technology, including digital music and online art. She adds that there are still many opportunities presented by the computer. In a speech at the Institute for American Indian Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she said that with "computer technology becoming so affordable and so awesome in the area of graphics and communications, there is a potential for the Native alternative point-of-view to be shared in major and ongoing ways." Another way of sharing that point of view that Sainte-Marie is involved with is through Creative Native. This organization is dedicated to bringing Native art and entertainment to depressed Native areas and, in the process, celebrating different cultures and achievements. The lifetime achievement award celebrates Sainte-Marie's accomplishments, but the energy and commitment of the woman mean they are far from over. She is acutely aware of the need to keep adapting to the changing world. In her speech to the Institute for American Indian Arts, she summed up the need by saying "It would be my dream to have color and sound setups like I have at home, in every school, on every reservation. To me, a Macintosh is a natural and easy to learn tool, and it belongs in the hands of our beadworkers and powwow singers, our linguists and our historians." She also feels that "Indian people are rising to the potential of the technology, in school and out. We were born for this moment and we are solidly behind our pathfinders." Dancing is a family affair for McCallums By Paul Sinkewicz Sage Writer PINEHOUSE Len McCallum has a strong background in traditional Métis dancing. He's been doing it for 33 of his 40 years. It was at the age of seven that McCallum learned to do the steps of his forefathers with a very special partner. "My mom taught me oldtime jigging," he said. "We used to dance together when I was growing up." The Pinehouse, Sask. resident went on to become a dance teacher. He travelled with Pinehouse's Northern Lights Square Dancers to Ottawa in 1991 to perform Métis dancing during the constitutional talks and has performed and taught all over the province. McCallum took part in the recent Métis Women Youth Headstart Training Project in Prince Albert,as a dance instructor. He said helping the students learn the dance steps is not difficult. "The first day is always hard," McCallum said. "As they relax, then it becomes easier to teach them." Métis dancing incorporates a little bit from several cultures, McCallum said. Part Scottish highland dancing, part powwow dancing, the patterns have blended until the dance is all Red River jig. The last lesson McCallum gave to the class of 10 young Métis women was the Drops of Brandy dance. The students seemed to be slightly intimidated by the choreography of the dance, but were soon twirling with each other and coming down the line like old pros. McCallum has had a lot of practice teaching people to dance the traditional steps. He has seven children and three grandchildren. "I have to try and give attention to all of them," he laughs. His first daughter, Charmaine, now 19, was the lead dancer in each of the square dancing groups he put together. Now his 15-year-old daughter, Vanessa, comes out to events with him. His four-year-old son, Brett, is taking his cue from his dad. Brett imitates the steps McCallum does, proudly showing off for his mom. So, for the time being at least, it looks as if traditional Métis dancing is alive and well in the McCallum family. Weyerhaeuser, Woodland Cree bands ink deal By Paul Sinkewicz Sage Writer PRINCE ALBERT March went out like a lion for three Saskatchewan Indian bands - at least as far as the business climate was concerned. The three Prince Albert area bands signed an agreement with forestry giant Weyerhaeuser Canada to share ownership of a new sawmill set to be built north of the city beginning in May. The mill will begin turning out timber by March 1999. "I think the development we are about to proceed with has opened an opportunity that has been there for many years," said Chief Ron Michel of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. "But it's been an opportunity we have struggled to achieve for many years." Michel said a lack of training for Aboriginal people and the past attitudes of large corporations have left Indian people out of sharing in the benefits of their own resources. "This partnership will show we can work together," Michel said. "This will open the eyes of the public that we mean business and we want business." The deal will add 40 new jobs to the Prince Albert area, not including spin-off jobs in harvesting and transporting the timber destined for the new $22.5 million sawmill. Most of those jobs will be going to local Aboriginal people, with 60 per cent of the employees of the mill expected to be Aboriginal, and Woodland Cree Resources Inc. expected to pick up most of the new harvesting work. The Lac La Ronge Indian Band and the Montreal Lake and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nations signed the deal with Weyerhaeuser's Bill Gaynor, Saskatchewan Division vice-president. Gaynor called the agreement "historic" and said this type of partnership with First Nations was important to Weyerhaeuser. "We believe this type of meaningful partnership is the way of the future in Saskatchewan," Gaynor said. The new company created by the partnership agreement will be called Wapawekka Lumber Ltd., named after the white sand hills in the Lac La Ronge area. "We have shared the land for some years in the Wapawekka area," said Chief Harry Cook of the Lac La Ronge band. "Now we are co-operating in another step." It has been the high capital costs of setting up a sawmill that have prevented local bands from owning their own mill in the past, Cook said. The partnership will now make that possible and give the bands a greater stake in the industry. "This partnership demonstrates co-operation between First Nations, big business and government to the betterment of First Nations people and Saskatchewan in general," Cook said. "First Nations have, in the past, been involved primarily in harvesting and silviculture activities. Now we have the opportunity to move into the manufacturing and ownership side of a resource industry." Montreal Lake Chief Henry Naytowhow gave praise to the former chief of his band, now working for Indian and Northern Affairs, for starting the band on the road to co-ownership with Weyerhaeuser. Naytowhow said it was Roy Bird "who started the vision and the hope that someday we would get a share of our resources." Naytowhow also recalled when Prince Albert Grand Council Chief Alphonse Bird was still a band councillor at Montreal Lake, he had a terrible time just getting tree thinning contracts with Weyerhaeuser. Alphonse Bird was sitting in the audience as Naytowhow added his name to the deal that put Montreal Lake around the ownership table of the sawmill, and Roy Bird was on hand to present a painting on birch bark to each of the four ownership member groups on behalf of Ottawa. The next step for Wapawekka is to begin hiring its first batch of employees, according to General Manager Frank Aubert. By August he expects to have the core of his 40-employee staff chosen and in training. By October, most of the rest of the staff will be hired and will begin a a three to four month training process in preparation for the start up. For the initial life of the sawmill it will turn out two-by-four lumber using its innovative new cutting technology that allows small dimension logs to be used for wood rather that wood chips. The plant will then ship the wood to the Big River sawmill for kiln drying. Gaynor said it's possibile the owners will decide to expand the Wapawekka plant once it become financially stable, but couldn't say when that might happen. Learning with my boys By Denis Okanee Angus Sage Columnist Hidden in the grass is my littlest boy Jack. He loves the horse. The horse in the picture is named Thunder. He belongs to my oldest boy, Brandon. He earned his own money to buy that horse when he was just 12. He wanted a horse really bad but his mom said, "it's not in the budget." So he saved all his money from a powwow that he won. He did some work for the neighbors. We were pretty proud of what he accomplished. We don't live on the main part of the reserve. We live on a small section of reserve land on the lake. It's about a 30-minute drive from the main reserve to where we live. When we brought Thunder home, Brandon walked the horse most of the way from the reserve. It wasn't' broke yet, that horse. It took off on us once. I burned my hands on the rope. We didn't know too much about horses back then, but we know a little now. We have made a pasture for the horse, the boys and I. We cut rails in the bush, sunk fence posts, and cleared some the land. It was hard work. The boys and I worked together. We learned together. Brandon did most of the work breaking the horse. Lots of people have helped us with advice. We laugh a lot about the horse. Thunder is high-spirited and so is our oldest son Brandon. Thunder's mane is the same color as Brandon's long hair. We laugh because those two are so much alike and they both have a little bit of a temper. They are both really stubborn. Sometime, Brandon gets so mad at his horse. They are both really playful. This winter, he pulled the boys around on the sled. Thunder fights with the dogs, though he never hurts them. We laugh at the horse a lot. Jack loves Thunder. He sat on him for the first time this year, just a few days ago. You could just tell that Jack was just proud of himself. You can just tell that Jack is going to grow up loving horses. The weather has gotten warm and we will be outside a lot more now. I am really proud that the kids and I have learned together. It makes me proud because I know that horses are so important to our people. My dad raised and kept horses. He talks about all the places he went with a wagon hitched up to his team of horses. It's good to keep this family tradition. It's also good to be with my kids. I remember one story my dad told me about buying a team of horses from Poundmaker's reserve. Well, one day that team of horses took off on him. He followed them and they had gone right back to Poundmaker. I guess they thought of it as home. On his way over there he found a big patch of Saskatoon berries. When he got his horses home, he hitched up a wagon and took his family back to that patch to go berry picking. They brought lots of Saskatoon berries back to Thunderchild and shared them with the people. Everyone was happy.