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Elder honored,
remembered at round dance
By Pamela Sexsmith
Sage Writer
THUNDERCHILD FIRST NATION
Round dance season winds down in late April, just as the powwow
season is starting to warm up. One of the last memorial round
dances of the new year was held at Thunderchild First Nation
in honor of the late Sylvester Cardinal and several family members.
Friends and family coming in from Onion Lake, Ministikwan, Prince
Albert, Lloydminster, Frog Lake, Loon Lake, Saddle Lake and Thunderchild,
joined the circle to honor the memory of a man who had touched
so many lives.
From the first tuning of the hand drums, by way to fire, to the
last song of the night, a memorial round dance is held for everyone
in the community, friends, family and esteemed Elders. It's a
time to honor traditional ways and the memories of those who
have guided us in the past.
Special honor songs are sung and prayers offered as the drums
are passed through the sweetgrass smoke.
After the blessing with sweetgrass, Elder Norman Sunchild led
the memorial prayers and gave several commemorative speeches
on the life of his good friend Sylvester Cardinal.
His tribute touched on the family's growing respect for traditional
culture and medicine. Elder Sunchild spoke in depth about his
great respect for his late friend, a man who had helped so many
people with his deep knowledge of plants, spirits and Native
medicine. He also noted that a growing number of young boys and
men present were honoring true Neheyew tradition with the wearing
of long braids.
The drum, including several members of Red Bull - led by Brian
Waskewitch and a number of enthusiastic singers and players attending
the round dance - was accompanied by Delia Bull, a talented singer
who lent a powerful feminine voice to many traditional Cree songs.
According to Plains Cree tradition, a fire was kept burning all
night, from the beginning of the feast to the end of the round
dance.
The camp fire proved to be a very popular gathering spot for
many young people attending with their parents and grandparents.
Location
of new hospital causing conflict
By Stephen LaRose
Sage Writer
FORT QU'APPELLE
In many other Saskatchewan communities, news of a new hospital
would inspire celebrations in the streets. However, the town
of Fort Qu'Appelle isn't like many other communities.
Next spring, chiefs from the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council
hope to turn the first sod for the new $12 million facility which
is scheduled to open by Oct. 2003. At this moment, few people
outside the reserves which ring the town of 2,500 are celebrating.
That was the apparent result of a public meeting April 13 at
Fort Qu'Appelle's Bert Fox Composite High School gymnasium, where
more than 200 attended a public meeting regarding the new facility.
While many questioned where the new facility will, in all probability,
be built, many still questioned whether the tribal council, through
its holding company, could provide adequate health care efficiently
for the district's Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population.
As the two-hour meeting droned on, Okanese First Nations Chief
Maryanne Daywalker-Pelletier grew increasingly exasperated at
the mostly non-Aboriginal population's questions about everything
from the location of the new facility to the status of contracts
between unionized hospital workers and the holding company.
"We are talking only of ourselves here, we are not talking
about tomorrow and what this new hospital will provide,"
she said. "There is no vision for the future of this community."
Many in the audience objected to the favored site of the new
hospital, Lot 17, on Fort Qu'Appelle's south side near the Treaty
4 Governance Centre. Many said the site would be difficult to
reach in the event of an emergency.
"I don't want to have the dubious distinction of being the
first person to die in an ambulance on the way to the hospital,
waiting for the train to pass," said one person.
Other speakers said access to the south side of town was difficult
and at times dangerous due to "blind" corners.
Despite the lack of enthusiasm expressed by most at the two-hour
meeting for what planners say is the best site for the new hospital,
the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council's representative president
said he was happy with the result after the meeting.
"The issues that came tonight are no different from what
we've heard before," said Ron Crowe, who also chairs the
joint capital and planning committee, which has overseen efforts
leading to the new hospital. "We've responsibly shared the
information that's required for us to make our decisions."
While many in the audience may not like the prime site for the
new facility, the hospital board can defend that choice, he added.
"We were able to address every single concern that came
from the floor," said Crowe. "We can't accommodate
everyone, we can't locate the facility in the totally ideal place,
but we are working with the facts that we have before us. And
those facts are what we will use to make our decision."
That decision could come as soon as this month, when the holding
company board meet to decide where the new hospital will be located.
Construction on the new facility is expected to begin in the
spring of 2001. Under the agreement made amongst the federal
and provincial governments and the FHQTC to fund the new facility,
the new hospital must open its doors by Oct. 31, 2003.
The JCPC commissioned a study by a Regina architectural firm,
which recommended that the new hospital should be built on Lot
17.
The site scored the highest of four sites studied for the new
complex, said Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital administrator Debbie
Sinnett.
Amongst the areas studied were parking, traffic needs, size of
the lot, stability of the land and public convenience.
One site considered is "Parcel Q," near the current
Echo Lodge and the current FQIH in downtown Fort Qu'Appelle.
The study said the land available would be too small and would
lead to parking and noise pollution problems.
The town of Fort Qu'Appelle, along with the resort villages of
Fort San and B-Say-Tah and the regional municipality of North
Qu'Appelle, have passed resolutions asking that the new hospital
be built close to the site of the current FQIH. The Touchwood
Qu'Appelle Health District board also favors building the facility
close to the current hospital.
Meanwhile the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council passed a resolution
asking the hospital be built on Fort Qu'Appelle's south side.
However, traffic surveys also show that almost all who come to
the hospital arrive by vehicle, not on foot. Crowe also says
the fact the hospital could be built across the railway tracks
from most residents is also a concern, but for some the hospital's
current location is already a concern.
"Those who are coming from the south side of town or from
south of the community currently have to cross the railway tracks
to come to the hospital."
After the meeting, Fort Qu'Appelle Mayor Lynn Anderson and the
TQHD's chief executive officer, Royce Gill, appeared to soften
a hard-line stance regarding the hospital's location.
"I hope the strong feelings of certain individuals doesn't
divide the community," Gill said after the meeting. "We
have to work together for the betterment of the health services."
While the town would like the new hospital to be built closer
to downtown, Mayor Anderson said in his summation at the meetings'
end that council will co-operate and give its support once the
final location site has been selected.
No matter where the hospital will be built, the facility will
stay on reserve lands. If the holding company chooses Parcel
Q, the Town will agree to convert that land to reserve status,
said Mayor Anderson.
Almost all the money for the new Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital
will come from a $12 million grant the federal government has
made in previous years to the province, Crowe said.
This will make the Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital unique among
health care facilities in the province, where most are built,
paid for in large part, and operated by Saskatchewan Health and
local health districts.
Saskatchewan
dominates national curling finals
By Paul Barnsley
Sage Writer
SASKATOON
Rinks led by Marshall Bear of Little Pine and Lena Dubray
of Beauval ended the four-day National Aboriginal Curling Championships
with victories on April 24, outlasting competition from across
Canada to claim their respective titles at Saskatoon's Granite
Club.
Bear's foursome knocked off the home town Maynard Whitehead rink
8-6 to claim the men's championship. Dubray's team edged a Winnipeg
foursome led by skip Loretta Meade 8-7 to earn the women's title.
Brennan Merasty of Ile-a-la-Crosse claimed the junior men's final
game win while another Saskatchewanian, Sharise Kadachuk of Cumberland
House earned the national junior girl's title.
Curling fans with long memories noted that Bear and Dubray had
previously won national titles, both in 1995.
The men's champs - Marshall Bear, lead Marcel Bear (Marshall's
son), Mark Kennedy and Earl Nighttraveller - claimed the $4,000
purse as well as trophies and jackets.
Lena Dubray, a Meadow Lake member, and her team - Yvette Gagnon,
Andrea Dubray (Lena's daughter) and Dianne Sergeew - took home
$2,000 in cash and the trophies and jackets.
Eighty-one rinks competed in the various divisions.
Team Meadow
Lake does it again and again
By Marj Roden
Sage Writer
SASKATOON
Meadow Lake Tribal Council athletes piled up the points to
give their team its third straight overall title at the 2000
Saskatchewan First Nation Winter Games, held this year in Saskatoon.
Eugene Arcand, the games manager, had little trouble describing
how he felt the games turned out.
"An overwhelming success," said Arcand on the final
day. "In all ways. Organizationally, culturally, in terms
of emotionally . . . it's just been a great event."
The four days of competition started April 24. Competitive events
at various levels in volleyball, hockey, broomball, badminton,
and indoor soccer attracted teams representing tribal councils
from all parts of the province. As well, the Saskatchewan Indian
Cultural Centre powwow ran for the first two days of the games
at Saskatchewan Place.
The crowds on hand at all of the events added to the overall
success of the games.
"It's been huge," said Arcand of the attendance. "All
the venues have been full. Our special events have all turned
out okay. Great attendance, probably the best ever."
One of those events was an elite boxing card on the evening of
April 26 at Saskatchewan Place, which featured Saskatchewan First
Nation boxer and Olympic hopeful Jesse Laframbroise, as well
as other professional boxers.
A video dance was held the same evening for the athletes at Centennial
Auditorium. Most of the athletes attended the dance, except for
the ones who would be competing in the gold-medal hockey games
at Saskatchewan Place the next day.
Once all the competitions were over, the main trophies were handed
out and, for the third straight year, the Meadow Lake Tribal
Council walked away with the overall team trophy with 309 points.
Second spot went to Prince Albert Grand Council with 265 points.
Third went to Battleford with 231, fourth to Saskatoon with 201
points, fifth was a tie between the Agency Chiefs and the File
Hills Qu'Appelle with 190. Yorkton finished seventh, then Touchwood,
then Onion Lake. South East Treaty Four took the final spot.
The most improved team trophy went to the Battlefords, who improved
from fifth place to third in a period of one year. The games
will be held in Prince Albert next year.
Turtle Lake:
Where I live
By Denis Okanee Angus
Sage Columnist
When the Thunderchild First Nation was moved from Delmas,
the community was given land on the water at Turtle Lake so the
people could fish. The lake is in the shape of a turtle but there
are no turtles in it (at least we haven't seen any).
The eagles nest at Turtle Lake over on the island just down from
the house. There are also geese, ducks, and herons - there are
thousands of birds. The moose have their babies down the lake
by the island and so do the birds. And it's spring time now,
so all the animals are having their babies. I take my kids down
the lake to see what we can see.
After the snow is gone and the buds are out on the trees, the
creek is running high. It is full of thousands of suckers making
their way upstream to spawn if they can get by the beaver dams.
The kids and I go walking in the creek and each of us get a hundred
suckers nibbling at our legs and toes. We scoop up the fish and
toss them onto the bank. It's fun cleaning and smoking them.
Good eating them. It's hard to believe but people as far away
as North Dakota have been there when the suckers are running
up this little creek down the road from my house.
Where the creek is, Thunderchild has a culture camp for the kids
every year. At camp the children meet Elders and the Elders teach
them about sweetgrass and other Indian medicines as well as ceremonies
such as the sweat. This place is very beautiful in July.
There is an osprey's nest right by the log houses that were built
by some friends for the culture camp. During the cultural camp,
we have teepees there and they are scattered around. There's
buffalo living at a farm just across the road. Some people bring
their horses and wagons. It makes me think of what it must have
been like for the people a long time ago.
Turtle Lake is a beautiful place with the island and the hay
flats. It is a beautiful home for the moose, deer, rabbit and
fish. We have plenty.
My family has been here at Thunderchild for five generations
now. I left a long time ago but Turtle Lake called me back just
like the geese and all the animals that keep coming back.
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Published May 11, 2000