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Published
October 13, 1998
 |
Cross-country ride ends successfully in Squamish territory It was all smiles for Andrew Merasty when he arrived in North Vancouver
on Sept. 15. It was the end of a 5,800 km cross-country trip that started
in Halifax on June 14. Merasty, a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation,
was welcomed to Squamish territory by hereditary Chief Bill Williams. Merasty's
parents were also on hand to greet their boy. Photo Credit: Ronald B. Barbour | |
First Nation trying to get financial house in order
by Marie BurkeFather determined to read
by Pamela GreenName the new public school in Lloyd
by Pamela GreenA rose for a star: A tribute
by Alison KyddDemand for Aboriginal teachers on the rise
by Brian CrossMy travels to Maori territory
By Denis Okanee Angus
Sage ColumnistHere is a full list of additional stories featured in the October, 1998 issue of Saskatchewan Sage. If you are not receiving your own copy of Saskatchewan Sage, then you have missed all this information.
First Nation
trying to get financial house in order
By Marie Burke
Sage Staff Writer
DUCK LAKE, Sask.
Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation has initiated a forensic investigation of its finances.
The investigation, expected to take 10 months to complete, started in May when band members directed their newly elected chief and council to bring their discouraging financial situation under control. The band's total debt is nearly $15 million, including accounts payable.
"As leaders, we had to do it," said Chief Rick Gamble of the investigation. "Our band had to do it."
The long-range goal for the band is to achieve a $500,000 surplus in the next five years. Gamble said it is possible. He wants Beardy's to stay away from third party management under Indian affairs and hopes the department will let the band continue to manage its situation.
Cheryl Zurawski, media spokesperson at the Indian affairs regional office in Regina, confirmed it is supporting Beardy's in developing and implementing its action plan. According to the department, there are 70 First Nation in Saskatchewan and more than half of them are involved in some sort of remedial management plan with DIAND. Remedial management proceeds in stages, said Stuart Swanson, special advisor, fiscal relations, department of Indian affairs in Ottawa. The first stage of intervention by DIAND and a First Nation facing financial difficulties is a self administered financial plan. At that time the band is acknowledging it is facing a deficit due to a shortfall or oversight in financial planning and takes steps to correct the situation. DIAND looks at the band's action plan and offers assistance. It's an ideal situation where the band develops its own remedial financial plan and DIAND helps implement it.
In the next stage, a co-management plan, DIAND has reached a conclusion that a band's financial plan is not working and an accounting firm is called in to provide professional advice and assistance. The accounting firm's fees for service come out of the funding arrangement with DIAND and the band.
In the last level of intervention, a third party management plan, DIAND takes over financial management by hiring a professional administrator. The administrator acts as a general manager accountable to DIAND. Ideally, DIAND looks for an administrator who has a good working relationship with chief and council. Third party management usually happens when delivery of essential services is threatened. A detailed plan of action is developed with the community to ensure it receives essential services.
Swanson said that each level of intervention has three main goals in common; stabilizing the financial crisis, maintaining essential services, and developing a plan to permanently resolve the problem.
A forensic audit is on a different level altogether. A forensic investigation is based on an allegation that is fairly specific and has some weight, said Swanson. The RCMP are usually called to do forensic investigations to determine whether a crime has been committed. In Beardy's case, however, the band chose to use an accounting firm to do its investigation. The auditor, along with chief and council, decide with legal advice whether to call the RCMP to investigate. This auditor can also determine whether allegations represent fraud. So far, Beardy's has turned over one file to the RCMP. This is in regards to the band's association with a local junior hockey team called Beardy's Rage. Other programs are still being investigated.
In an effort to clear up its financial condition, the band council has decided to levy a surcharge on band employees, including chief and council, to offset the cost of non-funded programs such as sports and recreation, funerals, water and garbage hauling. Band members will also be required to pay rent on band housing.
"A large majority of band members have pulled together. They respect our direction and the cutbacks," said Gamble. Some band employees are job sharing and there have been some layoffs. Gamble said the cutbacks and job sharing will not affect essential services like health and education.
"It shows me that people are willing to make sacrifices," said Chief Gamble about the process of the financial restructuring. Gamble says it's a wake up call and a reality check. It is also about accountability and what that means to First Nations.
Father determined
to read
By Pamela Green
Sage Writer
LLOYDMINSTER
When 15-year-old Clifford Moyah first moved into Lloydminster, Sask., after living most of his life on a reserve, he found that he was truly a stranger in a strange land.
Town life was not only scary and confusing, to be a fluent Cree speaker in an English speaking world, unable to read, write or even ask for directions in English, it was also very intimidating
Moyah soon adjusted, however, learning bits and pieces of English, but he still found it difficult to express himself or communicate in his new language.
At the age of 26, he became a single parent, the proud father of a set of twins. He sought advice from his family on how to best raise his son and daughter on his own and made a pledge that his children would grow up equally fluent in both Cree and English.
The twins, Patrick and Patricia, are bright, happy children who presented no real problems for their dad, until they started kindergarten. When the twins brought home a letter from school and a homework assignment from their teacher, Moyah found himself way out of his depth.
"I remember that it was scary and I didn't know what to do. My twins brought a letter home and I couldn't read it. The teachers wanted me to help my children with their homework, and I didn't want anyone to know that I couldn't read or write. Moyah felt so bad that he cried.
After going to an interview with the teachers at the children's school, Moyah came home with a plan. The teachers had encouraged him to take the literacy course at the Lloydminster Native Friendship Centre and become a reader, both for himself and for his twins.
Moyah enrolled in the 26-week literacy course and, although he found it difficult in the beginning, he soon learned to juggle his job as a janitor with his schooling and his life as a single parent.
Lessons in reading, writing and arithmatic, tied in with a curriculum full of life skills, were beginning to give Moyah an edge he had never had before. Going to the bank and into stores became easier because he was learning to count, add and subtract.
Taking his reading to a Grade 6 level from a Grade 2 level empowered him to do something he had only dreamed of before - take and pass his beginner's test for a driver's license.
Learning new life skills, taking field trips with his classmates and buckling down to a routine of challenging work, gave his self-esteem a big boost and solidified his desire to carry on and learn as much as he could, said Moyah.
Best of all, he can go home after school, take good care of his twins, and help them with their homework after supper.
It was during graduation ceremonies of the Aboriginal Literacy Program that Moyah got his biggest surprise. He was presented with two awards, one for best attendance and the other for most improved student in his graduating class.
"Learning to read and write makes you feel much better about yourself. When you think about the way you were before, and what you can do now, you can really see a big change. I hit rock bottom when I couldn't help Patrick and Patricia with their homework last year, and now this year, I can.
"What's also great is that I can even read them a bedtime story now, something I couldn't do before. If you can't read or write, don't be embarrassed or scared. Take a course and you will feel better about yourself, and if you have friends who can't read or write, encourage them to take a literacy course like I did."
Name the new public school in Lloyd
By Pamela Green
Sage Writer
LLOYDMINSTER
The ground has been leveled, the roads laid out, and the first stages of construction are about to begin for a brand new elementary school in Lloydminster.
What the city will have is a new $6 million school complex that will serve the community well and that Lloydminster can be proud of for many years to come, said Dr. Don Duncan, director of education. It will be a "new school that will be welcoming and supportive of all the education plans we foresee in the future."
And except for some last minute fine-tuning of the blueprints and the final decision on the official name for the new school, Duncan is expecting clear sailing for the grand opening that will take place in September 2000.
Lloydminster's board of education has asked the community to offer suggestions for a new name for a school. The board is hoping the name would be significant in the Lloydminster context and provide a strong message and motivation for all those who subsequently attend and work at the school, Duncan said.
The new school is being built to serve the needs of families living on the eastern Saskatchewan side of town, in an area with the highest concentration of First Nations peoples, both Aboriginal and Métis, living in Lloydminster.
And for the very first time in the history of the city, there is a real possibility that the name of a new school could reflect both the culture and spirituality of Aboriginal people who have been living here for more than 20,000 years.
Dr. Duncan called the idea of an Aboriginal name for the new school, a "legitimate suggestion" and added that "it is critical that children do see their culture reflected in the schools, something that gives a sense of connectiveness to the history of the people and the community."
Much has been told of the help and support given to the early English settlers in this region by First Nations people, explained local historian and writer Keith Davison
"For raw Englishmen to survive in this climate, they would have needed lots of help, someone to show them how to catch rabbits. They got that help from First Nations people who were expert trappers, hunters and guides and who for instance, showed them how to cut and transport the huge logs for the building of the original Lloydminster church, still standing today," he said.
"The idea of using a prominent First Nations personage to honor in the name of this new school is a wonderful concept. It would do much to instill pride in the past and a sense of hope for all the students who attend the new school," Davidson said.
"Fortunately, our area has been blessed in the fact that we have many First Nations people in our past who have contributed positively and heroically to our history," he said.
Davidson, who has completed original and comprehensive research into the Northwest Rebellion, suggested several possibilities for names of prominent First Nations people in the region, including Toussaint Calling Bull of Band 120, Frog Lake Chief Seekaskootch, also known as Cut Arm of Band 119, and Onion Lake leader Big Bear, Mistihai Muskwa.
Another First Nations person, important in the field of education, was Charles Quinney of Onion Lake who started the very first schools at Frog Lake, said Davidson.
It is ironic that, in light of the fact that Aboriginal people have made significant contributions to the establishment and building of Lloydminster, there is not a single public building or school within either the public or Catholic systems that has been named after a person of Aboriginal descent.
A number of non-Aboriginal men and their families have been honored, along with several Catholic saints, one English queen and one English prime minister, in the naming of public buildings and facilities.
The idea of naming a new school, which will have a population of about 35 per cent Aboriginal students, according to Neville Goss Principal Bill Hanson, after an important First Nations leader, hero or role model, is brand new.
"The association between one's heritage and the pride that comes with a connection across the ages is an important part of personal well-being and identity," said James McAra, executive director of the Lloydminster Native Friendship Centre.
"For Aboriginal youth in the urban educational environment, traditional values and knowledge are an important part of their life. The naming of a school is a display of respect for tradition, and becomes a significant public display of culturally relevant persons or events. This will add a tremendous amount of validity to a young person's growth and potential."
To date, said Duncan, the board has received a number of new name suggestions (a public forum is open until Oct. 15) and as a whole, the board will sit down and review the suggestions.
When four Aboriginal students in Grades 3 and 4 who will be attending the new school were asked by their principal, Bill Hanson, how they would feel about going to a school named after someone from their Native culture, they said that it would make them feel proud, very good and help them to remember someone famous they knew.
Mikie Thunderchild, a great-great-grandson of Chief Thunderchild, said he would be happy to see the new school named after his famous ancestor.
A rose for a star: A tribute
By Allison Kydd
Sage Writer
COQUITLAM, B.C.
When George Mander and his wife, Ingrid, heard Saskatchewan's own Buffy Sainte-Marie in concert they decided then and there to name George's next rose after her.
Not only did they enjoy Sainte-Marie's
singing, but also her sense of humor and her outspoken commentary on current
events. They were impressed because she composes her own music and writes
her own lyrics.
Up until that point they hadn't known much about her. However, after the concert in April 1996, they became experts on her many educational and humanitarian achievements. Sainte-Marie's Order of Canada is the second highest award that can be given in Canada and her Cradleboard Teaching Project aims to create awareness of contemporary Native cultures and to build bridges between Natives and non-Natives. Ingrid wonders why so little of Sainte-Marie's achievements are publicized in the mainstream media.
When the concert was over, the Manders went backstage to meet the star and were surprised by how approachable she was. Though busy signing CD's and autographs for other fans, Sainte-Marie took the time to talk to them and seemed delighted by the idea of being a rose's namesake. In fact, she would have signed a permission form right there. George, however, suggested they wait six months until he could see whether he had a new rose which would be worthy of the honor.
George, a retired machine fitter, has been cross-breeding hybrid roses (hybridizing) for 29 years. He specializes in floribundas and miniature roses. The Buffy Sainte-Marie rose is a floribunda, but has strains of miniature parentage as well. The mature plant will produce blooms three or four inches in diameter, either in sprays (several blooms per stem) or single blooms, if pinched.
The rose is light red, changing to salmon, then to pink, with golden yellow highlights on the reverse and at the base of the petals.
Ingrid is impressed by her husband's dedication to the hybridizing process. She points out that George has introduced a half dozen new varieties to the hybrid rose market in the past 12 years. Considering he germinates his seeds under grow-lights in their basement and that it takes at least six years - often closer than 10 - to properly develop, test and register a new rose, this seems a considerable achievement.
The Buffy Sainte-Marie rose comes from a batch of 14,000 seeds (1,500 rose hips) which were produced when George cross-pollinated two hybrid roses in June 1994. In fall of the same year, he harvested his bumper crop of seeds and stored them in a cool location until February 1995. Usually only 10 to 25 per cent of the seeds germinate, said George. But in this case, 4,750 seeds germinated. Of those, he pruned out all but the best 100. Typically, his rose seedlings first bloom within about 10 weeks of germination. At that time they are only six to 10 inches tall.
Still the process is far from finished.
"At the end of the growing season [of the third year], another 50 to 70 per cent may have to be eliminated because of poor growth and health," said George. Or "blooms that do not stand up to wet weather or hot sun, or do not open at all because of too many petals." Often only two to five seedlings are worth keeping, he said. However, from this crop, about a dozen survived the elimination process.
By the autumn after the Manders met Sainte-Marie, they were certain George had a good rose, so Ingrid contacted Sainte-Marie and got the permission papers signed. They also promised to send the singer two sample bushes, one to be planted in her mother's garden and one at Sainte-Marie's home in Hawaii. At the same time, George was ready to offer the rose for registration by the official International Authority for Roses. That meant having it tested by nurseries across the world. Last year, George sent cuttings of his rose to Ontario, Oregon and Bulgaria. This year it is being tested in England and California, as well.
Not only has the Buffy Sainte-Marie rose been commended wherever it has been tested and registered with the American Rose Society, which serves as the International Registration Authority for Roses, it also won the award for Best Floribunda Bloom at the Annual Seattle Rose Show held last June 13. It is being grown at several nurseries in Canada and should be available commercially by the spring of the year 2000, here, as well as in England and the United States.
By that time, the Buffy Sainte-Marie Rose Bed - 20 plants make a bed - in the Centennial Rose Garden on Burnaby Mountain near Simon Fraser University, should be ready for viewing.
Demand for Aboriginal teachers on the rise
By Brian Cross
Sage Writer
SASKATOON
The number of Aboriginal teachers working in Saskatoon's public schools is increasing gradually, but attracting and retaining Native educators can be a slow and difficult process, said administrators at the Saskatoon Board of Education.
"We've hired some marvelous people and we're very pleased with the quality of people we have hired, but recruitment is very competitive," said deputy director of education, Jim Jutras.
"We know that some large school divisions from Alberta are recruiting here and we also know that many of the people in the TEP (Native teacher education) programs come from rural or northern communities and have a commitment to return to those communities after they graduate."
According to Jutras, the Saskatoon board has been quite aggressive in its attempts to recruit new Aboriginal teachers.
This year, for example, the board stepped up its presence at the ITEP, SUNTEP and NORTEP programs and offered new teaching contracts to nine Aboriginal teachers.
The board has also taken steps to increase the awareness of Aboriginal culture in the classroom and it's established a committee to pinpoint new ways of attracting and retaining teachers.
"We've put a great deal of effort into this, but we feel we can still do better," Jutras said.
"We know that the number of Aboriginal students is growing and we think it's very important that they have role models in the classroom."
The Saskatoon Board of Education released an employment equity report containing statistics on the number of Aboriginal teachers in Saskatoon's public schools.
According to the report, 53 of the school division's 1,226 teachers (4.3 per cent) are of Aboriginal ancestry.
That compares with 2,775 Aboriginal students in a total student population
of 21,799
(12.7 per cent).
My travels to Maori territory
By Denis Okanee Angus
Sage Columnist
When I went to New Zealand with my family, I had the opportunity to spend a week in a Maori settlement. This settlement was at the north end of the North Island. It is called Pawarenga.
While in Pawarenga, I met a Maori man they called Chiefie. Chiefie became our guide to the community and took us all around the hills which circle the community. Over the hills to the west, you can see the ocean. The children and I rode horses up into the hills to see the waterfalls. This is the source of their fresh water in the community.
My son Brandon had a friend, Afatu, at Pawarenga. They spent most of their time together doing chores, riding horses or just being teenage boys. The two boys were responsible for setting the fish nets when the tide was coming in. Brandon learned about Maori fishing traditions.
They were netting flounder. They had some close calls and several adventures in that river.
Some of what we learned in Pawarenga was sad. There used to be a forest of kauri trees. These trees grow very, very large. We drove through a forest on the way to Pawarenga and stopped to see the second biggest tree in the world. It was a kauri tree that was about 2,000 years old. These trees also occupy a significant place in the creation story of the Maori. The kauri trees, when the world was born, separated Mother Earth and Father Sky. The settlers cut down this forest, because both the wood and the gum from the trees were so valuable. However, I understood when I heard the people of the community talking about what had happened to them, that a sacred wrong had been done to the people.
There are many similarities between what has happened to First Nations in Canada and to the Maori people of New Zealand. There are also many differences. Maori people own their land. It is not held in trust for the people in the way Indian reserves are in Canada. Although this allows some opportunity for economic development for the Maori, it also means they have to pay tax on their lands. They have, over the years, lost a lot of their land for failing to pay the taxes.
The shrinking land base is an important issue for Maori people. Because the land is owned outright by individual Maoris, I also think that they are putting to use more of their land. There were fields and animals everywhere.
Their paddocks are much smaller than our pastures here in Canada. And there are billions of sheep sheep everywhere!
My eldest boy noted when we were at Pawarenga, that it was "just like Thunderchild, only it's not flat." He was right in his assessment (and the land was so beautiful green and hilly). Even though we were so far away from home, we fit right in to the goings-on of Pawarenga.
While in Pawarenga, Chiefie took us on a wild pig hunt. They use their dogs, spears and knives. It was very exciting to be in the forest on horseback. Too bad we never found a razorback!
I am thinking about hunting season now that I am back home in Canada. But thinking of hunting makes me remember New Zealand and I miss my friends there. Maybe one day Chiefie and his family will make it over this way and we can go out looking for a moose like the one in the photograph.