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Top News - March - 2004
Published March 15, 2004
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Saskatchewan's diversity inspires youth project
Presentations highlight challenges facing women
Community recognizes past hockey greatsThis is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the March 2004 issue of Saskatchewan Sage. If you are not receiving your own copy of Sage, then you have missed out on a lot.
Saskatchewan's diversity inspires youth project
Cheryl Petten, Sage Writer, Regina
Aboriginal youth are being invited to join with other young people from across Saskatchewan to have their say in how to celebrate and preserve the province's cultural diversity.
The Youth Action Now program, launched March 1, is a joint project of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress-Saskatchewan Provincial Council and the Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan, with funding from the provincial and federal governments. The idea behind the project is to give youth from all cultural backgrounds a chance to get together and develop action plans for fighting racism and celebrating diversity.
Victoria Morris is programming co-ordinator for Youth Action Now. She explained that a project like this was needed because of the diversity of Saskatchewan's population.
"I think Saskatchewan is unique in Canada because it's the only province that the majority of the population is not of French or English descent. So to start with it's got a huge variety of ethnic representation," she said.
The Youth Action Now project has three main goals, Morris said.
"The first one's called multicultural connectivity, so that one is increasing opportunities for young people to become engaged in multiculturalism. And then the second one is multicultural awareness, building and sort of opening doors, making more opportunities for young people to get involved. And then the third one is called increased global perspective. So that one will be working with educational institutions, sort of looking at different perspectives and taking a global view and knowing what's happening globally about multiculturalism.
"Aside from the three main goals, we're also doing some work looking at young people's perceptions and attitudes toward Saskatchewan," Morris added. "Looking at what there is going on here and highlighting what people are doing that are staying here."
As part of the project, 19 public forums will be held targeting high school students, post-secondary students and members of Saskatchewan's ethno-cultural communities.
Young people wanting to get involved in Youth Action Now can do so in a number of ways, from taking part in the consultation process, to helping to facilitate that process.
"We are currently looking for young people to get involved, both from all over the province and from a whole array of cultural backgrounds as well," Morris said.
"We're assembling a team of young people from across the province that are going to get some training in facilitation. And then they are going to go around the province and facilitate workshops with other young people and consult with them and talk about multiculturalism and what they'd like to see and figure out some plans. As well as at the same time talking about attitudes and that kind of thing," Morris said. Setting up a youth advisory council is also on the agenda, to help guide the project.
The results of the consultations and workshops will be presented at a gathering planned for June 27, 2005, to coincide with Multiculturalism Day and Saskatchewan's centennial. Work will then begin to implement the recommendations coming out of the report.
Organizers are looking for youth aged 16 to 30 to become involved as project leaders or advisory council members and, although these are volunteer positions, successful candidates will receive some excellent training, Victoria Morris said.
"I think it provides a really great experience ... this level of experience and the training that they'll get and the ability to use it throughout the project, and be supported to use it, at least the experience I've had, its pretty unique and it's a very useful skill to have.
"In terms of the bigger picture of multiculturalism and why it's really cool if young people get involved is partially because Saskatchewan is so diverse, and so is Canada. And I think young people do get really interested in looking at both their own culture as well as other people's cultures. And I think it's a good way for people to come together and appreciate each other."
For more information about Youth Action Now and how you can get involved, visit the UCC Web site at www.ucc.sk.ca and click on What's New, or contact Victoria Morris at yan.victoria@ucc.sk.ca or by calling 652-0961.
Presentations highlight challenges facing women
Shirley Collingridge, Sage Writer, Saskatoon
The Business and Professional Women's Club (BPW) strives "to improve the social and economic status of working women, encourage women to pursue political office and lobby all levels of government to effect positive change."
When the Saskatoon chapter of the BPW held its International Women's Day celebration March 2, it needed a keynote speaker who epitomized its mandate. They found the person they were looking for in Saskatoon provincial court judge Mary-Ellen Turpel-Lafond.
Turpel-Lafond is the first treaty Indian appointed as a judge in Saskatchewan and is one of Saskatchewan's most highly educated judges. She holds a master of laws from Cambridge and a doctorate in law from Harvard.
Women are universally under-represented in positions of power, saidTurpel-Lafond. "Women make up about 52 per cent of the population, yet for most of the history-of Canada at least-women have been given an inferior status," she said.
"Women didn't win the right to vote until 1920. Of course for First Nation women, it was 1960," she said. "First Nation women were not even able to run for a position on band council under the Indian Act until 1960."
It is important to recognize the distinction between rights and reality, she said. "Although we have achieved, in some ways, legal equality, actual equality is still way off. Old stereotypes die hard," she said.
Those stereotypes are even more deeply entrenched for Aboriginal women.
While most women face the metaphorical glass ceiling, "for Aboriginal women, sometimes there is what we call the buckskin ceiling as well as the glass ceiling. So you might just get through one and reach the other," she said.
"There are very few women in positions of leadership inside the Aboriginal community that are very supported," she said, adding that it is time that those barriers are overcome.
Turpel-Lafond is a walking example of a successful stereotype fighter. A member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, she has already achieved what few women of any nationality have. Time magazine named her one of the top 100 global leaders in 1994. In 1999, the same publication listed her as one of the top 20 Canadian leaders for the next millennium.
In addition to being a judge, Turpel-Lafond is also a wife and mother. She said she chose to have a family as well as a career but not everyone feels free to decide.
"We are still bombarded with images and values which reinforce the idea that the best place for a woman is at home with the children," she said.
"It is important that women make real choices, not just choices that are foisted upon them.
"There's a lot of work that has to be done yet-in the political world, in the academic world, in the corporate world," she said. "Women are not yet represented equally in the boardrooms of this province or Canada. We have made great strides but I don't think we should fool ourselves. There are many prevailing attitudes at work in our society, which impede real equality.
"I urge you to resist the stereotypes we are talking about in your homes, in your workplaces. Anywhere there is a certain myth that women are not good enough ... we should really challenge it," she said.
Turpel-Lafond admires other strong leaders like Leanne Bellegarde Daniels, Saskatchewan Indian and Gaming Authority's senior vice president of corporate and legal affairs, who also spoke at the celebration.
Bellegarde Daniels is a member of the Kawacatoose First Nation. She worked with the government on the treaty land entitlement agreement and served as chair of the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners. She was named one of Saskatchewan's top 10 women of influence by SaskBusiness magazine and has received numerous other awards. In 2003, Bellegarde Daniels earned BPW's Athena Award, presented each year to individuals who strive to achieve the highest levels of professional accomplishment, who devote time and energy to their community, and who open paths for others to follow. She displays the award in her office, not out of pride, but as a concrete example of what all women can achieve.
"I don't do things to get awards," she said. "I don't do things to make headlines. I don't do things to inspire or empower women. I do things because that is the way I was raised-to do right things, to care about my community, to care about my people."
Bellegarde Daniels said that, as a woman, it is often difficult to be heard, even in her own office. "As one of the less senior and educated Indian women in Indian corporations, I have learnt a whole lot about the role of empowerment of women and have struggled regularly with making sure my voice was heard. Not just because it's a woman's voice but because it's an educated and experienced voice," she said.
Community recognizes past hockey greats
Alice Rutley, Sage Writer, Little Pine First Nation
The members of Little Pine First Nation took time out from a recent hockey tournament to recognize a handful of players from the community who dominated the game in years gone by.
Five players were recognized during an on-ice ceremony on Feb. 14 during the Little Pine Braves Hockey Tournament in Cut Knife. The players received plaques and had their numbers officially retired.
According to Victor Checkosis Jr., one of the organizers of the event, the numbers were being retired both to honour the players, who excelled at the game in the 1960s but never received the recognition they deserved, and to promote excellence in hockey.
One of the players who saw their number retired was Victor "Moose" Checkosis, who was raised on Little Pine where he learned to skate on frozen ponds and on the Battle River. As a young man he played for many teams and, together with Andy Pete Sr. and the late Alex B. Kennedy, built the Little Pine Braves. Checkosis played defense wearing #2, the same number sported by the legendary Chicago Blackhawks blueliner Elmer "Moose" Vasko. Because of his number, and his size, Checkosis became known as "Big Moose."
Today, Checkosis is chief of Little Pine, and over the years has also been a band councillor, school guidance councillor, and National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program co-ordinator. He lives on the First Nation with his nine boys, most of whom are also hockey players, and he still plays hockey.
Another honouree was Jerry "Jerry Pie" Bear, #4, who was noted for his end-to-end rushes. A smooth skater with speed and a booming slapshot, he became a lethal weapon for the Braves. Bear grew up on Little Pine's west side and, along with his brothers, he learned to skate on the Battle River. He started playing hockey at a very early age and, by watching Bobby Orr on TV, soon adopted the same style of play and often scored important goals. He played with the Cut Knife Colts for four seasons and shared in two provincial championships with the team.
Bear worked on CPR work gangs and graduated to operating machines, repairing a lot of railroads in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. He has twice been elected to council, and now operates his own business. He still lives on Little Pine and, although he no longer plays hockey likes to watch the game.
Jehu Baptiste, another of the past players recognized, played with the Braves right from day one. He became known for his skating and stick handling, and his end-to-end rushes on right wing led to his specialty wrap around goals in many a game.
Baptiste learned hockey at an early age from his father, David Baptiste, and played hockey when boys from Little Pine, Poundmaker and Sweetgrass would get together on one of the creeks. He also played hockey at the Duck Lake residential school and for the Cut Knife Colts for five years, including two years when the team was league champion. Baptiste also played for the Neilburg Monarchs where he scored the winning goal in a provincial championship.
Today, Baptiste lives in Marshall and works as an alcohol and drug addiction councillor for Little Pine. Before that he was a building contractor.
Wesley Favel, #27, a feisty, hard-hitting right-winger, play maker and leader off and on the ice, was another player recognized. Favel created opportunities for the Little Pine Braves when the game got tough. One highlight of his career was to play and win the championship game with the Junior "B" Lebret Indians against St. Thomas from North Battleford.
Favel joined the Canadian army and was posted in Manitoba. Upon his return, he obtained an electrician ticket and moved to Edmonton where he worked for many years and played for the Braves at tournaments. He continued to play oldtimers hockey until he was 60, and was also involved in organizing tournaments in Hobbema and Edmonton. He now works as an electrical contractor, and leaves the hockey playing to his sons and grandsons.
The fifth player, Herman Jackson, #9-the same number sported by Gordie Howe-was a smooth gliding machine on the ice. A fancy stick handler, with a flip of his wrist he could score a goal from anywhere in front of the net.
Jackson was scouted and invited to training camp by a Detroit Redwings scout.
Other things, however, distracted him from playing in the NHL.
He earned the nickname "Gretzky" before Gretzky was even a household word-he was that good. And like the great one, he retired early and hung up his skates.
Jackson's love of hockey continues today, but is mainly limited to him watching his favourite team, the Detroit Redwings, on television. Jackson was the only player recognized who was unable to attend the ceremony.
The players who were at the ceremony appreciated the recognition they received from the community. Checkosis and Bear both said they saw the ceremony as a way for the younger generation to connect with their community's history, to understand the importance of past events, and to take pride in past accomplishments. Checkosis added that he hoped this ceremony was just the beginning of honouring and recognizing individuals for their accomplishments.
Three other community members were also honoured during the awards ceremony. Former Braves players Barry Bonaise, Clarence Baptiste and Frances Jimmy Thunderchild received medals in recognition of their past and continuing involvement with the team.