Top News - July - 2002 Published July 8, 2002 A winning look Model Bernie struts down the runway at Blue Tie Affair held in Edmonton on June 26. Photo by Yvonne Irene Gladue Flood damage extensive on southwestern reserves Inaugural Deerfoot run blessed by runner's spirit Grandmothers to share their traditional knowledge in book This is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the July 2002 issue of Alberta Sweetgrass. If you are not receiving your own copy of Sweetgrass, then you have missed out on a lot. Flood damage extensive on southwestern reserves Shari Narine, Sweetgrass Writer, Stand Off Record rainfall combined with melting snow was a formula for disaster for two First Nations communities in southwestern Alberta. On June 10, the Blood and Peigan councils declared their communities in a state of emergency because of flooding. The communities saw 25 per cent of their homes damaged by flooding, leaking, collapsed roofs, or sewer back up. Nearly two weeks after the declaration, both communities still had some of their evacuees without homes. "The community has been traumatized to some degree," said Rick Tailfeathers, public relations director with the Blood Tribe. "This has taken its toll on the community emotionally. For awhile there we thought it would never stop." The Blood reserve, located about 50 km southwest of Lethbridge, experienced four days of rain, which was followed by the melting of record snowfall in the mountains, swelling the Belly and St. Mary's rivers, causing the banks to overflow. "With the initial rainfall, the roads were washed out, plumbing systems failed, roofs were leaking and people were isolated because of washed out roads," said Tailfeathers. Fifty kilometres northeast of the Blood reserve, the Peigan Nation was flooded as well. "This time it's people in the low lying areas near the tributaries. It was more widespread," said Noreen Plain Eagle, assistant director for disaster services on the Peigan Nation. "In 1995 we were dealing more with the (Old Man) river valley." On June 19, the provincial government announced that funding would be available to help those affected. "The province will assist residents who suffered damage to their basements due to overland flooding, which is not insurable in Canada. Financial assistance will also be available to help municipalities and First Nations communities with infrastructure damage and emergency operations costs," announced Municipal Affairs Minister Guy Boutilier. Funding will cover only uninsurable damage, like overland flooding, but will not cover sewer back-up, roof collapses, or the loss of luxury or recreational items Fran Byers and Rudy Parenteau of First Nations Disaster Services, contracted by the provincial and federal governments, were on hand shortly after the rain stopped to help members fill out claims. "We won't know for a couple of weeks what the final figures are," said Byers. Cost of the damage is expected to climb into the millions of dollars. Approximately 335 houses on the Blood reserve and 150 houses on the Peigan reserve suffered damage. Sixty Blood families were displaced, while the Peigan saw seven families evacuated. Blood Reserve evacuees sought refuge in the Stand Off kindergarten school, Laverne school, Red Crow College students' residence, women's emergency shelter, and Anglican church. Peigan families were put up in hotels in neighboring Fort Macleod and Pincher Creek. "In the southeast portion of the reserve, a lot of the residents there were confined in the area because roads were underwater," said Plain Eagle, who added that one expectant mother had to be reached when she went into labor. Infrastructure is still a concern on both reserves, having suffered a severe blow, said Byers, with roads washed out, culverts blown away and bridges gone. The disaster recovery team will be visiting the reserves to assess infrastructure damage. "A team of engineers will look at what needs to be done to put the infrastructure back to pre-flood conditions," said Byers. Chiefs for both communities acknowledged their disaster teams for work well done. "Behavior was very professional on the part of the rescue unit," said Peigan Chief Peter Strikes With A Gun. We learned from 1995, said Plain Eagle. "This time around, we had more help. People were aware of what their roles were," she said. Blood Chief Chris Shades acknowledged the "excellent work" the disaster response team did. Accolades have also been voiced by Byers and Parenteau, who helped develop the plans for both communities. "Both communities did everything they could," said Parenteau. "They were well organized." Strikes With A Gun is pleased with the $15 million disaster program the province has announced, which is aimed at helping out flood victims in the south and fire victims in the north. "I feel it's an obligation of whoever governs," he said. It is welcomed news, said Tailfeathers. Top

Inaugural Deerfoot run blessed by runner's spirit Cheryl Petten, Sweetgrass Writer, Calgary More than 500 runners gathered in Calgary on Father's Day to take part in an event designed to support urban Aboriginal youth in the city and surrounding area. The Petro-Canada Deerfoot Run for Aboriginal Youth attracted participants from many local Aboriginal communities, as well as from local running clubs. Interest in the run was so high that registration had to be closed on the Wednesday before the event because no more entries could be accommodated. Run participants competed in either a 10K or 5K run, or a 1K walk. The run was organized as a family event. Some people pushed strollers while they took part in the walk, while others even brought their pets along. The Deerfoot Run was organized by the Calgary Educational Partnership Foundation to help raise money for a new program called, Hanta Yo. The fundraising aspect came second, however, to raising awareness of some of the issues facing urban Aboriginal youth, explained Doug Clovechok, executive director of the foundation. The run was held on Father's Day as a way to recognize and celebrate fathers. "We really wanted to celebrate the role that fathers play in upbringing, not just in the Aboriginal community, but in the community in general, " Clovechok said. The run helped increase awareness by having Elders speak to participants about some of the issues, as well as by getting information out about the program. The Hanta Yo program is being developed in co-operation with the six school districts currently served by the foundation-two in Calgary and four in the surrounding area-as well as with the business community. The program will focus on three areas of need identified through the City of Calgary's Listening Circles Initiative, offering stay-in-school, youth employment, and recreational programming. Clovechok has plans to expand the Deerfoot Run to accommodate more runners in future years, and broaden the scope of the event. "We want to grow the cultural aspect of it. I mean, we had Lisa Odjig, and we had Alex Wells there dancing, and then some people from the Tsuu T'ina Nation came in. We had Leonard Bastien, who's a Peigan Elder, set up his tipi. But we want to create more of that. So create a village with lots of different things going on. Almost set it up like a powwow. That would be our vision down the road, so that it's this huge Father's Day, not just a run, but there would be even more of a celebration," he said. While this year was the first for the run in its present form, the run has a long history, explained Treffrey Deerfoot, the great grandson of Deerfoot, the legendary Native runner who in the 1800s amazed people on both sides of the Atlantic with his running speed and style. Back in the 1800s, when Deerfoot was gaining a reputation as a runner, Fort Calgary began holding what they called "pedestrian running" competitions. Those competitions grew into a social event for both Native and non-Native people, and eventually into what is now the Calgary Stampede, Treffrey said. "Deerfoot was a messenger between encampments. And most of these encampments were around the southern Alberta and northern Montana area," Treffrey said of his legendary ancestor. "As a messenger, people believed he was gifted by the spirit . . .. But what is remembered most of Deerfoot is his competitiveness. And all of his stories and accomplishments have been documented in the Calgary Herald, and he was brought to Europe to race against other legendary runners, and at some point some people got tired of him winning and they started having him compete against horses . . . these are the stories," he said. The family agreed to give the run organizers the right to use the Deerfoot name "because we believe that my great-grandfather would have wanted this . . . to contribute back to our people." That belief was strengthened for many in attendance at the run when Elder Leonard Bastien began to pray to the spirit of Deerfoot to come and bless the event. As the prayer began, an eagle suddenly appeared in the sky above the race site, and remained there for the entire run. "It's a gesture of the spirits . . . to see that and to feel that the spirit was there blessing the event," Treffrey said. For more information about the Hanta Yo program or the Deerfoot Run for Aboriginal Youth, contact Doug Clovechok at 403-260-1712, or via e-mail at doug.clovechok@cepf.calgary.ab.ca. Top Grandmothers to share their traditional knowledge in book Yvonne Irene Gladue, Sweetgrass Writer, Calgary The 10 Grandmothers Project was launched at the Glenbow Museum on June 18 as part of Native Awareness Week in Calgary. The project will see the knowledge of traditional values, as remembered by 10 grandmothers of the Treaty 7 area, recorded and published in book form. The women, who range in age from 60 to 110, share their beliefs on topics such as women's role in society, raising children, relationships, respect, asking for help and making healthy decisions. The grandmothers come from the Siksika, Blood, Peigan, Stoney, Tsuu Tinna, and South Peigan reserves in southern Alberta. "The purpose was to collect traditional knowledge from the women, to share and then transfer it back to the community," said project co-ordinator Linda Many Guns. "So often it is about the men and their ceremonies that have been focused on. Nobody really talks to the women and it's been really important for them, especially in this period in their lives, to share this knowledge, to give it back to the people in any way possible." The book, slated to be published the spring of 2003, will be comprised of photos, as well as patterns to make ceremonial dresses. "It will have a picture of the ladies on the left so whoever is reading the book will remember who said what," said Many Guns. "The women will pick a material pattern and will draw the shape of the traditional dresses they wore to ceremonies. The pattern will also be included in the book. A group of young women will sew the dresses together and the material left over will be made into a quilt to be used as a backdrop while [the group does its book] presentations," she said. To find the grandmothers, Many Guns went to the communities for consultations. "We needed to find 10 women from the surrounding area in the Treaty 7 area that qualified as grandmothers in our Aboriginal communities," said Many Guns. "We asked in the communities who they would recommend to be in the grandmothers' project. Once we found the grandmothers, we interviewed them and asked them questions. We also asked the women questions such as 'Do you believe that residential schools impacted your family life? Do you believe that it impacted our culture?' Each one of them was asked the same type of questions. "The term grandmother means women that have lived traditionally, who have held the right to sacred objects. They know the ceremonies, and they know the handling of sacred objects like the bundles and have transfer rights for tipis, weaseltail shirts, medicine shields or any of the sacred objects from our Aboriginal heritage. They are all exceptional women in that context. They all needed to have that background." Many Guns believes that, after meeting these women, people will find pride in being who they are. "One of the things that is kind of tragic is the approach that our world is taking about our healing," she said. "It is good on one hand, but it is counteractive to our traditional ways of dealing with things. In our world, whenever we talk about things, you make it come alive again. What you need to talk about is how to survive and the skills that you've developed. Skills that you can teach others to survive with. "It is understood in a broader sense that if the knowledge was more accessible people can learn how to remake their lives following those practices. They just can't access it when they are unaware that there are Elders out there. By the time they get to the Elders, it is when they are in real need. What we need to do is have this wisdom available for everyone, " she said. "I believe that we have incredible knowledge in our society, that it is not just beads and feathers or food and powwows in our culture. It is an actual lifestyle, that it is knowledge based. It informs and changes the way you live and I've always been attracted by that knowledge," Many Guns said. Top