Youth role
models gather at Ermineskin
Yvonne Irene Gladue, Sweetgrass Writer, Hobbema
More than 300 young people and their 100 chaperones gathered
at the Gathering Strength for a Healthy Future Conference in
Hobbema on Aug. 18 to 20 to discuss issues surrounding such things
as tobacco use, dating, sexual harassment, drug and alcohol addictions,
and truth in media and advertising.
The conference, organized by the National Native Alcohol &
Drug Abuse Program (NAADAP), hopes the participants will be able
to bring the lessons they learned back to their communities and
work along-side NNADAP workers with other young people.
"These kids are role models who want to do something for
their communities," said Leiha Crier, a youth representative
with the Samson Cree Nation. "The youth were hand-selected
by NAADAP workers and community members that were viewed as role
models. These youth have a desire to work with other kids on
lots of issues that affect them. Each time I did my workshop,
I would tell the kids that they would be doing what I was doing
up here. We are giving them the tools to get them started and
to be responsible on their own."
The four-day conference was held at the powwow grounds at Ermineskin
and hosted youth from 29 of the 46 First Nation communities across
the province.
Dustin Twin, a member of the conference planning committee, said
the gathering was based on the Alberta Alcohol & Drug Addiction
program called Expecting Respect.
"They'd used this program in non-Aboriginal communities
and it was quite successful, so we decided to try it. So we modeled
our training here at the conference based on the program, but
we presented it with an Aboriginal setting and with Aboriginal
Elders. It was excellent. The youth got something out of it.
You can see the change in the youth from when they arrived to
when they were leaving. I think that they will go back to their
communities with a lot of hope."
Janice Chalifoux, another committee member, said the young people
interacted with each other very successfully.
"We put a mixture of Treaty 7 youth with a mixture of Treaty
8 and Treaty 6 with the other areas so that they could meet and
share ideas with each other, for them to see what is happening
in each other's communities."
"One thing I noticed here at this conference is that the
youth were really well-dressed and well-mannered," said
Florence Large, a facilitator for the Healthy Sexual Boundaries
workshop. "They will make good role models because they
carry themselves well and proudly.
"My husband and I taught the youth on healthy dating. Most
youth do not know how to date. They do not take the time to get
to know one another, which is sad, because if they took the time
to get to know one another their relationships would last a lot
longer. Many of the older men and women should be teaching them
these skills about dating, but some of them do not know how to
date either. They seem to think that if they meet someone they
have to go to bed with them right away, so these youth are seeing
this and thinking, 'Well, if my uncle or my older brother are
doing this then I guess it is alright for me too.' Hopefully,
the youth will take home some of the things they've learned in
this workshop, and I hope that they pass it on to the rest of
the youth in their communities," she said.
Carleen LaRocque from Louis Bull First Nation in Hobbema said
that she enjoyed the workshop on smoking.
"This is a good workshop because it is teaching the kids
not to smoke. Although I don't smoke, I am still taking this
workshop, because I play sports and I do not want to look old.
A lot of women who smoke say they do it because they want to
lose weight, but they are still overweight; so I will just continue
to not smoke," she said.
RCMP officer Rob Haney and Maddie, a black Labrador retriever,
gave conference participants a talk on sections of the Controlled
Substance Act.
"There is a lot of peer pressure out there and if the youth
go by the peer pressure, they are going to make bad decisions.
But I think with parental guidance at home, teachers and the
RCMP working as one group telling them that this is not right,
hopefully they will make a better-informed decision and it will
keep them on the straight and narrow as well. So at least if
I tell them this is what happens under section 401 of the Controlled
Substance Act, if they are in the possession of cannabis or cocaine,
it is a possibility that they will go to jail for a while or
in some cases not be able to travel out of the country with a
drug conviction. If we can stop one of them, than that is important,"
Rob Haney said.
Chaperone Alfred Seeseequon from the Little Red River First Nation
in northern Alberta said that it took 13 hours to drive to the
conference for his group of 10 youth, two chaperones and two
NAADAP workers.
"Some of the youth have never been out of our community
before, so it is nice for them to meet other youth from different
areas of the province and for them to bring back good ideas,"
he said.
"What this conference focuses on primarily is prevention
and awareness for our communities, and we really need this,"
said Richard Running Rabbit, a facilitator from Siksika First
Nation. "A lot of the youth know about prevention and awareness,
but we are here to train these youth so that hopefully they will
be able to teach other youth about these issues and hopefully
there will be a ripple effect. I hope that we can build on this
conference every year and that it will be bigger and better.
It is pretty good.
"I did a workshop on tobacco because I can speak about it
from experience. I wanted to make the youth aware of the negative
implications that it has on our people. It is considered the
Number one cause of death and disability in Indian Country. Illness
ranges from asthma, stroke or cancer. It is not glamorous at
all. What they put in cigarettes today is not what we used to
use traditionally."
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Passion for Cree
language helps keep it alive
Yvonne Irene Gladue, Sweetgrass Writer, Saddle Lake
He proposes that street signs should read in both Cree and
English. He says that his community should have a Cree library.
He wants to conduct home visits to promote the importance of
keeping the Cree language alive.
He is Ray G. Cardinal and he is devoting a lot of his time to
a number of Cree projects in Saddle Lake Cree Nation in northeastern
Alberta.
"I would like to see the people enthusiastic about the language,
and I would like to also instill some pride in them about it,"
said Cardinal who runs Cree language classes on Tuesdays and
Thursday.
As well as teaching the proper pronunciation of Cree words and
phrases, Cardinal teaches Cree syllabics, a way of writing the
language.
Cardinal says he speaks the language fluently, but there is still
much to learn from the Elders in the community. He uses contributions
from the Elders and language networks across the province in
communities that run similar programs to his.
"One thing that I believe is that all Aboriginal languages
are living entities and that they are a living source for us
to use. Therefore, they are a part of our culture and a part
of who we are as human beings, whether it is Déne, Blackfoot
or Cree. All languages are a part of us. It is what makes us
who we are. It identifies who we are and where we come from.
That is what I tell young people. It is also very significant
in preserving, not only ceremonies and rituals, but also in preserving
the culture as well," he said.
Cardinal, who has his BA degree in Native Studies from the University
of Alberta, is planning on going back to school to obtain a master's
degree in linguistics.
"I'd like to eventually see a lot of different courses being
taught in Aboriginal languages, such as social studies, science,
math and drama. Theatre and media is a very powerful tool for
keeping our culture alive. Music is also another form of teaching
the language, and our local radio station does an hour-and-a-half
Cree program, five-days a week. [It] helps, as well as local
Cree singer Carl Quinn. He is doing an excellent job in creating
an opportunity for the community to learn off of his music. People
like and enjoy his style of music and he is an inspiration to
the youth," Cardinal said.
He recalls growing up in a loving home with a lot of encouragement
and believes that is why he's excelled in education.
"I only have one regret. [It] is that I went to residential
school for two years, and as a result I too had to overcome some
issues from my experience there. I became an alcoholic; I did
a lot of heavy drinking until 1991. That is when I sobered up."
Cardinal said that he lived for a number of years down on the
drag, going from city to city bumming around and drinking most
of the time. But through it all he found out what alcohol did
to people first hand.
"Not just for the Aboriginal people, but I also saw a lot
of non-Aboriginal people down there as well. What alcohol addiction
does is that it destroys all people's lives, no matter who you
are, very slowly, like a slow death. I was in a relationship
for five years, but it ended because of my drinking...
"I'm a family man once again, and now that I don't drink
it is different. I'm now more responsible and I now take everything
more responsibly," he said.
"I've learned from the Elders that you have to look at yourself
in the mirror and judge yourself before you look at others and
judge them. What motivates me is my grandchildren and my passion
to preserve the Cree language, because that was my first language
and I'm grateful that I have a strong body of support, as in
chief and council and the Elders. However, I could use more support
in terms of volunteer help," he said.
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