Conference teaches youth about healthy living and culture.

FORT QU'APPELLE

Organizer Janice Wotherspoon, who works with the Ka-Pa-Chee Training Center in Fort Qu'Appelle, instantly saw the success of a first-time conference for Aboriginal youth.

First of all, the 26 teens who attended the "Catch Your Dreams" Conference at Qu'Appelle Valley showed more attentiveness than the organizers had hoped.

Secondly, the young people unanimously agreed that there should be more workshops of the same topics and furthermore, that other Aboriginal teens in Western Canada could benefit from the same thing.

"It was all about healthy living and youth-powered programming," said Wotherspoon. "The best thing that came out of the event was that the kids said that they'd be interested in more workshops like this. So that got me excited."

The conference was held at the Calling Lakes Conference Centre in the Qu'Appelle Valley, just two km west of Fort Qu'Appelle. Its mandate was to share stories and get community role models to share their advice on how a much better lifestyle can be achieved when a person makes good choices.

The event kicked off with a presentation from RCMP member, Ewen Booth, who is a staff sergeant in Melville. He explained that Aboriginal people and the RCMP have deep roots when it comes to conflict and friendship, even dating as far back as the existence of the Northwest Mounted Police.

Booth even introduced a little police culture to the teens and their chaperones when he brought along bagpipes and demonstrated how Metis people had used the instrument over the decades. As well, he talked about how melodies from various cultures were changed to suit each individual culture.

Another of the presenters was Daryle Desjarlais, from Lebret, who shared a number of attention-getting folk tales and showed youth how beaded pins can be made into an eagle design.

Mechtild Morin, a cultural awareness facilitator, was also on hand to explain the art of making sashes and how for the Metis, the woven material worked as a fashion statement, as well as a metaphor for the weaves that join the Metis culture.

Keynote speaker was Ross McRae of Hazelton, B.C., a man who shared his own experience with drugs and alcohol. McRae told some gripping stories about his past and explained how choices he has made in his personal life have guaranteed a better future.

Community leaders who joined the group included Fort Qu'Appelle Mayor Ron Osika, Canadian Heritage Program Officer, Tracey Cozman, Larry Bigknife of the Fort Qu'Appelle RCMP, Ka-Pa-Chee administrator Laura Ross and Wendall Star of the White Raven Healing Lodge.

The most fruitful exchanges arose during a question and answer session at the end of the day.

Just before the conference was ended, Metis youth Tyler Hoffart, delivered a motivational speech.

"I wanted to be a magician since I was seven years old, and I have been working at it since then," Hoffart said. By describing his own experience and proving that his skills are at a professional level, Hoffart encouraged other youth to "catch their dreams'.

Wotherspoon explained she and the organizers went out of their way to include several Aboriginal cultures, even though the local group is Metis and an affiliate of the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan.

"One of our thrusts is to do teachings about the Metis culture. But because of the various backgrounds of the people within the group, we tend to go cross-culture."

She said the idea for the event came about after a number of people attended the Dreamcatcher Conference in Edmonton last year and wanted to create something similar.

"They were inspired by Dreamcatcher and wanted to do something like that but on a smaller scale, (and) with a cross culture mandate," she said.

She said planning for another local conference will begin in May, as well as encouraging similar events to be held across the province.

"I was really impressed with the attention span that people had," she said. "I think this will go around--we will do a lot to keep the enthusiasm up."

BY ANDREW MATTE

Sage Writer