For one weekend it was all about the youth.

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EDMONTON

"Ideas born from children are the most brilliant, as they have not been beaten and bruised by the doubts of the real world"--T.J. Franklin

The 15th annual Dreamcatcher Aboriginal Youth Conference brought in thousands of Aboriginal youth to experience and acknowledge the many facets of Native culture from Oct. 12 to 15 at Grant MacEwan College.

Many of the participants were inspired by what they heard to return to their communities and share the teachings from Metis music and dance or share the brave stories of youth who have lost a friend or family member to suicide.

The Dreamcatcher Conference was the brainchild of a twelve-year-old girl who envisioned a message of healing and hope for Aboriginal youth.

Nowadays, the vision is guided by a steering committee of Aboriginal and community professionals from a plethora of disciplines. The four-day conference offers a wide array of workshops for the youth to take in.

Workshops such as mini drum making, where the end result is a lovely ornament for the participants to take home. The instructor, Martha Cardinal, expressed the importance for youth to have a creative outlet.

"The kids are so creative," said Cardinal. "It's important for them to have something that keeps them busy."

Other workshops varied from making friendship bracelets to an urban dance class.

"It's not so important that they get all the steps down perfectly. What's most important is they are getting active," explained Cindy Boes, the urban dance instructor.

One of the most popular workshops seemed to be the Metis music and dance class, offered by longtime teacher Gary Lee. His class is so popular, he has to turn kids away.

"One of the problems we have is some of the kids kind of slip out of the classes that they're signed up for and they try to sneak into this one," said Lee, who out of respect for the other presenters has to send the students back to their original workshops.

Lee offered his thoughts on why his class seems to be so popular. "They're filling out the evaluation forms from each set that we do and they seem to be really enjoying it. Some of the kids are saying 'boy, it's fun to play guitar' or 'boy, it was fun to play fiddle.'"

Lee echoed Cardinals sentiments when he spoke of the importance of having an artistic outlet. He expressed that anything that gives a kid confidence in themselves is important, whether it be an artistic outlet or perhaps another passion.

"If they can get some self-esteem out of what we're doing, that makes me feel darn good as an instructor that we're making a difference in the community."

Along with the guitar and fiddle playing in Lee's class, the Red River Jig is showcased.

"The Red River Jig is the national anthem of the Metis people in our community," said Lee. "Metis people for as far back as anyone can remember have been dancing the jig and have been playing the Red River Jig on fiddle."

Even more than the artistic aspect of the class, Lee explained that there is a cultural ambition behind his efforts.

"I think it's extremely important for kids to learn about culture. Not only Metis kids learning about their culture but First Nations kids and all other kids of all denominations."

Outside of the conference, Lee also teaches in several local schools and in the basement of the Sacred Heart Church located in Edmonton's inner city.

"We have a wide variety of different kids in our program and I think it's important to learn about everyone else's culture as well," expressed Lee.

Of course not all of the conference was based on positive celebrations. Some workshops delved into the Aboriginal culture's more solemn subjects. The culture of violence was tackled in a couple of workshops. One needs to look no further than Hobbema to see the relevance of that class.

And with the reported high suicide rates among Aboriginals, four very brave girls who are no stranger to those tragedies presented a workshop together.

"Each one of us was affected by a suicide," said Shawna McLeod, one of the presenters. "We just want to share our story and help prevent people from committing suicide.

The most prevalent message of their workshop was, "You are given this life because you are strong enough to live it. Suicide should never be an option."

Beyond the Dreamcatcher Conference, the group of girls plans to spread their message even further.

"We decided to attend this conference and later on we are planning to present this session with other communities, smaller communities," explained McLeod. "I know that our message is very powerful and emotional and I think when people see it, it sends a straightforward message that suicide shouldn't be an option and it's very selfish."

Beyond the tears and the touching silences, the girls were lauded for their efforts.

"A lot of people say we do a very good job and by sharing our story it really rubs off on them. It's really powerful. Everybody is proud of us for being so brave and coming up here and sharing with everybody," said McLeod.

Whether the workshops were entertaining or thought provoking, pride was alive and well amongst the thousands of Aboriginal youths that frequented the many courses offered. And after 15 years of the Dreamcatcher Aboriginal Youth Conference, it's safe to say that the twelve-year-old girl who dreamed this celebration up should be very proud of herself.

BY THOMAS J BRUNER

Sweetgrass Staff Writer