The Esquao Awards honour deserving women.

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EDMONTON

Twenty outstanding Aboriginal women, their families and friends, and special dignitaries gathered together to celebrate the contributions of First Nations women from across Alberta at the 13th annual Esquao awards gala.

Trevor Gladue, the vice president of the Metis Nation of Alberta and Pearl Calahasen, MLA for Lesser Slave Lake and a past Circle of Honour recipient hosted the awards from the Edmonton Shaw Conference Centre on May 1.

There were so many guests that Muriel Stanley Venne, president of Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women (IAAW) and founder of the awards was still greeting halfway through the night.

She was so busy, in fact, that in the middle of an interview with Sweetgrass, she turned away to greet someone and seemed to have forgotten all about the interview. However, during that brief time she mentioned the awards began some years ago as a smaller event and have grown to a considerably larger event every year.

"We started out just wanting to make sure that our women were recognized," she said. "It started off with 100 (people) and every year it has (grown) and now we have about 1,000 people here to honour the women."

She stated the awards differ from others in the province because there is no selecting jury, the nominations come from the community and seek to recognize every woman who is chosen.

"The communities really love them (the awards) because this is really their award," she said.

Each year the gala honours Aboriginal women from Alberta who have helped elected officials and influential decision-makers in government, industry and business to better understand and appreciate Aboriginal people.

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of a $20,000 cheque to the IAAW for the Esquao awards by the City of Edmonton. Councilor Ron Hayter attended and spoke on behalf of the city, remarking that events such as the Esquao Awards bring attention to the accomplishments of Aboriginal people in the community.

"I congratulate the award nominees, you make us all proud," he expressed. "The city of Edmonton appreciates your efforts to make the community safer, stronger and healthier by investing your time and energy to help others. You inspire your neighbours, your friends, your coworkers and your families to do the same."

Hayter also co-presented an award along with Elder Bertha Clark Jones in a special veterans ceremony for the Corporal Bertha Houle Award going to Sharon Bourque of the Edmonton Police Service.

The award recipients ranged in age from youth to the very elderly and came from cities and First Nations across Alberta. As the youngest recipient, Chesare Cardinal is an honours graduate of the Amiskwaciy Academy, she received the Aspiring Young Woman award. Meanwhile, Elder Margaret Quinney of Frog Lake was presented the Madge McRee Culture Award for her work as an advocate for treaty rights. Upon receiving the award, Quinney spoke of the importance of maintaining strong family values as a First Nations woman and how this had helped in her own efforts.

"I acknowledge my children, a lot of them are here supporting me and I'm grateful to them, she expressed in the Cree language. "How great it is when we make our decisions by listening to the Creator in all the things we do. Let us try to love our children, let us make our children grow up in the right way and love them as much as we can."

Elders clearly held a phenomenal role in the awards, particularly in the Circle of Honour ceremony performed as a part of 'The Dorothy MacDonald Leadership Award' each year. This powerful distinction is given to an Aboriginal woman leader, who is an example of the struggles Aboriginal women have to face and overcome.

The ceremonial award has the female recipient step forward into a circle of female Elders (grandmothers) where a blanket is draped over her shoulders to mark her place in the Circle of Honour.

This year, the honour went to Kathleen McHugh who is originally from the Blood reserve but now a member of the Siksika Nation. She is the founding member and chairperson of the Assembly of First Nations Women's Council and an activist for the rights of Aboriginal people.

In a phone interview after the awards, McHugh expressed the flood of emotions she felt--and still feels--about being brought into the Circle of Honour.

"There are so many words to express it, I didn't even expect the ceremony to be that beautiful," she said. "But it was just such an honour and to have all the Elders there, to bring you into that circle, the significance of that circle is so good for women. Not just for women, for anyone."

She said it acknowledges the work that women do in trying to make changes in the lives of Aboriginal women.

"I think when that's acknowledged, it supports us and gives us the energy to continue our work," she said.

"We all know the problems exist out there for us, for our women, for our children. And it's important to be part of the solution, to work with other organizations, to see what's out there that we could use to make it better, to make positive changes."

The Northern Cree drum group sang the grand entry special to honour recipients and those involved in the awards. Entertainment included internationally renowned Aboriginal women singing trio, Asani, who introduced the Esquao awards new anthem 'Angels Among Us' and whose founding member, Sherryl Sewepagaham, also received an award.

Other entertainers were puppeteer and comedian DerRic Starlight and gospel singer Kirk Boucher.

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The 2008 Recipients were:

Social Services & Advocacy--Germaine Anderson, Crystal Janvier, Doreen Roy, Kari Thomason

Health & Medicine--Lorraine Boucher, Doreen Moyah

Corporal Bertha Houle Award--Sharon Bourque

Dorothy Daniels Justice Award--Norah Calliou

Culture--Martha Campiou, Victoria Whalen

Christine Daniels Political Involvement Award--Violet Campiou

Aspiring Young Women--Chesare Cardinal

Dr. Colleen Klein's Children's Future Award--Darlene Collins

Clara Woodbridge Community Involvement Award-Dora Courteoreille, Angela Ferguson

Lifetime Achievement--Susie Fischer, Antoinette McDonald, Vera Potts, Maria Vermillion

Madge McRee Culture Award-Margaret Quinney

Business--Vina Roverts-Marten

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Education & Performing Arts--Sherryl Sewepagaham

Circle of Honour--Kathleen McHugh

The IAAW is a non-profit society that responds to the needs and aspirations of Aboriginal women and dedicates itself to support and recognize women to take their rightful place in society.

Sponsors of the awards include Syncrude Canada, Encana, Suncor Energy, the City of Edmonton, Indian and Northern Affairs, Alberta Aboriginal Affairs, Nation Talk, CBC Radio, and CTV Edmonton. The event airs on CTV on June 20 at 9 am and August 4 at noon.

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BY CHRISTINE FIDDLER

Sweetgrass Staff Writer