Elsipogtog Youth Gives Impassioned Speech on Leadership
- EFN Staff | November 21, 2013
A delegate at the Assembly of First Nations Youth Summit encouraged fellow youth to stand up and be leaders.
Savannah Simon says it was a hard decision to leave behind the frontlines of the anti-fracking movement in her community of Elsipogtog to attend the summit, but she felt it was important to share with people what is going on and to continue to raise awareness. She says anti-fracking is a global issue, not just an issue for Elsipogtog.
She detailed for the crowd some of what she has seen so far since the first RCMP raid on October 17. She says 700 RCMP officers descended on her community.
"I saw my Elders getting pepper sprayed in the face....as they were praying with their rosary beads and they were praying with their eagle feathers.
"I saw children getting pushed from RCMP."
She says a friend of hers got a black eye from being punched by an RCMP officer, who later cuffed her and pushed her down to the ground.
"And they took a picture with her, as if they were posing with a moose. This is what's going on right now in my community....It hurts."
Simon says it's no longer good enough for young people to say they don't know what's going on in Aboriginal communities.
"We can't be ignorant anymore. You can't say, 'Oh, I'm just a young teenager, I don't gotta worry about that.' You can be a warrior and a leader at age 12, 13, 14.
"You don't have to be a politician to be a leader. You can be a leader right now. Leader of today. Believe in yourself."
Simon also encouraged fellow delegates to stay away from drugs and alcohol. Simon is part of the Red Road Project, a group of youth who support each other through talking circles and by making healthy choices.
"There are a lot of statistics about us being another drunken Indian. That's always been a motivation for me to never be that statistic, and that's what I want for all of you.
"I don't want any of you to be a slave anymore to drugs or alcoholism, chewing tobacco, addictions. You're better than that. You're stronger than that. You were born a warrior. That is something that will never be taken away from you."
The AFN Youth Summmit wraps up today in Saskatoon.