Introspection: Progress made in 2014 but still far to go
- Winona Wheeler | January 30, 2015
We brought in the New Year firing off the rifle in a quiet secluded field not far from our home, just like the old guys did back when we were kids. We reminisced about long passed New Years’ celebrations with family and friends no longer among us. Grateful for the memories, grateful that we made it to 2015, and optimistic for the future.
2014 was an amazing year, full of new challenges, opportunities, surprises, joys and achievements. John L. asked us to recall the most memorable highlights so here it goes. For the first time in the FSIN’s history we have a woman leading the charge, former first vice chief Kim Jonathan who will hold this position until the Fall election. Heather Bear is the second woman executive member, recently voted in as fourth vice chief. For the first time ever, the FSIN executive has gender balance: two men and two women. Congratulations also to Perry Bellegarde who elected as Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
Raising awareness on Murdered and Missing Aboriginal Women was high on the radar this year. In addition to the continuing lobbying, public education and family support work of Iskwewuk e-wichiwitochik, our community launched a number of public education initiatives. Jamie Black’s REDress art project was installed at Usask campus—130 empty red dresses were hung all over campus. In many ways it was an eerie exhibit, loud in its silence and got people thinking. The three week long Walking With Our Sisters ceremonial exhibit of over 1,800 moccasin vamps was a huge and successful community effort. Through the tireless efforts of a core organization team and close to 300 volunteers, WWOS was a powerful public awareness initiative and had a huge impact on visitors. The wheels of the justice system creak along slowly but we were all relieved when the murderer of Daleen Bosse was finally convicted.
After much lobbying, protest, and anti-racist education, the board of education finally mandated Bedford Road Collegiate to drop its highly controversial team name and logo the “Redmen” which they replaced with the “Redhawks.”
We had many highlights at Usask. There are now 2,000 Aboriginal students taking classes on and off campus, that’s just under 10% of the total student population. For a province where we make up 14% of the total population, this is pretty darn good. We now have the highest percentage of Aboriginal students in all the 15 medical doctoral universities across Canada. Max Fineday won his second term as President of the USSU (University of Saskatchewan Student Union). For the last three years we have had an Indigenous student elected to this position by the entire Usask student body and they have made us proud. We watch with pride and excitement as the Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre is being built. It will house our Aboriginal Student Centre and student groups, and will open this coming spring.
As part of the community service learning activities, over 50 of our NS 107.3 students volunteered at the Walking With Our Sisters Exhibit and 98 volunteered at the FSIN powwow where they served at Admissions, Powwow Land, and the Elders & Veterans Lounge. A handful of our students also joined us during the FSIN Honouring Ceremony I was blessed with at the Powwow. On a personal level, this was one of the most humbling and momentous events in my life. In my heart the highest public honour is to be honoured by our own people. I thank you all for sharing in it with me.
On the home front our children and grandchildren made it through the year safe and healthy; we built a new passive solar house at our little ranch; started raising chickens, and; my little Paint horse yearling, AwesomeBlue Morning, won her first Register of Merit Award making us proud on the show circuit. We have much to be thankful for.
2015 is going to be a progressive year. In my dreams and goals we will continue to build on our accomplishments, we will prioritize healthy minds and bodies, we will take better care of each other, celebrate each other’s accomplishments and help each other out to the best of our abilities. We will be pro-active, not reactive, when it comes to dealing with our issues and challenges, and be more accountable and transparent in our actions.
Starting the New Year off with prayers for good health, happiness and good luck to you all. In your prayers, please remember those who are ill, hungry, scared, hurting, and struggling. We have made great strides but still have much work to do to heal and decolonize ourselves.
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