From St. John's, Newfoundland to Haida Gwai, British Columbia and
Cape Dorset, Nunavut,
Aboriginals and northern people and communities across Canada have
success stories to share.
Community-driven efforts improve the lives
of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal individuals and families.
“The
history of Canada's Aboriginal peoples is rich and diverse.
Their history, art, traditions and culture have shaped our past ~
and continue to shape who we are today.”
(Statement by Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau)
Before contact with Europeans, Indigenous peoples educating their
youth through traditional means:
participation in cultural and spiritual rituals ~ skill development
and oral teachings. Today, through eduction policies, they are
re-intigrating traditional teachings, providing more culture and
language-based support to enhance and improve the outcomes of
Indigenous children in the education system.
It's
been a long road!
Several colleges and universities in Canada today provide an array
of post-secondary education programs open to both Indigenous and
non-Indigenous students.
Strengthening Aboriginal Success
“We
the Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) are committed to work
together to achieve success for all learners ~ so that the lifelong
process of realizing potential is within the reach of all Canadians.”
Aboriginal refers to the 3 groups of Canada's Indigenous Peoples:
First Nations ~ Metis ~ and Inuit.
In my writing today are reports about recent successes locally of
their progress.
Hail
to the “Chiefs” for a Day!
A delighful photo in today's Hamilton Spectator depicts “Hamilton
Police chief, Eric Grit, speaking with five Grade 6 students who won
the oppotunity to be “Police Chief for a Day” through an
essay-writing competition. The students were greeted by the 'Chief'
before given a tour of Central Station.
They were taken to Ancaster to meet the city's mounted police, before
wrapping up their day at the Mountain Station. From left to right,
the lucky students included: Angelina Smeets, Zainab Syed, Isabella
Ramalli, Justice Umelo and Cedrina Morris.
Hundreds
of People Gathered at Liuna Station ~
on
Tuesday morning to celebrate the 43rd
annual Hamilton Community Prayer Breakfast ~ an event that fosters a
caring,
peaceful and inclusive society.
This year's keynote speaker was Nate Leipciger, a Holocaust survivor,
author and educator. The breakfast also heard from newcomer students
with inspiring stories who are making a difference in the community.
Student speaker, Hope Mbouyl is in Grade 12 at St. Thomas More.
Her family fled the Congo and, via China, came to Canada where she
now flourishes.
Abdifatah
Mahdi-Mohammed stood out as a speaker. The Grade 12 student at
Orchard Park Secondary School emigrated from Ethopia in 2008. He has
been recognized for his extensive volunteer commitment with CityKidz
as well as being an all-round contributor at his school,
participating in sports, leadership and volunteer activities.
The keynote speaker, NateLeipciger captivated the audience with his
talk about his life as a Holocaust survivor. Born in Chorzow, Poland
in 1928, he immigrated to Canada with his father in 1948. After
attending high school he obtained a university degree. Leipciger
remains a commtted leader in the Holocaust education movement.
Theme for the meeting: “Praying for a Peaceful Society.”
Afghan
Technology Activist Blazing Trail for Girls
Tevia
Moro (The Hamilton Spectator) reports, “Roya Mahboob got the tech
bug when she walked into an internet cafe at age 16. “I
knew it wasn't appropriate for girls to go into the internet cafe,”
she
said, whose hometown is Herat, Afghanistan ~ but listening to her
brothers and cousins talk about it, piqued her interest.
“Seated
at a computer, the world of technology, communication and information
opened
up. I was really fascinated,” recalled
Mahboob, now30.
“So
she followed her passion, eventually blazing trails as Afghanistan's
first female tech CEO, despite the barriers and risks of her
patriarchal, impoverished and war-ravaged homeland.
Mahboob is one of 10 luminaries that McMaster University
is celebrating with honorary degrees.
“This
will be Mahboob's first honorary degree ~ an engineering distinction!
She's now CEO and president of Digital Citizen Fund, Digital Citizen
Brew and EdyEdy.
In 2013, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential
people
in
the world for building internet classrooms in her homeland.”
Trailblazing
Indigenous Women
Sally
Simpson has been compiling a list of Indigenous
Female Firsts.
Natalie Paddon (The Hamilton Spectator) reports: “It was 2011, and
after her daughter left home, Simpson gave up a 6-figure salary, a
house in downtown Toronto and an 80-hour-a-week job in event
marketing to go back to school. While studying at Wilfred Laurier
University's Brantford campus, she took a course on Indigenous women
and was tasked with a creative way to honour them. Simpson, who now
lives and works in Hamilton, decided she would write biographies,
creating a collage of Indigenous women born in Canada and were the
first to pave the way in various professions.
“Through
her research, she discovered Dr. Mary Jane McCallum, a Cree woman who
started working as a dental assistant in 1973 before returning to
school to become a dental nurse, a dental therapist and earning her
doctorate in dental
medicine in 1990.
She would be flown into northern First Nations and Indigenous
communities in Canada as part of a mobile dental unit. In December,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed McCallum an independent
senator to represent Manitoba.”
Canadian Indigenous Female Firsts
First
to hold a
teacher's licence:
Dr. Elsie Charles Basque
obtained the licence in Nova Scotia in 1937. The Mi'kmaw woman
was
also the first licenced teacher in a non-Indigenous school
First
to win an Olympic
Medal
was Angela Chalmers. The Sioux woman won a bronze medal in 1992 for
the 3,000 metres.
First
to become a heart
surgeon
was Dr. Donna May Kimmaliardjuk
in 2017 who is Inuit.
Sally
Simpson graduated almost 5 years ago, but her list is still growing ~
now reaching No. 164 and includes the First Canadian Indigenous woman
to become an elected Chief
of a First Nation.
Her list also includes a flight
attendant
and to be depicted on a Canadian stamp. 1992 was the first time an
Indigenous group, which included a woman, was invited to go to the
World
Culinary Olympics. They took home the grand Gold Medal.
Edith
Monture's Many Accomplishements:
Darrell Doxtdator from Ohsweken recently wrote about this
significant Indigenous woman. “Pte.
Mary Greyeyes was the first
Indigenous woman to officially serve in the Canadian Armed Forces in
1943..she served in uniform. Not only the first
to become a registered nurse, she was also the first
Indigenous woman from Canada to serve in the United States military.
Edith broke barriers for Indigenous women in the armed forces and
regarding federal voting rights. After the U.S. entered the First
World War in 1917, Edith volunteered with the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.
Before leaving for the battle front, Edith returned to Six Nations.
She received ceremonial Mohawk clothing as burial wear in case she
died overseas.
Edith was stationed at Base Hospital 23 in Vittel, France,
treating soldiers injured in gas attacks and trench warfare.
She often walked across battlegrounds looking for wounded.
Edith
became the first
female Status Indian and registered band member to gain the right to
vote in a Canadian federal election. (Indigenous women, as a whole,
could not vote federally until 1960.)”
All people can Benefit from Knowing How Amazing Indigeous Females
Are!
They're the fabric of our society and deserve to be acknowledged and
held up for celebration.
Compiled by Merle Baird-Kerr...May 15, 2018
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