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The eighth annual Metis Settlements Youth Conference held July 15 to 19 at Kikino Silver Birch Resort, gave 93 young people from six of the eight Metis settlements a chance to interact with their peers from other communities and broaden their vision of the future.
Workshops on personal development and a career and education fair were key elements of the five-day conference, said conference co-odinator Pauline Thompson.
Workshops were offered on alcohol and drug abuse, youth suicide intervention, Native crafts, youth justice, self-esteem, and survival in the bush.
The adult chaperones were excluded from these sessions, allowing free expression among the 14 to 18 year old participants.
The career fair featured representatives from Alberta Pacific Forest Industries, the Canadian Army, Edmonton City Police, the Metis Settlements Tribunal, and various post-secondary schools. For at least one person, the workshops were the key to making the conference "above average," compared to three other similar conferences he has attended.
"The best thing about it was I got to perceive a wider range of opportunities for my future," said Cody St. Cyr, 17, of East Prairie. "I only knew of AVC and the U of A-but there's a lot more out there."
A more typical response to the question about the highlights of the conference came from his friend Owen Big Charles, 14, also of East Prairie.
"It was cool; the swimming was the best-and meeting girls."
The adults at the conference were also impressed with the site.
"I like the lake and their facilities," volunteer chaperone for the East Prairie group Joan Haggerty said of the Silver Birch Resort.
The conference, which is held annually on one of the eight Metis settlements, is funded through the Strategic Training Initiatives (STI) program of the Metis Settlements General Council. A grant of $25,000 from STI is topped up by the host settlement and private donations. Each settlement is responsible for the selection and transportation of the youth sent to the conference.
STI youth co-ordinator Beverly Knibbs attended the conference as a volunteer and was impressed with what she saw.
"I'm enjoying myself," she said. "The kids are generally well behaved. All the settlements should be happy with this conference."
Three young participants were awarded $1,000 scholarships provided by the Toronto Dominion Bank in the Youth Role Model search.
Kristy Cardinal, 17, of Kikino will use her scholarship to attend Lethbridge Community College's three-year criminal justice program. Amanda Lepine, 16, of Elizabeth Settlement plans to pursue a degree in education at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has been offered a hockey scholarship.
The third scholarship recipient, Nebraska Kosy, 18, of Gift Lake, will attend Grand Prairie Regional College in the Bachelor of Arts program.
Along with their scholarships, Nebraska Kosy and Amanda Lepine were also awarded home computer systems, valued at $1,200, from host Kikino Metis Settlement.
Another highlight of the conference was a performance Thursday by the hiphop group War Party of Hobbema, who delivered a message of "believing in yourself" in an entertaining and straight from the heart style.
While the workshops, the camping, beach volleyball, and swimming left lasting impressions on the youth and the adult volunteers, the strongest memory will be that of an intense storm on Thursday night that sent the campers scurrying to the shelter of the Kikino school.
The storm surrounded the campers with lightning on all sides. High winds toppled trees and collapsed tents, sending some tumbling over the open ground into the trees. A security guard at the beach reported seeing a funnel cloud forming, and the lightning activity was so intense it seemed like daylight.
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