Calgary Briefs - December 2012

Students, faculty and staff from Bow Valley College’s Aboriginal Addictions Services Counselling certificate program gather for the 15th annual Wellness Walk, which launched National Addictions Awareness Week.

National Addictions Awareness Week marked

 “For our students the Wellness Walk is more than a symbolic gesture,” said Dr. Bill DuPerron, dean of the School of Health, Justice and Human Services. “In the classroom they are leaning about the value of Aboriginal culture, teachings, and ceremonies and how to integrate these aspects into the healing journey of addicted Aboriginal people, and that’s really what this walk is all about.” The walk gave students with Bow Valley College’s new Aboriginal Addictions Services Counselling certificate program the opportunity to share their learning and connect with representatives from agencies and community groups that focus on addiction-related issues. Bow Valley’s new certificate program is the first of its kind in western Canada and recently received accreditation from First Nations Wellness/Addictions Counsellor Certification Board and recognition for setting a new benchmark for Aboriginal addictions counseling programs in Canada. “It is clear the program responds to the needs of First Nations employers, and that it provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective addictions practitioners,” said Alan Podsadowski, executive director of the First Nations Wellness/Addictions Counsellor Certification Board.

Ring road on provincial agenda again

Newly elected Tsuu T’ina Chief Roy Whitney can expect to hear from the province shortly to discuss Calgary’s ring road. “I’m very hopeful that when we get a chance to talk we can find some ground that’s common and move ahead,” Alberta Transportation Minister Rick McIver told the Calgary Herald. The last time Tsuu T’ina members voted on a ring road deal was in June 2009 when more than 60 per cent of those who cast ballots opposed a ring road on their land. Whitney is a longtime former chief at Tsuu T’ina, holding the position for 16 years, from 1985 and 2001. He defeated Sandford Big Plume in elections Nov. 26.

New Transit Peace Officers from diverse backgrounds

On Nov. 2, 15 new Calgary Transit Peace Officers attended graduation ceremonies at Fort Calgary, the culmination of seven weeks of specialized training in law and security in preparation for the West LRT opening. The graduates bring a wide breadth of diverse police experience from Tsuu T’ina Tribal police, regional police services, RCMP, and Sheriff services. Some have experience as correctional peace officers, locally and abroad. Others have worked with the Royal Navy and the RCAF. One of the graduates has a law degree and another is a certified forensic interviewer. The graduating peace officers are fluent in several languages and reflect Calgary’s cultural diversity.

Casting call for extras for feature film to be shot at Morley

On Nov. 24, a casting call for extras for Aboriginal men, women and children aged eight to 70 years was held at Marlborough Mall. Shooting of the feature film The Race to Save Nome will take place in the Morley area from mid-January to early April 2013. Based on a true story, the film set in Alaska in 1925 will star Kurt Russell, Hilary Swank and Brian Presley. The Race to Save Nome tells the story of mushers and their sled dogs traversing treacherous weather to bring an anti-toxin to the town of Nome, which is experiencing a diphtheria outbreak.

Award-winning author shares insights on successful economic investment

On Nov. 26, the Calgary Chamber of Commerce hosted a presentation by Calvin Helin, the award-winning author of bestseller Dances with Dependency and The Economic Dependency Trap. Helin shared his insights for enabling economic self-sufficiency in First Nation communities, touching on policies and approaches that business leaders need to avoid and how these practices have traditionally hindered Aboriginal communities in achieving economic success. He discussed how a one-size-fits-all approach does not work because the needs of communities vary. The chamber has a long history of leading Aboriginal policy issues, familiarizing the business community with Aboriginal perspectives and opportunities to work within Aboriginal communities. The Aboriginal Workforce Initiative and now an Aboriginal-Business Connection speaker series brings leading Aboriginal experts together with government representatives to share insights on building successful working relationships.

Graphic novels rejuvenate connection to Aboriginal languages

Graphic novels, written in both English and Blackfoot, are piquing the interest of young Aboriginals. “The main focus was getting youth engaged in their traditional ancestral language in a way they’re going to be engaged and interested in,” said John Medeiros, managing editor of the Urban Aboriginal Youth Society’s New Tribe magazine. “Graphic novels were a way to get them to read from start to finish. In time, inadvertently, they’d learn some words in the Blackfoot language that might encourage them to learn more in the future.” Most recent census data reveals that the number of Native speakers of an Aboriginal language in Canada has not changed since 2006, remaining at 213,500. However, this number is a nine per cent increase since 2001, coinciding with a 20 per cent increase in the Aboriginal population in Canada between 2001 and 2006. In Alberta 3,155 residents reported their mother tongue as Stoney and 3,250 spoke Blackfoot. Unless a new batch of speakers learn Blackfoot as a second language, it could become extinct within a generation, said Indigenous languages specialist Darin Flynn, a University of Calgary assistant professor in linguistics. Flynn predicts a similar fate for many Aboriginal languages in Canada. “Second language learners are the big unknown factor when it comes to the plight of indigenous languages, and they are the main focus of local language revitalization efforts, but unfortunately they are not represented in the census, which focuses on mother tongue speakers.”