Change is unique to us all

Page 4

Talk to the Feather

The power people have when they decide to change a no longer acceptable situation is extraordinary and the way change is brought about by people is also unique since we are all individuals.

When people in First Nation communities decide to change a sad and tragic situation, like suicides, it can bring them together to work towards harmony.

It brings the situation out into the light of day where it can be unraveled and put back together in a positive way.

Those people are to be commended for taking that step, because sometimes that is a truly difficult step to take when people need to admit responsibility for each other. It takes the strength in those people to come together and make a hurtful situation better.

Yet, when a group of Aboriginal people come together against what they see as unacceptable leadership, they are frequently branded as rebels or trouble makers. Usually it appears that way when it is depicted in the media. So many Aboriginal people tend to view the media as an evil controversial machine to be ignored. Yet the media can be used as a tool in gaining awareness about positive change.

A balance is needed somewhere between the negative and the positive situations because we can learn much from both sides and in the grey areas, too.

What people find as a unacceptable is a matter of taste and it appears that it is more honorable to object to certain situations than as others. I guess it depends on what you accept as the standard for yourself.

Then there are the people who will just walk into a situation and not see it as a fight. They slowly endear themselves to people by seeing the positive potential of the situation and go about making the changes they can. These kind of people also unify the community. There is usually an element of humor with their actions, like shaving your head.

Clearly, there are some wrong ways that people choose to use to provoke change. Bringing people together using violence or shame is damaging to the soul. All change is not growth because all movement is not forward.

The different approaches people take to get positive results, whether its about themselves or about their communities, isn't always wrong or right, sometimes it is just change.

Letters

I am searching for family descendants of Charles LaGlace and Felix LaGlace. I was raised by my Grandparents, Felix LaGlace and Alice Cardinal, we lived on the Horse Lake Beaver reserve. Alice Cardinal was married to a Raymond Hammer. They had a daughter by the name of Joesphine, who was baptized in McLennan, Alberta. Should Josephine have any children out there somewhere please contact me by phone, mail or Email. I will also accept collect calls from family members who are out there. If Felix LaGlace had children or a child from another woman, other than Alice Cardinal, please contact me. In the Grande Prairie area there is a small town named after Charles LaGlace, he won the respect of his tribesmen and the white settlers. The town is called LaGlace, Charles LaGlace passed on around 1909. Thank you. Marlene Desjarlais (LaGlace) maiden name

My home address is: Box 211, Sexsmith, AB T0H 3C0

Home phone:

(780) 568-3794 or

Email: marlened@telusplanet.net