Edmonton Briefs - September 2012

Ashley Deschambault with 250 goodie-filled backpacks given away as welcome gifts to Aboriginal students at Tawow, hosted in the Education Building at the University of Alberta.

Aboriginal students introduced to university community

“The (University of Alberta) is so large it’s easy to get shuffled and lost,” said third-year nursing student Ashley Deschambault. “(Tawow) brings them together in a community fashion.” Tawow welcomed Aboriginal students to the southside campus with food, information booths, introduction to the Aboriginal Students Services Council and 250 backpacks stuffed full of supplies and goodies on Aug. 31. Deschambault, a Métis student from Fort Vermilion, said whether first year or fifth year, an event like Tawow introduces students to what’s available on campus. “There’s always something new. Things are always changing,” she said. There are approximately 1,300 Aboriginal students at the U of A.

Homeless count scheduled for October

Three hundred to 400 volunteers will be out on the streets downtown and at other strategic spots of the city on Oct. 16 to carry out the 10th biennial Homeless Count. Volunteers, in areas close to drop-in centers, libraries, temporary employment agencies, bottle depots, and other places, will record responses to a short eight-question survey. The event marks a point-in-time snapshot of Edmonton’s homeless population, as well as collecting crucial data to be used to monitor trends. The last Homeless Count, which took place Oct. 5, 2010, recorded 2,421 homeless individuals, marking a 21 per cent decrease since 2008. It was the first time a decrease was registered since 1999.

Meet the North conference hosted at Enoch

The third Meet the North conference in as many years will bring together up to 400 key business leaders and senior managers from all sectors to address challenges to economic development in Edmonton and northern Canada. Premier Alison Redford will be in attendance and will address delegates during a luncheon. Also on the agenda are Barrie Robb, vice president, Business Development, Mackenzie Aboriginal Corporation; Justin Ferbey, managing director, Carcross Tagish Development Corporation; Roy Erasmus, CEO, De’ton Cho Corp.; and government ministers from both Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Previous Meet the North conferences were held in NWT and the Yukon. Meet the North 2012 - Going Global is a three-day conference to take place on the Enoch Cree Nation at the Marriott River Cree Resort Oct. 3-5.

Aboriginal relationship with Ukrainians celebrated

On Sept. 23, an Aboriginal/Ukrainian-Canadian ceremonial exchange of gifts will take place to commemorate the relationship based on a shared bond with land never before officially acknowledged by either community. Over 100 years ago, Ukrainian settlers began to build their farms and towns on land that had traditionally been the homeland of First Nations and Métis peoples in Alberta. For a long time, the Ukrainian settlers told the story of their first contact with the Aboriginal peoples, who were their neighbours and helped them survive the first harsh years. The ceremony is to give thanks to the relationship between the two groups of people and to renew an old friendship and will be held at St Faith/ St Stephen the Martyr church.

Master plan for Queen Elizabeth Park

The City of Edmonton’s plans to enhance Queen Elizabeth Park is receiving feedback from the Aboriginal community. Due to the historical and cultural significance of the Queen Elizabeth Park area of the river valley, a second Aboriginal community workshop was held in August for the Wicihitowin Action Circles and Aboriginal community members in order to review and provide feedback on the vision, guiding principles, preliminary conceptual designs, and interpretation possibilities that were developed based on input from the first round of consultation. Input from this workshop will help inform a design direction for the final park master plan. The first Aboriginal community meeting was held in May. The city plans to make the park a city-wide destination.

Compiled by Shari Narine