Edmonton News Briefs - December 2014

Artist and nurse Heather Clayton displays her years in the north through A Life in Portraits, an exhibition that runs until Dec. 17 at the Extension Gallery at Enterprise Square Atrium, in downtown Edmonton.

Pioneer nursing celebrated in art exhibit

Heather Clayton lived and worked as a nurse in the north from 1959 to the beginning of the 1970s, first in Northern Ontario and then in Nunavut’s Belcher Islands (Qikiqtani). The “little nurse” Arniasiutiapik (as her patients used to call her) would sometimes travel by dog team, dragging with her a portable X-ray machine powered by a gas motor. Communications were patchy, and many times difficult decisions had to be made on the spot, with no outside medical support. “It’s an experience that changes you, because you learn so much, especially with the Elders,” said Clayton. “You absorb it; it becomes part of who you are.” Those Elders — captured through layer after layer of graphite and coloured pencil — are the faces portrayed in most pieces of the exhibition A Life in Portraits.

Métis Week proclaimed, celebrated

Nov. 9-16 was proclaimed Métis Week by the City of Edmonton. The Métis flag was raised outside of City Hall, presided over by a Métis Veterans Honour Guard, and flew until the end of the week in recognition of historic Métis leader Louis Riel. On Nov. 12, the High Level Bridge was lit blue and white in honour of Edmonton’s Métis population. “Edmonton’s Métis population is a valued part of our great city’s historical and cultural legacy. Their pioneering spirit helped establish Edmonton as a cultural and economic gathering place, and their influence helps make Edmonton the vibrant, prosperous city it is today,” said Councillor Tony Caterina.

Carlson recognized with LEAF award

Nellie Carlson, who was part of a group of Indigenous women who struggled to eliminate the discrimination embedded in the Indian Act which saw an Indian woman lose all Treaty Rights when she married a non-Indian man, has been named as one of three recipients of the LEAF Edmonton Recognition Awards for 2014. Carlson’s struggles were captured in Disinherited Generations: Our Struggle to Reclaim Treaty Rights for First Nations Women and their Children, which Linda Goyette wrote in conjunction with Carlson and Kathleen Steinhauer. Also chosen for LEAF awards, which recognize exceptional contributions and/or achievements for the betterment of women’s substantive equality, were LEAF national board chair Jennifer Tomaszewski and ConsentEd, which was formed in 2012 by 11 students who met as volunteer crisis counsellors.

U of A names new president

David Turpin has been appointed as the new president for the University of Alberta. Turpin takes over from two-term president Indira Samarasekera, who pushed the U of A to compete in international rankings in research and teaching during her eight years. Turpin is former president of the University of Victoria. One of his more notable achievements with UVic was boosting programs and support for First Nations students, including construction and completion of the First People’s House on campus. First Nations students at UVic increased from fewer than 100 when Turpin arrived in 2000 to nearly 1,000 when he left in 2013.

Supportive housing project re-opened

Carol’s House, a 10-bed interim supportive housing project for immigrant, refugee and human trafficked women and children fleeing violence, re-opened on Nov. 17. Carol’s House, at the time known as WIN House III, closed in October 2013 due to a lack of funding. The province, the City of Edmonton, Edmonton Women’s Shelter Ltd., and Homeward Trust Edmonton worked together to find a solution and the funding to reopen the project. Homeward Trust approved up to $393,215 in funds, through the province, to go towards the project, and EWS was able to secure additional support from the Katz family, Government of Alberta’s Innovative Child Care program, and Royal Alexandra Hospital, for a total funding amount of $533,620. Carol’s House practices a holistic, client-centered approach by offering a range of services, supports and referrals along a continuum of care that best supports each client’s goals and successes.