Edmonton News Briefs - October 2014

Second annual Treaty 6 day marked

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation Chief Tony Alexis, standing in for the Grand Chief, proclaimed Sept. 25 as Treaty 6 Recognition Day. The two were joined by other Treaty 6 Chiefs in a special ceremony held at City Hall. “Edmonton values are treaty values,” said Iveson, “and all people are welcome here.” The event allows the city to further strengthen Edmonton’s renewed relationship with the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations.

Edmonton’s newest downtown park will be named after Alex Decoteau, an athlete, a soldier, and Canada’s first Aboriginal police officer. After learning about Decoteau, Patricia Heights School students approached the city, wanting to find a way to honour his legacy. Jeff Nachtigall, chair of the City’s Naming Committee, said, “The downtown community and Edmonton Police Services got behind the idea, and we are excited to be honouring him through this park.” The new park, which will be located at the northwest corner of 105 Street and 102 Avenue, will be a gathering space for all seasons. Design work is underway, and construction of the park is expected to begin in 2016, subject to council approval. Decoteau joined the Edmonton Police Service in 1909. He was renowned as a long-distance runner and competed at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. He enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1916 and was killed in action at the Battle of Passchendaele in October 1917.

The Creating Hope Society will receive $55,470 through the Aboriginal Women’s Programming Element of the Canadian Heritage’s Aboriginal Peoples’ Program to support the “Aboriginal Women’s Cultural Wellness” project. Funding will enable the society to organize four 10-week-long cultural programs for 60 Aboriginal women in the Edmonton-area. Program activities will include information sessions, cultural teachings, traditional craft projects and sweat lodge ceremonies. The Creating Hope Society is a not-for-profit Aboriginal organization that delivers cultural programs and information sessions to families involved in the provincial child welfare system in Alberta. The Aboriginal Women’s Programming Element supports Aboriginal women’s projects that address issues affecting them and their families and that strengthen their cultural identity and traditions

 Funding from the RBC Foundation will allow NorQuest College to launch an Aboriginal student support program. RBC has provided $250,000 for a peer-to-peer system which will be called the RBC Aboriginal Mentorship Program and will complement the college’s current RBC Student Ambassador Program. “Students are our future and deserve every opportunity to reach their full potential,” said Jeff Boyd, regional president, RBC, Alberta and Territories, in a news release. The total gift has been broken into two portions with $150,000 going to the mentorship program and $100,000 for the ambassador program. Both will be allotted over a five year period. NorQuest College will establish a RBC Aboriginal Mentorship Program liaison position to facilitate the recruitment and training of peer mentors. It will also create an alumni chapter for Aboriginal students and graduates. 

University of Alberta associate professor Dr. Cindy Blackstock will lead a discussion on the underfunding of child welfare on reserves at the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund 29th Annual Persons Day Breakfast on Oct. 30. Blackstock, a member of the Gitksan First Nation, has worked in the field of child and family services for over 20 years. She has a Ph.D. in social work from the University of Toronto and is the author of over 60 publications. Her key interests include exploring and addressing the causes of disadvantage for Aboriginal children and families by promoting equitable and culturally based interventions. She is an expert advisor to UNICEF on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Blackstock filed a complaint, along with the Assembly of First Nations, with the Canadian Human Rights Commission alleging discrimination in that services and funding relating to children on reserves is much less than services and funding from provinces. This case is ongoing.

Compiled by Shari Narine