Esquao awards gala remains popular

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The Esquao 2000 Circle of Honour Awards Banquet and Esquao Fashion Extravaganza was held May 19 and 20 at the Edmonton Northlands Agricom. Hundreds of participants attended the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women's fifth annual event.

Esquao, which means woman in Cree, is pronounced (es-KWAY-o).

"A lot of people have different ways of spelling it, but this is our version," said Muriel Stanley Venne, president of the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women. "We do not want to upset people, but we like this version," she said.

Each year the institute recognizes the strengths and courage of Aboriginal women across Alberta. This year they changed the awards ceremony from being a competition event to being a recognition ceremony. "In the past we've honored only five women at the award ceremony but this year we've changed it and we honored 34 women," said Stanley Venne. "This means that all of the women who were nominated were recognized as recipients," she said.

The nominees were divided into six categories: Arts & Entertainment; Business; Community Involvement; Health, Medicine & Culture; Mentor/Lifetime Achievement; and Youth Role Models.

Each recipient received a plaque and a bouquet of flowers. Six police women who represented the Calgary city police, the Edmonton city police and the RCMP led the grand entry into Friday evening's banquet and escorted each of the 34 award recipients to the stage. Children who belonged to the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society's Coyote Kids program presented the flowers and escorted the women off the stage.

"It meant a lot to me. I did not realize how much it would mean to me until we were actually there and seeing these women who were being recognized," said Sharon Bourque of the Edmonton Police Service. "It was an honor to escort them to get their award and also to be able to show that as police women things can be tough, but it can also be very rewarding. That it is what you make of it. That we can be role models within the communities that we serve. I really enjoyed being there and the other members enjoyed it too," she said.

The Esquao awards began in 1996 after Stanley Venne and a group of women decided to recognize the outstanding contributions of Aboriginal women in the province. Stanley Venne believes that speaker Connie Deiter deserves a lot of praise for writing an article about the plight of Aboriginal women who were murdered in Canada.

"Connie inspired me. When the country was commemorating the 14 women that were murdered in Montreal, Dieter did this beautiful article titled No Candlelight Vigil For Our Women," said Stanley Venne. "(If) any other ethnic group that had as many women murdered and with not one murder conviction there would have been a public outcry. . . . The women who attended the awards gala are all saying that they do not want to see these kinds of things happening to our Aboriginal women any more," she said.

Both the institute and the Feather of Hope Aboriginal AIDS Society sponsored the fashion show. JoAnn Daniels was the master of ceremonies.

The Healthy Images & Healthy Lifestylyes Fashion Extravaganza featured some of the finest works of Manyfingers Designs, Pat Piche Contemporary Fashion Designs, Acree Designs, Lana's Leathers & Designs, Rhonda Cardinal, Alberta Whiskeyjack Designs, and Northern Lakes College Native Fashion Designer Program. Male and female models walked the runway in coats, evening wear and casual wear.

"What a great gala we had this year-what about 2001! I was so excited to see all the women attend. Some travelled a fair distance," said Stanley Venne. "As women in these awards, our objective is to take empowerment and action in our lives. The women who were recipients at the awards gala all have a sense of power that they can do it. They are all strong women who have the ability to be role-models to their families, in their communities and for future generations to come," she said.