Events take place throughout week

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The Calgary Aboriginal Awareness Society will be celebrating 10 years of hosting Native Awareness Week from June 15 to 21 with art exhibits, plays and other events at various venues throughout the city. The society began its first awareness week with the hopes of bridging cultural and social gaps between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in Calgary and the program manager feels the society has been successful.

"Our mandate is promoting goodwill between native and non-Native communities and fostering co-operation and I think we've been very successful in achieving that," Carole Carpenter, program manager, said.

Carpenter said Awareness Week began as a joint venture between a few interested individuals, the Calgary Friendship Center and the Chamber of Commerce.

"It started out as Native Awareness Days and then it seemed to grow and became more successful," Carpenter said. "The interest was there so they developed the Native Awareness Week Society then the name changed in 1991 to the Calgary Aboriginal Awareness Society."

The society, Carpenter said, keeps the both communities informed and aware of educational, cultural and business undertakings in the Aboriginal community.

"We're established, people know who we are and what we do," she said "People will call us for other information besides our Native Awareness Week."

Carpenter said that despite the efforts of the society there will still be people who won't want to learn or will be afraid to learn about the Aboriginal community.

"If they come out to some of these events and see what really good things are happening in the Aboriginal community that will eliminate a lot of the stereotypes."

A blessing by an Elder, an official opening by Mayor Al Duerr and a Grand entry will kick-off the week at the Olympic Plaza on June 15.

Among some of the events that will take place during the week will be a debut theatre production by the Native theatre group, 4 Roadz Artists, a group was formed by two young men from the Blood Reserve, Troy Emery Twigg and Karl Melting Tallow. The play, entitled Lewis and Hugh, depicting the struggles of two young men who have just moved off the reserve into the city will be presented at the Pumphouse Theatre from June 12 to 20.