Future leaders step to the mike

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Parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, friends, teachers and the occasional hockey player or Spice Girl were the inspiration for young public speakers at the Treaty Six First Annual Speech Competition, held in the confines of the Provincial Museum auditorium on Wednesday, April 29.

Students from grades one to nine and from nine different schools in the Treaty Six area were competing in First Language (Cree and Chipewyan) and Original Speech (English). The topic for their speeches was "Someone I Admire", and almost all the contestants chose to applaud family members.

Particularly memorable was the speech by Grade 9 winner Debora Cardinal, of Pakan School at Goodfish Lake. She showed her admiration for Terry Fox and his "Marathon of Hope" including a tribute to her mother, who also died from cancer. The winner of the Grade 6 speech category also chose to recognize her mother. Jerrilee Houle said how proud she was of her mother, Rose Houle, "for finishing high school and being a role model for other people." She also told how her mother "raised four boys [and Jerrilee herself] as a single parent with no one to help her."

Many of the participants already appeared to be seasoned performers. Grade 8 student Gina Jacobs, of Legoff School, told a Dene legend in a voice that was clear and strong. She used dialogue and expression so expertly than even those who didn't know the Dene language were spell-bound. Quentin Rabbit of the Montana Band showed a lot of initiative when he chose a prayer and a drum song - he was also the drummer - as his First Language entry.

Megan Watchmaker, the second speaker of the morning, showed a professionalism well beyond her age - she's in Grade 1 - when she was asked to wait a couple of minutes before starting her speech. Imagine that, all alone on that stage, looking into all those faces . . . but she didn't lose her poise.

Julia Cardinal, Cree language teacher for Grades 1 to 6 at Saddle Lake's Onchaminahos School and organizer for the event, spoke of the importance of the event and especially the First Language component:

"Any Native language is the key to culture. Making students aware of the value and importance of any Native language will enhance the student's role in society, [encourage] tolerance of other cultures and develop leadership qualities," she said.