Good people, good work up Grande Prairie way

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On March 20, with Edmonton disappearing in my rear view mirror, I settled into my trip north. Five hours later I drove into Grande Prairie, and checked into the Grande Prairie Inn. They gave me an option of a room over the bar with music blaring until two in the morning or one on the fourth floor. I opted for the fourth floor room.

The fire alarm went off only once. I called down to the desk, and they said that they were testing a new system. They said not to worry, so I untied the sheets that I was going to use to go out the window.

GRANDE PRAIRIE:

I spent the morning visiting the Grande Prairie Regional College, a building designed by renowned Native architect Douglas Cardinal, and stopped in at the Grande Prairie Friendship Centre sub-office located on campus. I spoke to Gail Sunshine, president of the Circle of Aboriginal Students, a club whose members look at ways of getting Aboriginal content in courses. They are in the process of implementing Aboriginal politics and Aboriginal business into the Business Administration program. The group is also planning on having Cree classes on campus in the fall.

"Our main focus is to develop Aboriginal education within the courses available," said Sunshine, who was kind enough to give me a tour of the fine arts department.

Brenda Freeman, who is a student mentor at the college, also met with me. She has two children and is from High Level. She is in her third year in the bachelor of Social Work degree program. The student mentor program, which began in 2000, has four full-time Aboriginal students who help support students through a variety of situations.

"If they just want someone to talk to, then I will take the time to go somewhere and listen, and if they need a friend, I will be their friend," said Freeman. "I notice that I'm not only mentoring the students but that the students are also helping me. So it not only works one way but both ways as well. We help each other out when in need, and if they need to discuss anything, such as discrimination and things like that, we do not get angry about it, we just talk about it, bring it out and then we move on. The reason that I came to this college is that I heard a lot of good things about it. A lot of Aboriginal students come here."

Sunshine, who is from Sturgeon Lake, not only likes the community feeling of the college, but claims that walking the circular hallways eases her stress. "Whenever I'm going through some stress, I walk the hallways and visualize Douglas Cardinal, who designed the building, and I don't feel stressed anymore. Douglas is my role model. I just feel a sense of peace. It reminds me that, as an Aboriginal person, I can make it. It makes me proud to know that an Aboriginal person could be so gifted to design such a unique building," she said.

Sunshine will be graduating in June with a bachelor's degree in Commerce.

"When I first got here at this college there was no outreach friendship centre. There was no support for Aboriginal people at all, and that was four years ago. I was like a little mouse. You could say 'Boo' to me and I would scamper away, but today I know what I want out of life."

I stopped at the cafeteria and joined Suzanne Sutherland of High River and in the Business Administration program, and Freda Gladue from Wabasca, who is in her first year of accounting, for a coffee.

Gladue said that she was really scared when she first started school but claims she is now fitting into the college community.

"I did not know anybody. I wanted to come to get an education, so that is what I focused on. I did not focus on anybody else," said Gladue.

I asked them for directions for the main friendship centre located downtown. They said look for the tall black building. Apparently the students use the building as a landmark. They said that if you can find that building in Grande Prairie, you can find any building there. They said that the friendship centre was located in between two ne-way streets close to the Black highrise building. Ah, landmarks. Sort of like the CN tower here.

Tables, a television, and a pool table filled the drop-in area at the friendship centre. Kids, enjoying an afternoon at the centre during spring break, greeted me.

Lorral Olito, the holistic outreach facilitator at the centre was very helpful, explaining her role in the community. Her program takes her to the young offender centre in Grande Prairie once a week, where she does a number of programs on culture, addictions, HIV, respect and honor, personal choices, and a new program that includes making dreamcatchers and drums with an Elder.

She introduced me to Doug Haight, who works in the Street Outreach and Support program (SOS) and the housing resource program. Haight goes into the street community of Grande Prairie three nights a week. He loads up his van with blankets, food and hygiene products and distributes them to the homeless people of Grande Prairie.

Olito said that the centre has drop-in programs where the youth come in to hang out, play pool or do some break dancing.

"It's a gathering place for them to come to. It is open six days a week from 8:30 to 8:30 for youth and adults and I also open the place up for the youth on Saturday nights, where they come in and hang out with other youth who do not want to hang out on the streets."

Amanda Ferguson from Grande Prairie, who is the administrative assistant of the Urban Multi-Purpose Aboriginal Youth Centre and the Career Employment Services at the centre, said that it is great to work there because she gets to meet a lot of new people who come to the centre when they first come to the city.

"I've been here for over a year and it is quite pleasant to work here," she said.

Hello to Lucy Laboucan from Fox Lake, who was taking her first-year nursing practicum at the centre. She said that she wants to eventually go back to her hometown. Laboucan, who speaks fluent Cree, hopes to help the Elders as they cme to the Health Centre.

"Taking this course is a lot of work, but I like the teachers. They encourage me, and there is a lot of Aboriginal people who come to school, so it is great," she said.

Wanda Laliberte, who is in her fourth year of the bachelor of Social Work degree, is from Wabasca. She is the program assistant for Babies Best Start program at the centre. The program offers prenatal education to the community. She said that the centre has run these types of programs since 1997.

"We have an outreach program for the mothers who cannot come to the centre. The outreach workers visit homes in the communities of Fairview, Valleyview, Beaver Lodge and Grande Cache. We cover the whole region. We have outreach workers in each of these communities. About 60 per cent of our clients are Aboriginal," she said.

GRANDE CACHE:

In the afternoon I was heading west on Highway 43. It's a scenic drive with hills and eventually mountains where the town of Grande Cache is located. I stopped at the local Fields store where I spotted two ladies and their kids shopping, so I introduced myself and asked if one of them would accompany me on a tour of the community, so thanks to Joyce Joachim and her two children, Cheyenne and Shalene, I was able to find the Metis Local 1994 office. I then drove Joyce home to the co-op community of Grande Cache Lake, a beautiful area with numerous houses. She said she liked living there because she found it quiet and friendly. Thank you for the information you were able to provide for me, Joyce.

I ran into Al Findlay, the president of the Metis local, back in Grande Prairie. He said there are six co-operative communities near the town-Muskeg, Susa Creek, Grande Cache Lake, Victor Lake, Joachim and Wanyandie Flats east and west. I asked why they were called co-operatives, as opposed to reserves or Metis colonies. Findlay said that in the early 1900s the government relocated Aboriginal people from what is known today as Jasper National Park ad in 1972, the co-ops were structured after the town began to develop the local coal mine. The co-ops are occupied through membership and are non-transferable. They are set up for the families and their descendants who lived in the Grande Cache area prior to 1960. They are occupied by Metis, non-status, or status people. Today, more than 450 people call the co-op communities home.

Grande Cache does not have a friendship centre, but the Metis Local Centre offers numerous programs to the community. Findlay said that card games, dances, after school programs, soup and bannock days, a women's circle, a seniors group and a youth dance group use the facility on a regular basis. He said he would like to do more, but with a lack of funds coming their way they are limited to what they can offer their community.

"It is not only Metis people who utilize the centre. First Nations, non-status and non-Aboriginal people also use the centre," he said.

An annual talent show in September is one of the events Findlay really looks forward to. This is the fourth year they've held the event, and he says that it just keeps getting bigger and better and the money that is generated from the show goes to youth camping trips.

"We get contestants for the talent show from all over Alberta and from northern B.C. This year it is going to be on Sept. 20. The youth really enjoy the camping trip," he said.

HORSE LAKE:

After a good rest, I headed out to Horse Lake, which is located about an hour-and-a-half drive west of Grande Prairie. Thanks to Linda Desjarlais for the wonderful tour of the community and the tour of the new Horse Lake Multiplex Centre, which held its grand opening on Feb. 14 to 16. The building has an indoor hockey rink, an exercise room, a 30-man hot tub, a concession area, and basketball courts.

Desjarlais, who has eight kids and 25 grandkids, is one of the school bus drivers for the Hythe Elementary School. She also works part-time in the kitchen in the multiplex. Ther