Grad trip catches the attention of NYC resident

A small group of grade 12 students from Piikani High School has grabbed the attention of a man in the city that is the destination of their graduation trip.

Steve Cowley tuned into the plans of the eight kids through his business’s on-site link with Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, which publishes Sweetgrass. The students’ efforts to raise $30,000 for their grad trip to New York City appeared in the Alberta on-line publication late last week. Cowley is CEO of Tâpwê Production Projects, a fully Native-owned multimedia production services company in New York City, and his wife Roz Dotson is president. Instantly, Cowley was hooked and willing to pass on their GoFundMe information to his contacts.

“First, the fact that they are coming to our city to visit. That caught my attention. Then their choice of transportation: chartered bus. Instead of sitting in airports for hours and flying over endless boring clouds or watching miles and miles of the same wilderness on a train or watching it whiz by your window at a gazillion miles per hour on an Amtrak train they decided to charter a bus. It’s just cheaper and more adventurous. I'm also encouraged by their plans to continue onto post-secondary education upon graduation,” said Cowley in an email interview with Sweetgrass.

Cowley is a graduate of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (now First Nations University of Canada). Before attending SIFC he enrolled in the art program at SAIT in Calgary. He recalls his relatives making the trip south to the village of Cowley and taking selfies at the village sign, not so far away from the Piikani First Nation.

“As a college graduate I am especially grateful for the opportunities I’ve had because there was funding available for me to go and see what was outside our First Nation. I am encouraged by the Piikani grads talking about continuing education and their future plans. I believe that was what our great-grandparents, their parents wished for us, a brighter future than they had. And we must not allow that responsibility to be eliminated or the funding to be cut back.  Our people have given up so much already,” said Cowley.

Cowley hails from Opaskawayak Cree Nation in Manitoba. He ended up in New York City 23 years ago on the tail end of the “travelling bug,” deciding to pursue writing in the place where he was “told by a lot of people that this is where writers go to make a living and have a career.” Along with his company, Cowley writes a blog entitled “A Cree in NYC.”

Cowley has a lot of site-seeing tips to offer the grads on their trip. In South Dakota, there’s the Wounded Knee memorial site. In Philadelphia, he suggests the Rocky Steps up to the Museum of Art and partaking in the best Philly Steak sandwiches.

“I would wish they take the most scenic route available and stop to see what else exists outside their First Nation. There are a lot of historic spots they can visit,” he said. “That’s what an adventure is for. To expect the unexpected.”

Cowley says he would be pleased to show the students around New York City and recommends they wear comfortable walking shoes. On his must-see list are the National Museum of the American Indian, which has one of the most extensive collections of Native American arts and artifacts in the world and “a great friendly staff;” Ground Zero in lower Manhattan; riding the Staten Island Ferry which goes by the Statue of Liberty; horse carriage rides through Central Park; eating dim sum in Chinatown in Manhattan’s lower east side; a view of the city and neighbouring counties from the observation deck of the Empire State Building; a subway ride to Harlem; a visit to Madison Square Garden; and souvenir shopping in Times Square.

“It is a small world,” said Cowley. “I hope the group discovers that as well.”

The Piikani High School Grad Club plans to leave for their two-week trip in mid-May.