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Stand-out youth recognized for various accomplishments

Article Origin

Author

By Cliff Gladue Sweetgrass Writer EDMONTON

Volume

18

Issue

12

Year

2011

Michael Hudkins was one of 12 Aboriginal youth to be recognized for his accomplishments in a special ceremony held late September.

“It’s a wonderful award. It means that I’ve done something with my life. It’s the effort that is recognized from your peers,” said Hudkins, 28, a member of the Edmonton Fire Rescue.  Hudkins is originally from Rocky Mountain House.  His dad is German and his mother is Mohawk/English.  His grandmother is French.  This cultural mixture gave Hudkins inspirational determination.
Hudkins took home the Career Advancement award in the senior category. Winning in the junior category was Justin Ward.

The Alberta Aboriginal Youth Achievement Awards were held Sept. 23. The evening honoured outstanding First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth between the ages of 10 and 30 years. It was an exceptional event which featured the youth, and various entertainers including a jigging group, the Métis Asham dancers from Manitoba, who showed with their precision dancing why the dance originated in that province. The crowd was also entertained by the group Ghostkeeper, the Métis fiddler quartet, and the Dancing Eagle Wolf traditional dancers and singers. The venue for the evening was the Winspear Centre with its fully functional theatre which helped create a movie awards night atmosphere.

Jaydon Thompson, who lives in Hinton, was also an award recipient. The talented grass dancer is learning to sing traditional Round Dance and Pow wow songs.  Jaydon is in grade seven at Crescent Elementary and is learning to speak Cree, Saulteaux as well as English.  His plans for the future include studying to become an engineer.

Thompson said “it was very great” to win and the award provided encouragement for him to continue. “Both my mom and dad are traditional.  My dad is Cree and my mom is Saulteaux.”

Thompson earned his recognition as the First Nations winner in the Culture and Heritage category.  The Métis winner in the category was Colten Bear.

The AAYAA were conceived under the Métis Nation of Alberta’s Labour Market Development department in 2003 to recognize excellence and create positive role models for youth.  It is now directed and supported by the Rupertsland Institute to assist training and post-secondary funding for Aboriginal youth.  The Rupertsland Institute has a mandate from the MNA to develop education, training and research initiatives for Métis people in Alberta.

Thirty-two Aboriginal youth were nominated for awards in six categories. Each category had two winners.
Other winners were: Dominique Courtorielle (junior) and Jillian Ferguson (senior) for Academic Achievement; Johnathan Lance Scout (senior) and Bordeen-Alec Twoyoungman (junior) for “Walking the Red Road;” Daryl Lynn Rae Nepoose (senior) and Jonathan Cardinal (junior) for Athletic Achievement; and, Delaine Lambert-English (senior) and Ty Steinhauer (junior) for Community Leaders.