Seventh Generation club getting stronger

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For six years, the Seventh Generation Club has been helping British Columbia's Native youth stay in school and acquire the good habits necessary to lead productive lives and become community leaders for their people. If the financial support shown at the Sheraton Wall Centre on April 25 is any indication, the program and Native youth have a healthy future.

Last year, the annual celebration and gala dinner raised $20,000, and preliminary estimates put donations from this year's $200-a-plate dinner and silent/live auction at close to $30,000.

Last year, monies raised helped send two Chehalis Community School students to the annual Native Vision Sports and Life Skills Camp in June in Phoenix, Ariz.

This year, the Seventh Generation Club will sponsor five youths who demonstrate excellent attendance, a positive attitude, and a strong commitment to their school and community.

"We've had such an outpouring of donations," said Christa Williams, head of the First Nations School Association and active organizer of the Seventh Generation Club for five years.

Items up for auction included gold and sterling silver jewelry, Native art-including a solid wood deer-hide drum and drum stick, cedar basket and stone carving-and numerous pieces of sports memorabilia, such as a No. 29 Montreal Canadiens jersey worn and autographed by Gino Odjick, a jersey from famed Miami Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese, and a team autographed Buffalo Bills football, featuring Doug Flutie. Ironically, a portrait of B.C. Lions great Lui Passaglia, did not receive a single bid.

Sports teams like the Canucks and Lions are major sponsors of the Seventh Generation Club, as were the Grizzlies before they left for Nashville. The same is true of U.S. teams.

"We've had a relationship with the NFL Players' Association for the last two years," said Williams. "They donate stuff to us and we donate stuff to their charities. Last autumn in New York, the top-selling item was a talking stick that sold for $1,000 U.S ."

The Seventh Generation Club takes its name from the belief that the decisions a person makes today affect the next seven generations. It encourages young Aboriginal students to stay in school, lead healthy lives, and become involved in their schools and communities. The club's major features include art and writing contests, and a newsletter, in which the students' works are published.

When it began in 1997, the club had only 300 members; now, more than 6,500 youth from all over the province participate.

Johanna Kinsmen, a Native support worker from School District 55 in Cranbrook, oversees 55 students in three schools and helps run the Seventh Generation Club once or twice a month during lunch hours. It's a small part of her job, she says, but by helping the 20 to 30 students participate in club activities, she helps monitor attendance. The club's goal is 95 per cent or better.

The gala, though, wasn't all business. The Lac Kaien Tsimshian dancers from Prince Rupert began the evening with a selection of traditional and modern dances featuring clan masks, skin drums, and participation by numerous audience members. After a dinner of bannock and grilled filet of salmon, the audience was entertained by the Native humor of Gramma Susie and Cache Creek Charlie and the original blues of guitarist George Leach.

The highlight of the night was the post-dinner live auction, led by guest auctioneer John Watson, director-general of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Watson's energy was infectious as he began to cajole the crowd into bidding on an autographed Canucks jersey.

It eventually went for $550. But the big item of the night was a rare putter autographed by Jack Nicklaus. It is only one of 10 in the world and a similar one recently sold at auction for $100,000 U.S.

The Seventh Generation Club came to have one courtesy of Williams. "My husband is good friends with Jack Nicklaus' daughter," she said. "Nicklaus read the [Seenth Generation] package and thought it was a really good idea, so he donated his putter. It's worth much more than we'll pay for it tonight. He was glad to make a contribution."

For an auspicious item like this, the bidding did not start well: "I'll start the bidding at $1,000," said Watson. "$750?... $500?" At $500 the bidding started and moved up in increments of $25. By the time it hit $875, the crowd became excited. The auction developed into a contest between Milton Wong, founder of M.K. Wong & Associates and currently chairman of HSBC Asset Management Canada, and an unidentified bidder in the back.

After $1,000 the space between bids grew perceptively. At $1,100 the bidder in the back looked like the final bid until after some minutes Wong bid $1,125.

Three times, Watson tried to push the bid to $1,150, but to no avail. As a final act of generosity, Wong donated the club to Sophie Pierre, who was opening a golf course and is raffling tickets to benefit the Seventh Generation Club.