Aboriginal university graduates honored

Within the extravagant and exciting atmosphere of the Whitecap Dakota Dunes Casino, Aboriginal graduates were honored at a banquet on June 5, after finishing a variety of post-secondary programs at the University of Saskatchewan.

Most of those gathered at the Dakota Dunes banquet room included the graduates themselves, First Nations leaders, post-secondary coordinators, and friends and family of graduates.

One graduate was Leo Omani of the Wapehton Dakota Nation near Prince Albert, who finished his Ph.D in Interdisciplinary Studies in the areas of history, education, languages and linguistics, Native studies, and law.

“It was a pretty humbling process… it was good to see so many young people graduating,” he said of the banquet, adding he is thankful to his First Nation for funding him through his higher education.

“It’s the highest to receive at the university, a doctorate degree. And what it allows for it opens the door to new perspectives and knowledge.  In
particular Aboriginal knowledge,” Omani said. His studies focused on gathering information from Elders about treaties in Saskatchewan.

Marlene Larocque of Waterhen, graduated with a Masters degree in Public Health with a core focus on health promotion and policy, bio-statistics, and epidemiology.
“I went in with a Bachelor of Social Work,” she said, adding she also worked for the National Aboriginal Health Organization in Ottawa.

“Most people think that to go into Public Health you need to have a clinical background, and be really heavy into the sciences, and although you can get in with that you can also get in with a Social Science background,” she said.

Larocque stated that the banquet was an enjoyable time as well as an honor to be part of.

“It’s really special to be honored by your own people,” she said. “I would encourage people to really go as far as they could with their education.”

Organizer Charlotte Ross, who is the Coordinator for Academic Programs for Aboriginal Students at the University of Saskatchewan, said the honoring banquet serves the purpose of recognizing graduates in a more cultural way.

“It allows their families to attend because the convocation ceremony itself is a limited event,” she said. “And it’s with lots of students, like thousands of students. And so we’re able to have a much smaller environment celebrating (here).”

Ross said she sees a lot of First Nations and MÈtis students choosing to further their education after finding that although they might have working knowledge, they haven’t gone to school to get the degree.

“They’re coming to the university and actually getting the degree. It just formalizes that accreditation and it allows people to make changes in their lives that they otherwise might not have access to.”

This year, the University of Saskatchewan saw approximately 200 Aboriginal students finishing their programs in disciplines ranging from education, business, agriculture, and Indigenous Resource Management.
Aboriginal graduates honored at the ceremony were:
Christopher Standing, Beardy’s & Okemasis First Nation(Native Studies); Dana Carriere, Prince Albert (Native Studies with a minor in Political Studies); Lori Buffalo, Whitecap Dakota/Sioux First Nation (Aboriginal Public Administration);
Pamela Thomas, Saulteaux First Nation (Native Studies with a minor in Women & Gender Studies); Shallen Murray, Toronto, ONT (Sociology); Andrea Constant, Opaskwayak Cree Nation MB (Master of Education); Brian Angren, Saskatoon
(Master of Education); Clarence Clarke, Peter Ballentyne Cree Nation (Master of Education); Katherine Walker, Okanese First Nation (Master of Arts); Leo Omani, Wahpeton Dakota Nation, (Doctorate of Philosophy); Marlene Larocque, Waterhen Lake First Nation, (Master of Public Health); Morris Cook, Lac La Ronge Indian Band, (Master of Education).