Agency celebrates 10 years of service

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Since 1993 the Battlefords Tribal Council (BTC) Human Services Corp.-Indian Child and Family Services Agency has served the communities of Mosquito, Grizzly Bear's Head, Lean Man, Lucky Man, Sweetgrass, Poundmaker and Little Pine. For its tenth anniversary the agency held a four-day celebration from Sept. 7 to 10, complete with a trail ride and relay run.

Forty-five riders on horseback, 10 relay runners and two horse-drawn wagons were part of the entourage for the ride and run. Elders and other community members also came along, following behind the riders and runners and lending their support.

The theme for the celebration was 'Looking to the Past to Establish the Future.' Pete Waskahat, Elder advisor from Frog Lake, Alta. accompanied the riders and gave a number of speeches recalling the old days and how communities need to use the traditions from long ago in everyday living.

Linda Standing, BTC community development liaison co-ordinator, helped the riders and runners by providing lunch and water, while each community along the trail provided meals, a safe place to camp, mini-round dances and a mini-powwow.

Two special feasts were also held as part of the ride and run, one at Mosquito First Nation at the beginning of the journey, and one at the end of the trail, held on Little Pine and hosted by Lucky Man First Nation. The second feast was held to honour the late Andrew "King" Okemow, who worked to get BTC Human Services Corp. off the ground.

"The ride went smoothly and each community was very co-operative and put a lot of community work into it," Standing said.

This is the first time the tribal council has held a trail ride to celebrate its anniversary, Standing said.

"This is the first one ever. In the past there was just community gatherings to mark the anniversary but this was a 10-year anniversary so we did a special one. We had lunch stops in between and I noticed that at each community the crowds got bigger. We started off with about 150 at our first feast and then when we moved to the next community at the first night supper there was about 200 people that attended," she said.

Standing believes that the success of BTC Human Services Corp. depends on the fact that the agency is at arms length from any political interference and that its primary mandate is to ensure protection of all children in the communities by following First Nations traditions and cultures. Standing said this method helps enhance the lives of the Aboriginal children and families in need.

"I feel that this agency is helping the community, the children and families, not only through preventive and healing programming but also by using our culture and traditions wherever possible," Linda Standing said.

Children who are removed from the care of their parents are placed with relatives whenever possible, and are only taken out of the community as a last resort, she said.

While this year's trail ride and run was the first organized by the agency, it's very likely it won't be the last, with the board now considering turning it into an annual event.

"The Elders said that since we've started a ride like this, we now have to look at having one annually for four years in a row," Standing said.