Peacemakers Program prepares students for community work

Eighteen youth have graduated alongside special constables from the File Hills Police Service, Elders and two teachers in the ‘Youth Peacemakers Program’ held at Peepeekisis Pesakastew School.

The six-month program offers training in mediation skills, with curriculum designed by the community itself. It is based on Indigenous teachings in cultural self-awareness, helping skills, communication skills, problem solving, conflict resolution, self-care, effective listening, critical thinking, mediation and the importance of confidentiality.

A very important aspect of the program is the involvement of Elders and the cultural teachings they provided for the students.

“The Elders played an extremely important role in facilitating the teachings, language and culture to the students of the program,” said Susan Jolly-Maxie, who was the overall facilitator of the Youth Peacemakers Program. Students started off each day by sitting in a circle and smudging, praying and listening to Elder teachings in Cree.

Jolly-Maxie told Sage language is also an important element of the program, and facilitators used workbooks in both Cree and English. As well, the program was taught using Indigenous educational concepts.

A regular part of the program was having participants sit in a circle and share their thoughts and opinions. At first, many of the students were shy, said Jolly-Maxie, but eventually opened up and became very talkative as a cohesive group.

“The circle process allowed for the students to become comfortable with their fellow students,” she added. “(This) allowed for the group to engage in the mediation techniques to their full potential.” It was also important to facilitators that the youth were separated into boys and girls circles.

“The students really liked the idea of being separated by gender because it allowed for more open dialogues in a more relaxed atmosphere,” Jolly-Maxie said.
Participants positively responded to the program and even created their own code of ethics. According to Jolly-Maxie, they really enjoyed the fact that it was taught in their culture with the language and by the dedicated work of the Elders.

The program strengthened the relationship between the Elders and the youth and helped create relationships between the youth and the police service. Youth built skills in mediating that they can use within their community, school and personal lives and were taught to respect diversity, not only in the community, but in their everyday lives.

The goal is that the community recognizes the skills that the youth have gained in mediation and conflict resolution, said Jolly-Maxie, so that their skills and training can be utilized by the community when conflict arises. This type of training can also lead the youth into future employment and educational endeavours in the justice field, she said. With the program having such success, it is also hoped that this is something that can become sustainable, Jolly-Maxie added, so that the youth can continue to benefit from this training within their curriculum.

“In the next 2-3 years, the Elders have suggested continued training, and that a Youth Peacemakers Conference be held to bring former graduates together to share their successes with community,” Jolly-Maxie said.         

Currently, there is work being done on a Youth Peacemakers documentary in partnership with filmmaker Tessa Desnomie, which will portray the work of the program on Peepeekisis Cree Nation and Carry the Kettle Nakota Nation. Footage from the graduation on June 18 will be the starting point for the documentary.

It is hoped this will promote the program to Aboriginal communities and organizations throughout the province so the content can be eventually developed into the educational curriculum. The program is an educational justice program run in partnership with the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council Education, Pesakastew School, File Hills First Nations Police Service and the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council Restorative Justice Unit.

Those involved in the program were:
Elders Pat Koochicum, Evelyn Desnomie, Donald Koochicum, and Robert Bellegarde; Youth participants Brendan Agecoutay, Jordi Starr, Albert Dieter-Merasty, Damin Lerat, Darwin McNab Jr, Payton Poitras Bellegarde, Jeramie Bellegarde, Carah Desnomie, Shellayna Keewatin, Jordan McLeod, Jessica McNabb, Trish Stonechild, Ian Bigknife, Nicolas Desnomie, Richard Kematch, Ashley McNabb, Dakota Stonechild, and Tyler Ward; Special Constables Victoria Ward, Frances Delorme, Willard Thomson, and Tyler Kilbach; Teachers Chelsea Stevenson and Yuri Tsutsolov.