Sasktel hosts youth awards ceremony

Eighteen-year-old Evan Corrigal travelled from Ile-a-la-Crosse to attend an evening banquet on May 27 honouring Aboriginal youth from all across the province.
He received the award for Outstanding Achievement-Male.

First Nations and Métis youth from Saskatchewan were nominated in various award categories for their community contributions and talents at the Sasktel Aboriginal Youth Awards held at the TCU Place in Saskatoon.

“I didn’t expect to win but it was amazing just being here and a great experience,” Corrigal said.

Corrigal, a Grade 12 student at Ile-a-la-Crosse Rossignol High School, said the greatest challenge for him is keeping his academic marks up. It helps that he stays drug and alcohol free, and is involved in his community and culture.

He has been accepted into the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan for this fall.

“I just keep pushing myself and people around me, my family. They all help me, they keep pushing me until I can reach my best,” he said.

Chelsey Sundby got the award for Outstanding Achievement-Female.

 “It’s like a really prestigious event for Aboriginal people and to be nominated and to win an award gives me lots of honour and pride,” Sundby said.

She is currently in her first year at the University of Saskatchewan and plans to get a kinesiology and education degree so she can become a physical education teacher.

“Hopefully help out in the community, do coaching with young people,” she said.

Sundby has faced extreme difficulties in her family but manages to persist. She is an outstanding athlete and student.

“We’ve gone through quite a bit, my family,” she said. “Like right now my dad got diagnosed with cancer, my sister has diabetes, my brother has a bone problem. We’ve had lots of medical issues in our family so it’s been hard to keep focused on academic and athletic goals when worried about stuff at home like that.”

Nonetheless, she finds motivation in the principles and foundations her family has given her throughout her life.
“They’ve shown me some support, and friends and family back home keep me motivated to do well,” she said.

Awards chair Colleen Cameron is always amazed by all the support the nominees get from community and at the variety of accomplishments achieved by such young people.

This year, two new awards were added: the Enterprise Saskatchewan and Sports-Female.  As well a partnership was struck with the Saskatoon Public School Division and Mount Royal Collegiate for their Intertribal powwow and Festival of Nations.

“All our Aboriginal youth nominated in the youth awards were able to be in the grand entry at the powwow and (they) had a Sasktel Youth Forum and came to the awards this evening,” Cameron said.

There were 70 nominations in 12 categories: community service, culture, education, Enterprise, fine/performing arts, leadership, outstanding achievement-female and male, spirit, sports and recreation-female and male, and technology/science.

It was during the awards ceremony—after youth were presented with a plaque, scholarship, and star quilt—that Cameron was honoured for all the hard work she has put into overseeing the event over the years.

 “To be honest I was surprised because this is what I do… but I take it on behalf of the whole committee,” said Cameron.

The awards allow those who attend to learn about the great stories of Aboriginal people and particularly youth.  There is a continuous influx in the number of nominations the committee receives, she added, with an annual growth of 10 per cent.