Young people enthusiastic about future careers

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Organizations are waking up to the large population of Aboriginal youth and are realizing their untapped potential.

Aboriginal youth came informed and ready to step into their future at the Leadership: Choices 2000+ Youth Career Symposium held in Saskatoon at the Prairieland Exhibition on May 10 and 11. Overwhelming support from more than 80 businesses offered displays and workshops to 2,500 youth throughout the symposium.

"I think more and more governments, federal, provincial, and First Nations governments realize that our youth are a large population," said Perry Bellegarde, chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. "The average age is 17 compared to the general populous being 37 years of age. That is a vast age difference, and more and more people are realizing that you have to start truly investing in the youth."

At the conference the young people proved to be a wise investment as they addressed issues regarding treaty rights, inherent rights, justice issues, taxation, and leadership during a panel discussion.

"We had a panel of leaders at the front for the youth to ask questions," said Bellegarde. "I was asked a lot of questions and was impressed with the quality and calibre of their questions. It showed me that our young people are well informed. There was a lot of depth in the discussions."

The fair showed a variety of career paths to the youth. Workshops covered options in law enforcement, armed forces, tourism, medicine, science, fine arts, transportation, environment and apprenticeships for trades.

"I thought the youth were very enthusiastic, and I think they were very impressed by the number of Aboriginal role models there," said Milton Tootoosis, co-chair for the symposium.

Pamela Sasakamoose, 16, attended the fair and agreed that it was a very informative conference and felt encouraged about her future.

"I went to both days and I thought it was fun," said Sasakamoose. "There are so many different careers you could choose from, and it was well supported by role models and mentors. It offered lots of different career paths."

Special guest speakers included actors Annie Galipeau, Evan Adams, and Gordon Tootoosis.

"We had trades persons, journeymen, actors, engineers, environmental engineers, computer technicians and lawyers," said Milton Tootoosis. "You name it, we ad them."

Bellegarde feels strongly about supporting Aboriginal youth through events and conferences.

"I think of the winter and summer games and I can remember as a 14-year-old, how I was a participant in those games," said Bellegarde. "That was the only time I got to leave my home reserve to meet people and role models. It had a big impact on me. If they didn't have those types of activities, maybe I wouldn't have gotten my start either. I use that as an example. It is a true story about the impact that it can have in providing an opportunity and a hope for the future."