Conference attracts celebrity speaker

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Yellowhead Tribal Council scored a coup July 17 when Rubin Hurricane Carter made an appearance at a YTC education conference, banquet and fund-raiser where he was the featured keynote speaker.

Carter, now the subject of a full length book, The 16th Round, and a movie entitled The Hurricane, with Denzel Washington playing the part of the former middleweight boxer, spent more than 20 years in jail for a triple murder he did not commit.

Organizer Anna Demchuk was thrilled they were able to land such a big name for their first serious stab at bringing in a major speaker.

The conference theme, Education Through Justice, covered a broad range of education issues and concerns, with a special focus on programs related to justice.

Thirty seminars were offered to conference goers. Some of the more popular ones were the ones on racism, the Metis Cultural Dance Society, boxer Crystal Arcand's life story, and Muriel Stanley Venne's discussion of human rights, especially pertaining to Aboriginal women.

According to Cathy Morin, who is in charge of university transfer programs and the criminal justice program, the racism seminar by Tanya Tourangeau was "just packed," and probably the most popular of them all.

Yellowhead Tribal Council has, over the years, offered First Nation management, basic upgrading, a university transfer program, and a university and college entrance preparation program.

It also offers its criminal justice program through the University of Lethbridge, which is a two-year certificate program in corrections and law enforcement that allows for meeting the needs of Aboriginal students. Courses are transferable to the University of Lethbridge as well as to Athabasca University and the University of Great Falls, Mont.