National Metis youth role models announced

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She has been acutely aware of her culture since a very young age. She has cherished this knowledge and passed it on to other youth. Her name is Melissa Bromley.

The 21-year-old from Sudbury, Ont. is one of five 2002 Metis youth role model winners announced at the National Metis Youth Conference in Vancouver April 26.

Bromley, the winner in the Metis culture and heritage category, is a student in the Native Child and Family Worker program at Cambrian College.

She also works at the Sudbury Metis Youth Centre where she is the youth facilitator for the Youth-to-Youth Environmental Health Audit.

Bromley said she weaves the Metis culture into their meetings because she believes it is important for the youth to know their culture.

"I do what I do because I respect youth, I learn from them and they never fail to teach me something new. I teach them the Metis culture because you have to know where you come from before you can know where you're going. For me, learning my culture has helped me grow and become a proud Metis woman," said Bromley.

Bromley's co-worker, Patsy Mott, nominated her for the program. Mott said Bromley was one of the first youth who participated in the centre's program and has had big impact on youth.

"She is very proud of her culture. She's very-very enthusiastic young lady," said Mott. "She's a great role model for the youth."

Jason Mercredi, a Grade 12 student from La Ronge, Sask., is the model of the personal achievement.

"I am not quite sure of any awesome gifts that I posses. I've won such awards as the northern student achievement award, and the John Paul Proficiency Award and Baptist Ratt Trophy, both are awards which are given to students of Aboriginal ancestry who excel at academics, leadership, athletics, role modeling and overall commitment," he said.

"I tutor kids in high school and junior high. I helped coach various basketball teams until I injured my knee. I ref children's basketball at the local elementary schools. I am a member of the 2002 Indigenous Games Team Saskatchewan basketball team. In the past, I have done volunteering at the local retirement home."

The academic achievement role model is Terry Brown, 22, from Winnipeg.

"I was born with a clubbed foot. I went through operations, I think, 13 of them happened till I was 18...I wasn't really active in sports because of it. I took more of an interest in academics," said Brown.

In May, he's graduating with the Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Manitoba. He is majoring in marketing and Aboriginal business studies.

"I will be the third graduate from the faculty with that major (Aboriginal business studies) as opposed to three- or four-thousand graduates with marketing."

Brown worked with the Royal Bank for five years while at school. He has volunteered for various clubs and organizations, which brought him to the national youth volunteer summit in April 2001.

"I was fairly surprised that I won...it was a bit of a shock," Brown said. "I think it's a very good thing, very inspirational to myself. It gives me huge boost to my self-esteem.

"To be a role model, I never saw myself in that until somebody told me I was."

Melody Mercredi, 23, from Vancouver is this year's role model in the career advancement category. She completed her bachelor's degree in opera performance at the Vancouver Academy of Music last year.

"I sing because nothing else is more fulfilling. I have always loved to sing and have always loved a challenge. Opera is by far the most difficult genre to sing. To sing opera requires great technical ability, vocal stamina, good sense of character, and the most important ingredient-passion," said Mercredi.

"I performed in the trio the Prayer on the 2001 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards along with fellow Native singers Carey and Marion Newman. It was a fabulous experience," she recalled.

"My teacher David Meek has been working with me for only a year and with his professionl training I feel I am on my way to becoming a great opera singer. In the summer, I will be performing the role of Giulietta from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman in Vancouver, B.C."

Mercredi calls herself a very hard worker who is dedicated to her art.

Fauna Kingdon, 17, from Igaluit, Nunavut, the role model in volunteer service, will be graduating from Inuksuk high school next year.

"I feel it is important to volunteer in order to give back to one's community," she said. "Helping others is a positive activity because it creates a more complete and selfless person. I feel it is an incredibly important part of being a young person today in order to create a positive portrayal of youth in society."

Kingdon is a lifeguard at the Iqaluit Municipal Swimming Pool. She is also a volunteer coach for the Iqaluit Junior Breakers Swim Team.

Kingdon is a member of the Youth Court Advisory Panel which assists in the rehabilitation and sentencing of young people in Nunavut youth court cases. She volunteers for the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line and the Nunavut AIDS Line.

Kingdon was a delegate to several Canadian conferences on business, political, community and youth issues. She was also a volunteer missionary to Ecuador and Costa Rica in the summer of 2000. She has participated in the Europe Trip 2000 with her school where she assisted in fundraising events.

Kingdon also represented Nunavut in Whitehorse, Yukon, for the 2000 Arctic Winter Games as skip for the junior ladies curling team. And she took part in local musical production.