Last meeting, outbounder Aaron Triguero spoke about Adventures in Citizenship held this past April. New member Rebecca Rivard introduced herself as part of the "This is My Life" series, and Elder Theresa Sims presented about Indigenous people and their issues.
.jpg)
Outbounder Aaron Triguero gave an engaging presentation on his experiences at the Adventures in Citizenship conference held in Ottawa this past April. He spoke about how he quickly made friends with other young Canadians who had all come together to gain a better understanding of our country. His videos depicting his time there were fun, and gave the audience a real feel of what the program was like - including tours of Parliament, museums, the University of Ottawa, dances and even a bit of a talent show performance! He's looking forward to his upcoming youth exchange trip to Japan.
It was great to hear new member Rebecca Rivard as she spoke about all that she's accomplished, as part of the "This is My Life" series. She's had some amazing experiences - things like learning to fly a plane when she was 15, becoming a broadcaster and working in the field in Alberta, B.C and Ontario. She decided to shift her focus to learn web design and marketing, and is presently a fundraising specialist at Easter Seals.
Elder Theresa Sims began with an opening ceremony to thank creation, singing and playing the traditional drum. The drum is used to represent the heartbeat of mother earth. She then went through "21 things that you may not know about the Indian Act", which included "denied women status", "could not practice traditional religion", "could not use native language" among others (click for details). She then delved into our First Nation's history, exploring topics such as ethno stress, the negative spiral of anger, fear, hopelessness and helplessness and how oftentimes not even the first level, physiological needs (food, water, warmth) of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid are being met. She also touched on the subjects of "Hostage Syndrome", "Tribal Isolation" and "A Culture Under Glass".