Stoney Nakoda Nation

September 2014 Newsletter
Stoney Nakoda Nation
Housing Update
There are now 13 homes at Morley that have repairs completed and 27
homes that have repairs in progress - 14 in Morley and 13 in Big Horn
(as of Sept 19)
Interim Housing is in place for the families in Big Horn and repairs are
in progress.
Interim housing which includes 6 modular units is being set up at Eden
Valley and site preparation will soon begin for 6 more. We will be
moving forward with repairs at Eden Valley in the near future.
What’s Inside:

Housing Update

New Faces

Wesley First Nation
PowWow

Summer Students
Recovery Coordination
Center 403.881.2668
NEW HOURS:
Recovery Management Team (RMT)
There have been recent personnel changes at the RMT and you will
see a couple of new faces around the RCC and Wesley park.
Mark Godefroy has left the RMT and David MacDonald has taken over
as Director. Angus Matheson has replaced David MacDonald as the
Operation Manager.
Wesley Park also welcomes a new member to their leadership team.
Gerry Davies who has been key in the success of the day to day
operations at Wesley Park has left. Jeanette Wildman is the new
Interim Housing Tenant Manager.
9am to 4:30pm Mon to
Thur
Friday CLOSED
September 19, 2014
Wesley First Nation Labour Day Classic Pow-Wow
Labour Day weekend Wesley First Nation held their first Pow-Wow in 6 years and it was a
huge Success.
Over 5,000 people attended; 565 individual dancers and 13 drum groups
participated in the event. People came from throughout Canada including Ontario,
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and BC and the US.
Several Dignitaries were also in attendance including:
Danielle Smith, Wild Rose MLA and husband David, Mary Lou Davies, Cochrane Deputy
Mayor and husband Roy, Morgan Nagel, Canmore Councillor,
Wesley Chief and Council, Stoney Tribal Administrator, Ken Christensen, and Wesley First
Nation CEO Norma-Jean Roberts
Chris Powell, KLS Earthworks for the Grand Entry with Pow-Wow dancers.
The Pow-Wow Committee of Wesley First Nation and the Stoney Tribal Administration
honored all of the 2013 Flood Warriors with a tote bag and in the most sacred way with a
gift of Prayer.
Respected Pipe Carriers said a prayer asking the Great Creator to be kind to the people
and not give another future disaster. The Pipe Carriers also asked the Great Creator to
give strength to all those impacted during this time.
Respected Whistle Carriers granted the privilege to carry a whistle for healing, through
dreams, were also present to honor the Flood Warriors. Prayers from 4 directions
beginning in the East and moving South, to West and then North were held.
The Wesley Pow-Wow Committee gives Many Thanks to their Major Sponsors who
made the event possible - Canadian Red Cross, KLS Earthworks, Dawson Wallace, Alberta Health Services, to the Crew that worked night and day to prepare the arena
and to all who helped before and during the event.
As well a Special Thanks to the 3 Tribal Chiefs and their Council for their participation
and all their support and to the 3 local Drum Groups; Chiniki Lake, Hunter Hills and
Eya Hey Nakoda
Lastly a huge thank you to Krista Hunter and the rest of the Pow-Wow Committee for
their hard work. The Pow-wow was a success because of them.
And, Thank You to everyone who came out.
Summer Students Head Back to School
The RMT was lucky enough to have 2 summer students, Joyce Wildman and Kianna Labelle, work
with us this summer. The two girls worked on coordinating the Exshaw Summer Camps and getting
the 100 plus children registered into the Jumpstart Program. Thank You Joyce and Kianna for all your
help and Good Luck in your classes this year. The RMT’s goal was to support the students in gaining
some valuable work experience and also to create awareness of possible career options.
Joyce said, “Working in the Flood Recovery Centre for the summer has been a great experience. I’ve
been able to reach the goals I had in the beginning of summer and obtain knowledge for future
career paths. Throughout the summer I have been working with Canadian Tire Jumpstart, “a
nationally registered charity that is dedicated to removing financial barriers so kids across Canada
have the opportunity to participate in organized sports”. Our goal for the summer was to involve the
children residing in the Interim Housing sites in organized play and to encourage physical activity.
Non-government organizations (NGO’s) are what I want to be actively involved in, so getting a
firsthand experience at a young age is incredible. I thank everyone who was involved with the
Jumpstart program this summer for allowing me to participate in such a wonderful opportunity.”
Kianna said, “Working with jump start is an organized program. Canadian Tire made jumpstart so
kids can learn how to play new sports plus to meet new faces. I love how they teach kids to be more
active , because not a lot of kids are active , some can show laziness and others have an excuse to
block the out doors.
Kids need to be outside because they need more oxygen in their system so their body can run
properly and to have good healthy life.”
In Morley community kids are having a hard time to be out side, sometimes its base on sickness or
health issues, the reason why is that video games and movies are a issue to kids, it wreaks there
brain and also it’s harder for them to speak English.