Special Issue: 100 Years Of Survival

Issue number 3
September 2009
Thunderchild
Acimowin
Special Issue:
100 Years Of Survival
In 1921 Thunderchild First Nation hosted the Conference of
League of Indians of Western Canada at the Thunderchild reserve,
Saskatchewan.
In 1974, Thunderchild
First Nation started its
own school, boycotting
the traditional school
system and grouping
students by age rather
than grade level.
This picture of Chief Thunderchild was taken between
1920 and 1929. He is wearing western style clothes
and treaty medals rather than traditional regalia.
Invitation to write:
Thunderchild Acimowin is looking for contributors. If you want to write about good news that is
happening at the Thunderchild First Nation or you have a story idea for the paper, please contact us. The
people to call are Bonita Paddy or Eldon Okanee at (306) 845-4300, or email [email protected],
and [email protected].
Thunderchild Acimowin Page 2, September 2009
OUR HISTORY:
Thunderchild Chiefs
1809 to 2009
1880 – 1929 – Chief Thunderchild
1929 – 1951 – Chief James Okanee
1951 – 1953 – Chief Antoine Weekusk
1953 – 1955 – Chief David Jimmy
1955 – 1957 – Chief Egerton Thunderchild
1957 – 1959 – Chief John Jimmy
1959 – 1961 – Chief Alex Takakenew
1961 – 1962 – Chief Andrew Paddy
1962 – 1963 – Chief George Horse
1963 – 1965 – Chief George Alexander
1965 – 1967 – Chief Norman Sunchild
1967 – 1969 – Chief Joseph Jimmy
1969 Chief Egerton Thunderchild
1969 Chief Norman Sunchild
1970 Chief Winston Weekusk
1971 Chief Andrew Paddy
1972 Chief Alfred Peachow
1973 Chief Andrew Paddy
1973 – 1974 – Chief Charles Paddy
1976 Chief Winston Weekusk
1977 – 1978 – Chief Winston Weekusk
1978 – 1982 – Chief Andrew Paddy
1983 – 1984 – Chief Gordon Thunderchild
1984 – 1985 – Chief Winston Weekusk
1985
Chief Antoine Weekusk
1986 – 1989 – Chief Gordon Thunderchild
1990 – 1993 – Chief Charles Paddy
1993 – 1998 – Chief Winston Weekusk
1998 – 2002 – Chief Delbert Peter Wapass
2002 – 2005 – Chief Winston Weekusk
2005 – 2006 – Chief Walter Neal Jimmy
2007 – present Chief Dale Dennis Awasis
100 Years of Survival
Recognition Night
Tansi,
My name is Arnold Wapass and
I would like to take this opportunity
to thank you for participating in
commemorating Thunderchild First
Nation’s 100 Years of Survival by
honoring our past and present band
members with tonight’s Awards and
Recognition Night.
It is September 17th, and
Thunderchild First Nation is calling out
to all band members to recognize and
acknowledge each other. It has been 100
years since your people faced removal from
our flourishing agriculture lands from which
our ancestors sustained themselves. Our
people have endured many hardships over
the last 100 years: forced removal, religion,
missionary schools, disease, and legislation.
Through all the extreme hardships our
people moved forward seeking a better life at
our new location.
Many of our people have proven
successful in their various endeavors.
The Thunderchild First Nation wishes to
acknowledge these hardships and triumphs
of our band members. Now is the time to
proud and recognize yourself, your family,
and your friends.
Areas that we are celebrating include
youth, sports, culture, recreation, education,
trades and arts and supporting other people
in the community. Thank you for joining us
for a banquet and a night of entertainment
with Jason Yellowbird.
Let us acknowledge each other
and ourselves for our successes, triumphs
and accomplishments in our 100 years of
survival at the Thunderchild First Nation.
Thunderchild Acimowin Page 3, September 2009
Message from Chief Dale Awasis
Tansi,
This newsletter is coming
out at a very historic time for
our First Nation. As you know
100 years ago we were relocated
from our Territory to the current
location of our reserve. This
was a sad time for us and we’ve
been remembering those days
and what it meant for us to move
at that time. At the same time, I
feel very proud of our Elders and
community members who lived
through that time.
Now we are looking
forward, and taking time to
celebrate what we have achieved
despite many difficulties and
obstacles. Among our group we
have many successes – people
who are living happy lives and
supporting the other members of
the community, high-school and
university graduates, athletes,
workers in many fields. When I
look at the membership of the
Thunderchild First Nation, I am
overwhelmed by the successes and
the strength of the people I see
before me.
This September we are
taking time to celebrate these
successes. We’re giving out
certificates to honor the people
who make a difference in our
community. Some of them have
done high-profile work, and others
are quietly working to improve
their lives and the lives of those
around them. I want to offer them
all my heartfelt congratulations.
Chief and Council have
been working to continue our
growth as a First Nation. We are
continuing to build agreements
with the companies working
within our Traditional Territories,
and we are asking them to stick
to their agreements to train and
hire people from our First Nation.
Employment opportunities are
coming to our First Nation this
way, and we have had workers
on many projects throughout
our Territory. Thunderchild First
Nation members are building
roads, doing seismic. They are
taking on responsibility, using their
gifts, and learning new skills.
Our school is also
celebrating successes, using our
culture to teach. Through cloth
ceremonies, and elders teachings
the school is making sure that
our children are developing their
skills. By using both the nonaboriginal curriculum material and
traditional knowledge our school is
ensuring that our youth will carry
Thunderchild First Nation culture
proudly into the future.
There are volunteers in the
community who are helping our
students with their homework. The
school is also providing a way for
students who aren’t able to attend
regularly to take their classes via
internet from home. In this way
we are ensuring that all students at
the First Nation have access to the
education they want.
Our Heath Center is
continuing to educate people and
provide weekly immunizations.
Likewise, we are building
up our partnerships with industry,
and also making the Government
of Saskatchewan aware that we
have our own consultation policy
when it comes to the resource
industry working in our areas.
We have presented that policy to
them, and we will be following
up with more meetings, especially
when it comes to any possibility of
uranium mining in our Traditional
Territory.
We are committed to
creating a bright future for
Thunderchild First Nation
members.
As we celebrate the
successes we’ve seen over the
last 100 years at this location,
and remember the hardships
we endured, let’s be sure to go
forward with positive attitudes.
We are making a difference with
every achievement and every
accomplishment.
Hei Hei,
Chief Dale Awasis
Traveling Through Our Lands: A Report
from the Thunderchild Lands Department
July 22nd, members from
Thunderchild, Onion Lake and
Moosomin re-enacted the mass
migration of Thunderchild band in
1908.
The trail ride was held to
commemorate 100 years since the
move. Many of the people who
took part were direct descendants
of the people who witnessed and
took part in the actual event.
Early morning Wednesday
the day started with cultural
protocol (Pipe Ceremony). At 9:00
a.m. the riders and wagons set off.
Around 2:00 p.m. the trail riders
passed through Vawn and made
their way toward Edam. Around
6:30 -7:00 p.m. the trail riders
arrived at the campgrounds north
of Edam.
The next day July 23 they
stared at 9 a.m. to rid the rest of the
way. At 2:30 p.m. the trail riders
entered the reserve
and were greeted by
Chief Dale Awasis
and Councilor
Alberta Roy. At
3:00 p.m. riders and
wagons arrived at
the monument where
a brief lunch and
gathering took place.
Future
events for the Lands
Department include:
Lands
and Resource
and Watershed
Authority will be
Public Works and Housing Report
The Public Works/
Housing Department has been
working to improve its results and
we have progressed substantially
since 2007 and 2008.
As of July 1st, Public
Works/Housing is back on track
with its funding.
We hired a contractor to
do footings for phase 9 housing,
and the second week of May we
had footings done on a phase
10 house. This showed the
Canadian Mortgage and Housing
Commission that we started before
the date that we had planned,
guaranteeing some funding.
Since then we have
obtained a Ministerial Loan
Guarantee which ensured our
funding for this housing, and
provided a deposit of $579, 450 to
Nufab as a deposit on the rest of
phase 10.
If you look, you’ll see
that exterior and interior walls are
up in phase 9 houses, and we are
continuing work to finish them.
As well, we are hoping to target
houses that have the worst mould
problems.
There are also some burnt
housing units – we have received
insurance for house 20 and are in
the process of collecting estimates.
The same goes for house 4. There
is one house that was partially
burned, and we have received
insurance for it, so it will be
repaired.
Thunderchild Acimowin Page 4, September 2009
Justice in Our Community
Justice is an important
issue in our community. As
we celebrate 100 years in our
current location it seems like a
good time to look at what our
Community Justice Program has
accomplished.
The Thunderchild
Community Justice Program
has been in operation since
2000. Over the past 9 years,
our program has expanded in
several areas to meet our clients`
needs. As mandated by the
Saskatchewan Justice and Justice
Canada agreements we have also
continued to address community
concerns with our programs.
As of July 2009, the
program continues to meet
the needs of our Community.
Currently, Maxine Thunderchild,
Interim Justice Coordinator,
provides client support in
areas such as Court Support,
Mediation, Family Group
Conferences, Family Healing
Circles, Talking Circles
and Community Sweats.
Thunderchild also assists in
providing approved support
letters.
One service that
makes a big difference for our
membership is that the Justice
Program can sometimes provide
transportation for clients who
need to appear in court. This
service helps people travel to
scheduled court appearances and
avoid charges for missing court
dates. The program also provides
referral services to the Aboriginal
Court Worker Program, Legal
Aid, private lawyers, RCMP,
Fine Option, Victim Services and
Community Wellness Programs.
The Community Justice
Program is expanding its work
in several areas. The Men’s and
Male Teen’s Support Groups
serve 18 community members
and the Women’s Support Group
continues to grow. Kanaweyimik
ICFS has donated a van to support
group activities.
However, far from
depending on donations and
funding sources, all support
groups have been actively
involved in fundraising with
community bingos, and we hope
to expand the fundraising to
other areas such as paintball and
archery. The profits from these
events help pay for Support Group
activities including movie nights,
bowling, and fishing. It is the
program’s strong belief that these
culturally appropriate activities
promote healthy lifestyles in and
around our community.
The Justice Coordinator
is also involved in other areas,
such as organizing guest speakers
to talk to students at the schools
about gang-related issues and
the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
She also coordinates pandemic
preparedness (security &
surveillance) and is involved in
Thunderchild Commemorative
Planning. Maxine Thunderchild
also continues to update her
management skills, and to focus
on community-related initiatives
that address community concerns
around crime prevention. To
address these concerns the
Community Justice program
is working to set up a
Neighborhood Watch or Crime
Stopper’s program, along with
exploring the reasons why
the 2006 Dog bylaw was not
successful in becoming a band
by-law. The program is also
exploring CTV agreements,
Tribal Policing, and Peace
Keeper Programs.
Our program has
gone through many changes
and challenges. Staff changes
over the past 3 years have
resulted in some instability in
the program, primarily due to
different training and skills
of new employees. Given the
realities of the environment we
work in, we will continue to
face human resource changes
in the future. At the same time,
the Community Justice Program
continues to grow. To get
involved, please contact Maxine
Thunderchild in the Community
Justice Program.
Challenges and
Opportunities
Since the Community
Justice Program’s inception in
2008, the program has gone
through several changes. The
Community Justice Program
is no longer managed by the
Thunderchild Human Services
Corporation Inc. The program
is now managed under the
supervision of Thunderchild First
Nation. The Community Justice
Committee was also replaced
with an interim justice committee.
Despite these challenges,
the Community Justice Program
continues to grow, providing
essential support services to the
people it serves. On average there
are 40 clients each month using
the program’s services.
Thunderchild Acimowin Page 5, September 2009
What is happening at Thunder Employment
Thunder Employment and
Field Services exists to build
opportunities for Thunderchild
First Nation members. Developing
work skills is essential to growing
our First Nation’s expertise and
experience in the field. To create
a good working and learning
environment and increase
opportunities for band members,
Thunder Employment has taken
several important steps toward
making sure that all our band
members (and especially youth)
have the chance to learn the skills
they need to succeed in the work
world.
“I’m trying to focus on
the young people, get them on
the right track,” said Darryle
Weekusk, General Manager of
Thunder Employment and Field
Services. He hasn’t forgotten the
other people who use Thunder
Employment’s services though,
hastening to add that Thunder
Employment provides service to
people of all ages, young and old.
As part of its effort to use
our resources at home, Thunder
Employment is now offering
training and certification in
some of the basic training that
is required by industry. Through
Enform.com, Thunderchild First
Nation members can now get
their certification in WHMIS
(Workplace Hazardous Material
Information System) and PST/
CSTS Certification here at
home instead of traveling to
Lloydminster, North Battleford or
Saskatoon, which is expensive and
time consuming.
Training Through
Thunder Employment
With training, Thunderchild
First Nation members are better
able to find employment. To help
our membership get training,
Thunder Employment is working
to provide training opportunities
for our youth.
A pre-employment welding
course is starting this fall. The
course will have room for 6
students, and will take 4 weeks to
complete. With that qualification,
students will be able to move on
to other training programs to learn
what is needed to get a welder’s
ticket, or to take on work at the
many job sites Saskatchewan’s
growing businesses have to offer.
Thunder Employment has
negotiated a number of service
and training agreements with the
companies that work inside our
Traditional Territory. If you are
interested in getting on-the-job
training or finding out more about
the opportunities that are available
through Thunder Employment,
contact our office at 845-4348.
“This saves the First Nation
money, and helps our membership
get ready for new opportunities,”
said Weekusk.
Members can enroll in these
courses online.
For more information, please
stop by the Thunder Employment
Field Services office.
Thunder Employment is
taking on another important issue
as well. Many companies expect
employees to take regular alcohol
and drug tests in order to get a
job. Through a service called
CannAmm Occupational Testing
Services, Thunder Employment
is now able to do these tests for
Thunderchild members. Testing
here at home will speed up the
hiring process for band members
and also help members who are
struggling with addiction be
sure to only take employment
when they are clean and sober.
That way they can avoid the
embarrassment of failing a work
site drug test and losing a job.
Thunder Employment
takes its work seriously, and
this summer we worked to get
a number of new hiring and
training agreements with the
companies working on our lands
and to ensure that the membership
knew about work opportunities
here. Those companies included:
Husky, Enbridge, Wrangler Line
Locating, Alberta Highways, and
Glaslyn Sawmill. At the same
time, we are working with L &
M Wood Products to run their
green chain, and the seismic work
for Husky and the River Bore
Project.
All of these initiatives are
helping build morale among
Thunderchild First Nation’s
members.
“I think from the membership,
it seems pretty positive.
There’s a place to go, there are
opportunities. People are more
optimistic now than they were five
years ago,” said Weekusk.
Weekusk hopes that you’ll take
Thunder Employment:
Who’s Been Working?
Thunder Employment is
getting Thunderchild First
Nation working. Through
our training and joint venture
agreements with companies
working in our Traditional
Territory we are able to offer
training that leads our members
to new jobs and opportunities.
Here are some of the projects
that Thunderchild First Nation
members have been part of this
summer:
Seven people are
working on a project
with Alberta Highways
after Thunder
Employment was
awarded a contract or
services agreement to
provide workers when
they are needed in our
area.
Six band members
were employed at the
River Bore Project this
summer.
Twelve workers from
Thunderchild First
Nation joined the
employees at Glaslyn
Sawmill.
Four workers ran the
Husky Seismic project.
a moment to look at some of the
opportunities available through
Thunder Employment, and stop by
the TEFS offices if you have any
questions. Thunder Employment
is located in the First Nation
Administration Building.
Thunderchild Acimowin Page 6, September 2009
School
Vir tues
As any student at
Piyesiw Awasis School knows,
each day a different class leads
a prayer in Cree or in English,
which is followed by an honor
song.
We are very respectful
of the Creator and accept
the many ways that people
show respect to Creation.
Each Monday we hold a cloth
ceremony at the school, and
hear a lecture on one of the
virtues that we believe will
lead our students and staff to
success in life.
At each cloth ceremony
one of the teachers takes the
responsibility to talk about
a virtue that contributes to
continued success in life. The
virtues include:
respect
assertiveness
caring
cleanliness
consideration
cooperation
courage
courtesy
detachment
diligence
enthusiasm
excellence
flexibility
forgiveness
friendliness
generosity
gentleness
helpfulness
honesty
joyfulness
justice
kindness
love
loyalty
orderliness
patience
peacefulness
perseverance
purposefulness
reliability
responsibility
self-discipline
service
thankfulness
tolerance
trust
trustworthiness
truthfulness
understanding
unity
Special thanks To the
volunteers who help
our students with
homework and learning. You’re contributing
a lot to our community.
If anyone is interested
in volunteering with
the school, please call
Wally Awasis at 8454300.
Teaching Our Youth: Report
from Piyesiw Awasis School
The 100th Anniversary of
Thunderchild First Nation at
our current location gives us a
good chance to examine what we
have achieved when it comes to
education.
Thunderchild has been a
leader in aboriginal education in
Saskatchewan since 1974, when
we boycotted the education system
and started our own school. At
that time, we grouped the students
by age rather than grade level.
Since then we have kept up our
commitment to teaching our
children to walk in two worlds by
teaching traditional ceremonies
and the standard curriculum. We
do this because we know that our
children need to have the skills to
function in the modern-day society
where they need to have education
and good work habits, and they
need to support those good habits
by being grounded in, and proud
of, their culture.
Elder’s counseling, sweats,
and teachings about smudging,
the significance of the drum, and
other traditional knowledge is an
essential part of our curriculum. If
funding is available we will also be
teaching regalia-making as part of
our cultural enhancement program.
At Piyesiw Awasis, we
believe that we are doing very
important work in our community
by working to prepare the young
people at the Thunderchild First
Nation for a bright and successful
future.
Accentuate the Positive.
Eliminate the Negative.
At Piyesiw Awasis school
we are focusing on the great
achievements in our community,
and teaching our students to
take the words “impossible”,“I
can’t”, and “never”, “ out of their
vocabularies. We are doing this to
encourage positive thinking in our
community.
We are also working
to develop skills to end lateral
violence such as bullying in our
community. Part of working
toward a more positive attitude is
stopping schoolground violence.
To achieve this goal we have a
zero-tolerance for play-fighting
and rough-housing in school or on
school grounds.
Teachers find that playfighting is one step on the way to
real fighting, so in order to keep
violence off our school grounds
we are requiring the students to be
respectful of one another.
Basically, we believe that
when people are generous and kind
to each other, good things come
out of it and we want to spread
that belief through all our lessons,
friendships, families and work.
YOU COULD WIN!
Thunderchild’s
Monthly
Best Photo Contest
What’s your best photo? Send it in to our monthly photo
contest. We would like pictures of kids, dancers, holidays,
funny pictures, family, whatever you think shows our
community best. The more pictures you send the better your
chance at winning.
E-mail your entries to: [email protected]
Thunderchild Acimowin Page 7, September 2009
Healthy People, Healthy Community
Our vision is the
following: “Under the guidance
and protection of the Creator,
Thunderchild Health will
incorporate traditional and
contemporary institutions in
parallel to continuously improve
our spiritual, physical, emotional
and mental health & wellbeing of
our membership.”
By doing this, we are
creating a healthier community.
By running workshops and
holding a weekly immunization
clinic at the health centre as
well as supporting our members
who need home care, addictions
counseling, parenting advice, or
transport to medical facilities, we
are maintaining the overall health
of our community.
Of course, one of the
greatest challenges in community
health is finding funding to run
programs and maintain facilities.
We are working to ensure that
funds keep on coming to Thunderchild First Nation to
ensure our continued health as a
community.
Health Transfer and
Contribution Agreements have
been extended until March of
this year, and our Health and
Community Services Plan has
been revised to guide the Health
Department for the next five years.
We are also in the process
of improving our budget and
expenditure process so we can do
better reporting, and tighten up our
accountability mechanisms.
Our home care program is
in the process of being improved,
and will be revising the service
delivery plan and prepare to use
the risk management assessment
tool.
The health centre hall is
still closed, but we are working
to get funding to fix some of the
infrastructure problems in the
health centre hall, as it will cost
more than expected.
The other important
work that the health centre has
been doing is working to finalize
a community pandemic plan,
keeping our youth involved in
sports, and planning to host the
2011 summer games.
If you have any questions
about health centre programs,
workshops, or activities, please
call 845-4330.
The Consultation team
has been meeting with Husky at
headquarters in Calgary. We are
continuing to build a relationship
between Husky and Thunderchild,
but the details are being worked
out.
In other areas, we
are taking on more and more
responsibility. For instance,
Thunder Employment and
Field Services has taken on the
administrative responsibility for
Treaty 6 contract and employment
opportunities on the Enbridge
pipeline.
We are also at the forefront
of new developments. In June,
our representatives attended
Government of Saskatchewan
public consulations meetings on
uranium development in North
Battleford.
We were very clear at these
meetings that we expect to be fully
consulted on ain projects that may
affect Thunderchild First Nation
and our lands. We presented
Thunderchild’s consultation
policy, and recommended that the
Government of Saskatchewan hold
uranium development consultation
with Thunderchild First Nation
and that they also invite other
First Nations to attend those
consultations. So far, there are no
consulation meetings planned.
The Consultation office
is involved with another project
too. The Medicine Chest Project
has been moving forward and Sol
Sanderson presented information
about it at the Medicine Chest
Gathering at Moosomin First
Nation in June. This initiative
has a lot of political support
across several treaty areas, and
got support from the FSIN Chiefs
in May. FSIN Health and Social
Development Commission and
the First Nations University of
Canada. are also expected to sign
on to the Medicine Chest Project.
Consultation Office Report
Membership
Office Report
This summer the
membership office attended a
special assembly in Prince Albert,
to discuss an important court
case that is coming up. We also
took part in the commemorative
planning group.
That group helped put
together two of the biggest events
in our commemoration of 100
years at this location for our
membership.
The first event was a
Round Dance we held in April.
The Eagle Feather Walk was held
in June, and a trail ride along
the route we took to get to our
current location.
We expect the next
few months will be busy ones
for the membership office as
we continue to implement
changes to the registry group of
Thunderchild First Nation.We are
also working on new policies for
the research office and protocols
for the administrative process at
Thunderchild First Nation.
THANK YOU!
We would like to thank everyone
who participated
in the Medicine Chest Gathering.
Please call the administration
office with any comments or
suggestions for the next gathering.
Thunderchild Acimowin Page 8, September 2009
100 Years of Survival at the
Thunderchild First Nation