Recent Press on A Day of Inspiration

http://www.ckxtv.com/news_story.php?id=12676

Education can transform ‘time bomb’
Matt Goerzen, Brandon Sun

The best way to help Manitoba’s aboriginal population is to educate native youth and put them to work, says a visiting British Columbia chief who spoke during the first-ever Day of Inspiration in Brandon yesterday.

“If the youngest and fastest-growing population in Manitoba are aboriginal, there’s a ticking time bomb here,” Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie told reporters following his presentation.

“The First Nations people, the aboriginal people and the Metis organizations all have to get together with the provincial government and deal with this ticking time bomb.”
Louie pointed to the fact that a large majority of prison inmates in this province are aboriginal, and said that most, if not all of them, are in there because they weren’t provided a good education, and didn’t have a job.

Manitoba’s native leaders need to talk more about creating a sustainable reserve economy, tout the benefits of education, and work with the provincial government to create more training programs that bring aboriginal youth into the work force, Louie argued. The best way to do that, he said, is to inspire people to want more out of life, and out of themselves.

“Every educated person I know wants to work,” he said. “You don’t go to school or learn a trade to go on welfare.”

The noted B.C.-based aboriginal business and economic leader was among several entrepreneurs and professional people who brought a message of inspiration and hard work to hundreds of young aboriginal men and women at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium.

Part of the event’s goal was to explain and demonstrate to aboriginal youth the opportunities that education can provide, mainly through the example and encouragement of other First Nations people that have gone the distance.

Montreal-based musician, orchestral leader and Mohawk John Kim Bell tried to enlist youth to use success as a way to bolster the cause of First Nations.

“Unfortunately, 500 years ago we had a very weak immigration system here, and we allowed the Europeans to come over,” said Bell, eliciting laughter from the audience.
“We can’t uninvite the white man, we have to live with them. But we have to find a way to have them stop from persecuting us.

“And a reasonable way, a logical way — the way for you as the next generation — is education and economic development. The more successful you are, the more successful your family will be. The more successful you and your family will be, The more successful your community will be.”

An Order of Canada recipient, Bell has conducted Broadway shows in New York, led the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and helped established the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.
The message of hope and self-improvement offered by Louie and Bell had a considerable impact on Jimmy Leslie, a aboriginal student from Brandon’s Vincent Massey high school.

“They took their time to talk to us about aboriginal communities that need our support,” Leslie said. “It was very inspiring.”

When he graduates, Leslie said he’d like to own his own business.

“Like a mechanic business.”



Also from The Brandon Sun:

Day of Inspiration lives up to its name
The Brandon Sun

Congratulations to Terri Roulette McCartney, Roxann Barker, Anishinabe Atisokaywin Inc., and all the others who helped put on A Day of Inspiration at the Westman Centennial Auditorium this week.

As the Sun reported yesterday, this one-day event brought together a variety of inspirational leaders from across Canada and around the world to help open people’s eyes to their own potential.

The message was geared to a general audience but particularly aimed at Westman’s aboriginal community. First Nations leaders like Chief Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band in British Columbia were among the speakers.

Chief Louie has become famous for his frank and authentic talk, routinely advising many of his fellow aboriginals to “get off their butts” and seek education and employment in order to improve their lives. He brought a similar tough but true message to Brandon.

Other presenters included: John Kim Bell, an aboriginal orchestral conductor and Order of Canada recipient; Kimmie Weeks, a Liberian advocate for peace and social justice; as well as Elaine Bomberry, a successful aboriginal television producer.

The event also featured a showcase from local employers, organizations and educational institutions. This was a smart way to give the hundreds of people who participated the chance to get motivated and then connect with the opportunities that are out there — all under one roof.

We imagine A Day of Inspiration will have a direct impact on many Westman residents’ lives, and we hope the same is true when similar events are held in Thompson and Winnipeg this fall.