Motivate. Inspire. Lead. Empower. Succeed. Those five words frame the messages that were delivered over three days of working with 90 youth in Goodfish Lake, last week.
After just one full day of working with youth, changes were already starting to happen within the minds of those in attendance. At first, 18-year-old Reanna Gladue admits she wasn’t going to attend the program. When she heard that Dakota House would be in attendance, she decided to take part.
House is Canadian actor who become well known for his role on the CBC show North of 60, but has also played characters in Heartland and the X-Files. House is the founder of Going Miles, with co-founder Scott Ward working closely alongside House.
After just a few minutes watching House and Ward speak to the youth and interact with them, it’s clear that the due is passionate about their work, and young people are buying in to what both men are saying.
On the first day of the three-day youth conference, Reanna says she opened up to House, and told him her personal story. Some of House’s messages about family breakdowns and dealing with addictions within those family dynamics had a personal impact on her.
“It really changed me.”
Furthermore, the experience has helped Reanna open up to those around her, including friends who weren’t aware of the struggles she was experiencing.
The conference was open to youth from about Grade 9 to early post-secondary students. One of the younger attendees, Carson Sparklingeyes agreed that while the stories being shared had a strong impact, one piece that stood out to him was how youth from the community were learning to come together, in such a short time.
“We’re all trying to bond together, and it’s actually working pretty well,” said Carson. Reanna agreed, noting it’s important for young people in the community go get along.
“It’s good to see others open up and have fun,” said Carson.
Another message that appeared to stand out through the conference was the need to give young people a voice, and to improve communication. While most of the youth in the room were familiar to each other, it didn’t necessarily mean they knew each other’s stories.
“We all know each other, but we never talk,” admitted Reanna.
Goodfish (Whitefish) Lake Coun. Greg Sparklingeyes had only attended a small portion of the conference, but was impressed by what he saw. “I can see the youth enjoying themselves,” he said, adding, beyond the event he would like the young people of Goodish Lake to feel like they have a voice in their community.
One of his goals as councillor is to see a youth council created.
“They need to have a voice,” said Sparklingeyes. “It creates a strong community.”
Among the messages being shared, Ward says one of his key focuses as he speaks to the youth is to teach them that their minds are powerful, and that sometimes we program our minds with negativity.
He explained that it was through his involved in a number of things, such as hip hop music, hoop dancing, attending post-secondary schooling to become a teacher, and more, that he was able to come out of his shell.
Ward is also a certified hypnotherapist, and he uses those skills throughout the program to entertain and engage. By sharing his numerous experiences and successes, Ward also hopes to teach youth that there are many opportunities that present themselves when people live a healthy lifestyle.
Part of the Going Miles program is also to encourage sober and addiction-free living.
Ward also spoke about the importance of encouraging youth to use their voice, and commended Goodfish Lake for being such a progressive community. He explained that through his many years of travelling and visiting various First Nations communities, he’s never seen a community promote summer employment for youth in such a huge way.
During a short break on Thursday morning, House also took some time to share his thoughts on the conference so far. He noted that while there was a “really good energy” in the room, many of the youth were shy and removed, which is common.
But, it was through laughed and engagement that House says he immediately saw some of the young people loosen up, and ready to take part.
“Laughter’s the best medicine . . . it brings down barriers,” said House, who admits that being Cree and coming from a small community in northern Alberta also helped the young people connect with him.
House is aware that he must actively keep young people interested, for them to hear what he’s saying. He adds that it’s also important to identify topics and issues that the youth in front of him are currently dealing with.
One of the challenges in speaking with youth is that they’ve been brainwashed and desensitized through music and media, says House. As an example, he points out that cartoons now have characters that often kiss and hold hands, whereas cartoons from the 1980s were much more conservative.
He believes that youth are becoming desensitized and brainwashed into believe what the norm is, along with being exposed to a lot of negativity through things like the Internet and music.
“There’s so much negativity out there, it’s staggering,” he says, adding, “Those learnt behaviors stick like glue.”
Another challenge is teaching youth how to community. So much community is broken down because of technology. In the end, House hopes that young people understand that everyone makes mistakes, and the important this is to look at the teachings that come from those mistakes.
“Life is what you make it, not what it makes you.”
Coun. Kevin Half praised the initiative, and those behind it. He felt the speakers were exposing youth to the challenges that exist, and commended House and Ward for having a unique ability to connect with youth.
“They’re fully engaged,” said Half, adding, he’s confident the program would be back in Goodfish Lake, and likely expanded and opened up to youth in neighbouring communities to attend.
Along with taking part in the three-day youth conference, the 90 young people in attendance last week also belong to the summer work experience program. Rene Houle, who works with employment training with the band, says it was important to put the two initiatives together and target the youth in Goodfish Lake.
Houle agreed that the response and engagement so far was really great, and the program would likely continue in the future, growing larger and involving more youth.
Goodfish Lake also is taking part in the Alberta Future Leaders program, which is in its second year running, with the same two leaders bring brought back this summer, due to the success of last year’s program.
