Fort William First Nation youth step up in their community and schools
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY—Fort William’s Neveah Morriseau-Charlie performed the fancy shawl dance during the opening of the 2018 Step Up Hero Awards in Thunder Bay. The awards were presented by Dilico Anishinabek Family Care and the Children’s Aid Society of the District of Thunder Bay to recognize 10 children and youth for stepping up in their communities and schools in a positive way.
“I’ve been dancing since I was two, but I’ve switched from jingle and fancy from here and there,” Morriseau-Charlie says, noting that she enjoys following the traditional ways. “It’s everything, going to ceremony, being around my people.”
Morriseau-Charlie was honoured to be nominated for the Step Up Hero Awards, which was held on Nov. 16 at the Kinsmen Youth Centre. The 10-year-old St. Martin School student also participates in football, skiing, outdoor activities, teaching Pow Wow dance steps, advocating for the land and water, learning from the land and with the Feathers of Hope.
“I’m speechless, honestly, and really excited,” Morriseau-Charlie says. “And I feel proud of myself.”
Chelsea Morriseau, Neveah’s mother, says the Step Up Hero Awards was “amazing.”
“It is very important that they acknowledge the youth,” Morriseau says. “And I feel honoured for my daughter being a successful candidate.”
Daanis Pelletier, a 13-year-old St. Patrick High School student from Fort William, was surprised when she first found out she was nominated for the Step Up Hero Awards.
“I was happy and I was proud,” Pelletier says. “It is a cool thing to win an award that is about stepping up.”
Pelletier enjoys learning about her culture and language and participates along with her family in taking care of and collecting sap from Fort William’s sugar bush.
“I’m always proud of her for the things she does,” says Helen Pelletier, Daanis’ mother. “She likes to be able to pass on this knowledge when she grows up.”
The Step Up Hero Awards featured a keynote presentation by Wab Kinew, leader of the Manitoba NDP, musician, author of the children’s book Go Show the World, and citizen of Ojibways of Onigaming in northwestern Ontario.
“I love the idea of encouraging youth to achieve and to know they can reach their full potential,” Kinew says. “The book I am sharing with the young people today is all about celebrating people who did remarkable things in their life, because they had a belief in themselves and they believed they had a gift to share with the world. So I hope the young people who are being celebrated today feel the same way about their own lives.”
Kinew says the book highlights a group of heroes from the Indigenous community.
“They are people who have achieved in all sorts of different fields — medicine, science, politics, art, sports,” Kinew says. “I was lucky to hear about these people growing up, so I wanted to be able to share their stories with a wider audience.”
Kinew says it was inspiring to learn that a group of Dennis Franklin Cromarty First Nations High School students recently read his book to a class of Kindergarten students at a nearby school.
“To hear that other young people are sharing that message with other kids in the community, it just lets me know that writing this book was totally worthwhile,” Kinew says.
The other Step Up Hero Awards recipients were: Justin Idman, Caroline Di Felice, Garrick Waswa, Paityn Meredith, Benjamin Fedoruk, Shannon Scott, Jake Perreault and Aarianna Roberts.