First Nations Youth connect with STEM mentors at OFNTSC summit

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — The Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation’s 2022 First Nations Youth STEM Summit included presentations by Fort William Elder Rita Fenton, Oneida Nation of the Thames’ Danny Deleary, and Red Rock Indian Band’s Jason Thompson. The STEM Summit was a hybrid event, with the in-person portion taking place at the Fort William Historical Site in Thunder Bay, and a live broadcast for youth across the province on March 30.

“In my 30s, that’s where I started my journey on the Red Road,” Elder Fenton says during her Medicine Wheel Teachings presentation, noting that she also began her studies at Confederation College two years later. “Our teacher was the late Walter Linklater and he started teaching us about our history. Our history wasn’t taught in my school — we learned the history, but not our history; so needless to say, I grew up not really knowing who I was, I didn’t have an identity.”

Elder Fenton says she discovered her identity when she went to her first pow wow with her Confederation College class and teacher and started dancing.

“That’s when I felt, ‘This is who I am — I am Anishinabe,’” Elder Fenton says. “For years I didn’t know who I was, I was lost, and when you’re being lost, you struggle trying to fit in, trying to belong somewhere, trying to be accepted and loved for who you are.”

Elder Fenton says when she danced in that pow wow, she felt that connection to her spirit.

“This is who I am and that was a big part that was missing,” Elder Fenton says.

Deleary, community engagement coordinator for the Aboriginal Apprenticeship Board of Ontario, says they are looking to increase the level of engagement by Indigenous communities and people in the skilled trades during his Aboriginal Apprenticeship Board of Ontario Water Pipes Initiative presentation. Information is posted online.

“An apprenticeship is a learning journey just like going to college [and] university, the difference being though is you’re going to earn while you learn,” Deleary says. “While you’re in your apprenticeship, you’re being paid as a trainee, paid as a learner of that trade, whatever that trade is, one of the 140-plus [trades].”

Deleary says there are 23 compulsory trades and 56 Red Seal trades in Ontario.

“Learning takes place in a hands-on practical environment under the tutelage, supervision of a journey person in that particular trade,” Deleary says. “There are portions of an apprenticeship where you do go to school, what they call trade school, and for each trade it’s different. Every time you go to trade school, your wage increases.”

Deleary says the minimum level of entry for some trades is Grade 10 but he encourages everyone to complete their Grade 12 or a General Education Development (GED) certificate.

“Some trades require senior level mathematics or senior level physics or science,” Deleary says. “That is just so that individuals are successful in becoming and reaching journey person status.”

Thompson, owner of Warrior Engineering, says he believes in volunteering in the community, noting that he is set to be the chair of Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce for 2022-2023, during his Engineering presentation.

“The Chamber of Commerce is going through a lot of change as it pertains to inclusion — they’re learning,” Thompson says. “I’m also a founding member of the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association here in Thunder Bay.”

Thompson adds that he is also an active member of the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business and president of Shkoday in Thunder Bay.

“The Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business is a very strong organization giving us as Indigenous businesses a voice on the national and international stage,” Thompson says. “At Shkoday, we have our Aboriginal Head Start program as well as our after-school programming here in the city for off-reserve band [citizens]. So if you are looking for support, programming, please come and see us — we want to work with other organizations. That’s my mandate as the president of the board is to do more collaboration because I believe the path to future success is through collaboration and breaking down these silos. We’ve worked in silos for far too long, it’s time to break down these silos and create bridges.”

This event was geared for First Nations youth in Grades 7 – 12 which highlighted technical careers in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and connected these topics to traditional Anishinaabe cultural teachings in a way that generates excitement and passion for these fields. The event also included workshops focusing on the connection between traditional Indigenous knowledge and STEM, presentations such as how First Nations youth can help address climate change, the cultural significance of water for First Nations, environmental science through an Indigenous lens, and traditional Indigenous housing compared to modern architecture.