First Nations Voice

SEPTEMBER 2013 • PAGE 3 award show adventure By Cindy McKay Always looking for new opportunities and for an adventure, I jumped at the chance to attend the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards this year. The entire evening was an experience I will not soon forget. Right from the opening act to closing, I was highly entertained. Even though I was unfamiliar with the names on the nomination list, I soon became a fan and developed a great respect for the artists and their amazing talent. Opening the show was Toronto area punk/ electric band, The Johnny's. The sheer stage presence of the six-foot tall, leather-clad beautiful Cree woman, Veronica Johnny and their explosive performance definitely caught my attention. While the genre of music was not something I would normally choose to listen to, the flawlessness of her voice was amazing. This set the standard for the rest of the evening as the other performers followed suit. Vocal performances by Jade Turner, Inez, Nick Sherman, Gary Sappier Blues Band and Lightening Cloud also wowed the audience with their music. Not soon to be forgotten were the performances of Yvonne St. Germaine, clad in a beautiful white outfit trimmed in blue. Accompanying her on stage were the young Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers. Their colourful outfits and high-energy jigging with feet moving almost faster than the eye can see. Playing the cello was composer Cris Derkson who is an amazing entertainer in her own rite. Accompanied with nothing more than a drummer, she was able to use her instrument and a mixer to play a song that not only pleasing to hear but entertaining to watch in total wonderment of her art. Awards shows gives the artists a chance to speak directly to the public of a national audience. Pop/Rap artist Chrystal Lightening, of the duo LIghtningCloud, expressed to the audience how important it was to follow your dreams. Rock artist George Leach walked away with four awards and also relayed the message of not giving up hope. As a former truck driver who spent a lot of time developing his songs on the road, his perseverance paid off. George mentioned the mentorship provided from veterans like Derek Miller proves that the trails they have blazed have truly made an impact on these new artists. The Aboriginal Peoples Choice Lifetime Achievement award was given to Ray St. Germaine. During the prelude to him accepting the award, I found it interesting that he grew up not knowing of his Metis heritage until he was in his early 20's. He discovered it by accident as had been photographing his grandfather. While in the dark room, noticed that the features of his grandfather's face looked native. Upon questioning his parent, Ray learned the truth of his Metis heritage. All his life he had just assumed his dad's dark colouring was due to him working outside all the time. From then on, Ray embraced his Metis culture and continued a career that spanned all across North America. He takes great pride that many of his family members have pursued music as a career and said he is totally thrilled whenever he sees them perform. St. Germaine closed out the show and was choked with emotion as his family joined him on stage. It was a wonderful tribute to a successful, humble man who has made a huge impact on the Canadian music industry for more than 50 years. Music is a powerful way to connect with people. The messages within the song lyrics speak of pain, suffering, hope, inspiration and healing. The experiences of the artists can be understood by the listener. Regardless of race, music is the only thing in this world that truly speaks a universal language. The beauty of today's music scene is that the general public has the opportunity to listen to these artists as radio stations play their music. The sound of the voice doesn't indicate skin colour or race and the song is the only thing that matters. We all face the same struggles, which makes their music relevant to all of us. It is a wonderful way to gain a greater understanding of the present day plights and the messages of hope and inspiration affect everyone who listens. It was an honour to be in the audience. Megwich. COOKING UP INCLUSION Travis Templeton is sharing his love of cooking, helping peers with special needs develop important life skills, and making new friends. Templeton, 16, is a peer volunteer with the Rehabilitation Centre for Children's Cooking Club at Miles Macdonell Collegiate. Students with special needs, peer volunteers, and Rehab Centre staff meet once a week to prepare a meal from scratch. Templeton has a family member with special needs, so volunteering seemed like a natural fit. "It's making the community a better place, teaching people how to do things," he says. "Plus you meet new people – all of these people go to our school and some of them I've never seen before. It's new relationships." Meal preparation is only a small part of the program, which is run out of eight schools in Winnipeg, and one just beyond the perimeter. "Here it's all about inclusion and building independence," says Carole Gingera Kowalchuk, communications and marketing coordinator with the Children's Rehabilitation Foundation, which raises funds for the Rehab Centre. "Letting kids have the same opportunity as every other child." The Cooking Club is part of the Rehab Centre's L.I.F.E. (Leisure in Fun Environments) skills program for children with special needs. A Nourishing Potential grant from The Winnipeg Foundation helps ensure the club has all the equipment it needs. The club includes meal planning, grocery shopping, nutrition education, preparing and sharing meals. Cooking Club can be a great way to level the playing field between special needs students and peers, explains Carol Kehler, a physiotherapist with the Rehab Centre who developed the program. "[Often cooking is] something that the peers aren't very good at either!" she says. To ensure every student can participate, the club has specialized equipment including knives with elevated handles, cutting boards with attached knives for one-handed chopping, and cut-resistant gloves. The Nourishing Potential grant went a long way to helping purchase the equipment, Kehler says. Participants make a full meal from scratch each week. One popular menu is spaghetti with veggie or meat sauce, Caesar salad, garlic bread, and fruit kabobs with yogurt for dessert. The Cooking Club also tries to utilize participants' knowledge whenever possible. For example, Kehler says one of the special needs students was a perogie expert so she taught her peers how to make them from scratch. It's important to give special needs students opportunities to develop their leadership abilities, she added. "Often people think that if you have special needs then you need someone to help you with everything but it's so not true," Kehler says. For more information about the Rehabilitation Centre for Children's Cooking Club visit www.rccinc.ca. Nourishing Potential provides grants so kids and youth can access healthy food, nutrition education and cooking skills through after-school, drop-in and summer programs. The Nourishing Potential Fund, targeted to grow to a $5 million endowment, will ensure support for these types of programs is available forever. For more information about Nourishing Potential or to make a gift to the fund go to www.wpgfdn.org or call The Winnipeg Foundation at 204-944-9474. Stacy Cardigan Smith

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