First Nations Voice

JULY 2014 • PAGE 5 NEWSTHATNOT ONLYINFORMS, BUTINSPIRES. Trust Shaneen Robinson and NtawnisPiapo , yourWinnipeg correspondents,togatherstories fromanAboriginal perspective. APTNNationalNews reports each weeknight from11 bureaus across Canada,hosted byCherylMcKenzie andMichael Hutchinson,delivering the nationalstories that affect usall. Visit www.aptn.ca/news t When Florence Paynter [MEd/91] studied for her master's at the University of Manitoba 25 years ago, Indigenous students were few and far between. So too was any form of cultural support for them. "I felt isolated because at the master's level there weren't any peers, or any people I could talk to," says Paynter, an Anishinaabe woman from Sandy Bay First Nation, Man. "Even still, there weren't many at the undergraduate level either." Later that year, in the spring of 1989, a group of Indigenous students organized a Traditional Graduation Pow Wow to celebrate their accomplishments. Paynter participated in the event, which formally honoured Indigenous graduates at the U of M and celebrated First Nations, Inuit and Metis cultures. Fast forward a quarter of a century to 2014 and find the Traditional Graduation Pow Wow celebrating its 25th anniversary. Once again, the event promises to shine a warm light on the achievements of Indigenous men and women at the U of M. "Because I'm a graduate of the University of Manitoba, I know how many leaps and bounds we've taken to be where we are as a people," says Paynter, who today is an Elder-in-Residence with the Aboriginal Student Centre in Migizii Agamik – Bald Eagle Lodge. "As a grad of the Pow Wow 25 years later, I see it as a revitalization of our cultural and linguistic practices," she says. As an Elder, Paynter mentors to Indigenous students. She helps guide them through difficulties—both personal and schoolrelated— and serves as a bridge between Indigenous and academic cultures. Dené Beaudry is one of the students to benefit from Paynter's guidance. Before coming to the U of M, Beaudry worked as a youth advocate in the North End, where he helped create a hockey team at St. John's High School. Preaching the importance of their studies to his student athletes was a constant for Beaudry. Then one day, Beaudry recalls, a player asked him, 'Why don't you practice what you preach? We know you only have a Grade 8 education. Why don't you go back to school?' Accepting this challenge, Beaudry looked into ways to continue his education. Within a week he found out about the U of M's Access Programs and by fall he had enrolled. "The Access Programs gave me an opportunity," says Beaudry. "To have someone open the door meant the world to me." The opportunity didn't come easily, however, recalls Beaudry. He says he would have quit his first week if it weren't for the support of the Aboriginal Student Centre and the people within it, like Paynter, whom he met at the beginning of his university experience in the fall of 2010. "To sit in my first class, where there are almost 300 students there, and being 37, I really felt out of place. It was really tough at the beginning," says Beaudry. "Coming to this building [Migizii Agamik – Bald Eagle Lodge] makes all the difference in the world." Beaudry says no one would let him quit. Despite suffering from health issues and the social and personal struggles he faced as an older student without a high school diploma, he persevered and will graduate this spring. His eyes well up and his voice gets soft when he describes what it will be like to participate in the 25th Traditional Graduation Pow Wow. "I get to dance with my brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles, my Kokums and my Moshooms. That's the best feeling in the whole world," he says. "It's such a glorious time and to be able to celebrate the 25th Pow Wow with the first grads and all dance together that's amazing. It's not just me graduating. It's all of us because without the love, the respect, the teachings of my family at home and at Migizii Agamik, I wouldn't be here today." a celebration of Indigenous culture, heritage By Jack rauch

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