NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY | 7
SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 2023
BY TODD LEWYS
Consequently, the Manitoba Aboriginal Sports & Recreational Council (MASRC) was born and later incorporated in 1994. For 35 years and counting, the MASRC has been tirelessly conceiving and co- ordinating sports and recreation programs in communities provincewide. Administering the programs is a labour of love for the staff at the MASRC, says Carriera Lamoureux, the organization’s director of special projects. “We truly believe in the benefits of sports and recreation,” she says. “The programs are all about creating spaces of connection and an atmosphere of belonging.” Year in and year out, the MASRC staff travel across the province, fine-tuning programs and creating new ones. And while staff members provide their input on what might work, the impetus behind programs comes from the communities themselves. “We’re always community-centred in our approach,” Lamoureux says. “We work directly with stakeholders and youths in a highly collaborative fashion.” The key to creating successful programs, she adds, is going into communities without any preconceived ideas about what their needs are. “One of the first things we ask is ‘What are your goals?’ It’s about what they need. We’re there to serve and want to work the best way we can with stakeholders because the goal with all programs is longevity,” she says. “Whenever we’re there, we want communities to know we’re there for them. Programs are designed to fit the sports and recreation needs of each community.”
Back in 1988, the Manitoba Métis Federation and Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs identified the need for a sport and recreation system that addressed the needs of young people in Indigenous communities across the province. Essentially, community leaders had perceived the need to help Indigenous people develop their body, mind and spirit to their full capacity to promote health and well-being.
CELEBRATING NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY
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THE PROGRAMS ARE ALL ABOUT CREATING SPACES OF CONNECTION AND AN ATMOSPHERE OF BELONGING. “ – Carriera Lamoureux, MASRC director of special projects “
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