Meet the 2007 Recipients
Actor Adam Beach to host awards
Critically-acclaimed actor, Adam Beach (Flags of our Fathers) will host the 14th Annual National Aboriginal Achievement Awards on Friday, March 16 in Edmonton, Alberta honouring an extraordinary roster of 14 outstanding men and women recognized for their career contributions over the past year within the First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network) and Global Television, the exclusive network broadcast partners for this Gala event premiere the awards ceremony on Saturday, March 31 - 8 pm ET/PT.
"We, alongside APTN are honoured to be bringing this special celebration into homes across the nation for our second year," said Christine Shipton, Vice President, Original Programming, Global Television.
"With an incredible array of award recipients, performers and presenters in store, and hosted by the extremely talented Adam Beach, the 2007 NAAA Gala promises yet another amazing evening filled with both inspiration and entertainment."
Notable award presenters for this year include actress Tamara Podemski, the recent winner of the Special Jury Prize for Acting at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival for her role as Miri in Sterlin Harjo's feature film, Four Sheets to the Wind - the very first North American Native to be awarded a Sundance acting honour; as well as actors Nathaniel Arcand (Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning) and Forrest Eaglespeaker both co-starring in the new comedy series Moose TV alongside Adam Beach, and Dakota House of North of 60 fame.
With special performances by Gemini nominee and former NAAA Host Andrea Menard and 2007 Juno nominated singer-songwriter, Leela Gilday accompanied by Awasisak Nikamowak (Cree for "children singing"), a local children's choir, from the Prince Charles School based in Edmonton.
"We salute the 14 NAA award recipients for their many and varied accomplishments both here and abroad," says Jean LaRose, APTN Chief Executive Officer. "APTN promotes excellence within our communities, continuously encouraging all of our Peoples, particularly our youth, to pursue their dreams – and we commend the Foundation for playing such an integral role in making these dreams a reality."
Prominent producer, actor and writer, Jennifer Podemski, serves as Creative Producer.
The NAA awards program is produced by the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Canada's leading Aboriginal charity dedicated to providing financial assistance
to Aboriginal students for post-secondary education.
2007 Recipients
Culture, Heritage and Spirituality
Alestine Andre
Gwich’in
Tssigehtchic, NT
When Alestine Andre was a young girl she would return home in the summer from residential school and translate everything she learned into Gwich’in for her mother. She wanted to share what she had learned about science, the constellations and the universe. Today as a Heritage Researcher for her community she successfully combines her gifts of Gwich’in traditional knowledge with that of Western Science. She continues to work with language and is a leading voice in the pursuit, preservation and promotion of her language and culture. And while she has been to the four corners of the world researching other cultures, she always returns home to work for the community that raised her. She lived off the land with her parents and returns each year to her family camp to hunt, fish and gather berries. She insists on a close connection to the land. In it she finds the wisdom and resolve to research, document and publish volumes on Gwich’in oral tradition that future generations will forever draw strength from.
Law and Justice
Hugh Braker
Tseshaht First Nation
Nu Chan Nulth
Vancouver Island, BC
With healthy youth, the original people of Turtle Island will have a healthy future. And that’s something Hugh Braker is doing one child at a time.
One of his law firm’s major interests is Aboriginal child welfare law while litigating for aboriginal rights has been the major issue his progressive law firm has been concentrating on.
Braker’s interest in the justice system started when he was a child when Aboriginal people didn’t have the right to vote. Braker remembers the injustices committed on the people in his Nu Cha Nulth community, and he dreamed of correcting the situation any way he could.
He excelled in law school, moving directly into the thick of it as Director of Self-Government with the Assembly of First Nations. He was the first male Nu Cha Nulth lawyer in the country and the first BC First Nations lawyer to be made a Queen’s Counsel (Q.C.)
He moved back to his community and worked as staff lawyer for the tribal council for almost 10 years litigating and negotiating fishing and hunting rights and aboriginal child welfare instituting stronger family welfare and adoption practices. He opened his own practice in 1989 and continues to take great pride in volunteering as president of the Native Courtworker and Counselling Association of BC for 20 years.
Braker grew up with strong ties to his community. He believes Aboriginal values are distinct from non-Aboriginal values and as an Aboriginal lawyer, his focus is on the community at large. His clients see him as an Aboriginal person first who cares about his community and its future. Braker considers it his responsibility to see that children grow up safely, so he helped design customized contemporary justice methods that incorporate traditional belief systems. Braker is building a stronger community for all of us, one child at a time.
Public Service
Lewis Cardinal
Cree
Sucker Creek First Nation
Edmonton, AB
Lewis Cardinal dined with the Queen of England and had the opportunity to accompany the Dalai Lama on his trip to Canada. He spent a great deal of time with the saintly leader, and even discovered that the holy man was a sensible man who wore black socks and hush puppies. It made Cardinal realize that everyone was human and capable of incredible things.
But it wasn’t all tuxedos and state dinners for Lewis Cardinal, who spent a good number of years homeless on the streets of Edmonton. When he left his small reserve in northern Alberta, there was no where else to go. Cardinal was one of the many faceless Native people on the street, but within him a flicker of light kept him alive through those brutal winters without shelter or food. It was his pilot light that kept him alive and his belief that his ancestors were watching over him. His ancestors were all signatories of Treaty 8, his grandfathers all great leaders of the community. It was in his blood. Cardinal remembers his great grandfather saying that struggle will always be there but you have to remember the people and to give back when you find success.
Since then, Lewis has done nothing but work tirelessly for the people. He’s designing education systems that integrate traditional knowledge, works with Native media on assembling stronger communication strategies and is involved on an international level in a global forum where the world’s Indigenous peoples meet to share, discuss and participate in building a more sustainable future for everyone. His light is stronger now then ever.
Arts
Joane Cardinal Schubert
Kainai (Blackfoot)
Alberta
Joane Cardinal-Schubert deconstructs, translates and transforms. It is her innate ability to interpret the harsh realities of the world into magnificent installations of beauty and celebration.
A writer, curator, lecturer, poet and Aboriginal arts activist, Cardinal-Schubert inspires and enables Native artists across the continent to challenge and reclaim their creative identities. She created a home for Native art in Canada that is respected, highly regarded and continues to break new ground. She’s unique, strong-willed and at times controversial.
An alumnus of the Alberta College of Art and the University of Calgary she was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws LL.B. and also the Queens Golden Jubilee Medal and the Commemorative Medal of Canada.
Cardinal-Schubert’s art is well-known for its penetrating ideas on contemporary First Nations experiences and its denunciation of Euro-American religious and governmental systems. Cardinal-Schubert didn’t just create art she fought for the right of Native artists to be exhibited in galleries and museums. Her work contributed to the acceptance of Native art in the contemporary art world and influenced societal understanding of the history, identity and issues of Aboriginal people.
Currently she is in top form in painting, printmaking, and installation art. She never stops being an artist, never stops exploring. She engages new ideas and projects with excitement and optimism. Cardinal-Schubert’s dynamic personality, passionate lectures and persuasive writing have all contributed to her recognition as one of Canada's most renowned and beloved Aboriginal artists.
Politics
Freddie Carmichael
Gwich’in
Aklavik, NT
It doesn’t take Freddie Carmichael long to speak the truth, in fact, that’s all he knows how to do. For a politician that’s rare. But then Freddie is no average politician. It’s community first and that’s the way he’s always conducted his work ethic. The voice in him won’t let him. And the pilot in him won’t allow him to veer off course for a second. As the first Aboriginal pilot in the NWT, he purchased his first plane with flight and freedom in mind. He knows his home intimately. Born and raised on the trapline, with over 50 years experience flying bush places over the western Arctic, Carmichael knows his region well. He knows the strength and scope of it and its capacity to provide a prosperous future for his people. From one plane to a successful airline company, Carmichael currently negotiates one of the largest construction projects in Canada. It’s truth he speaks and respect he demands.
He’s currently a second-term President of the Gwich’in Tribal Council piloting the direction for a successful cultural and socio-economic future which includes building a foundation for self-government. And as any good pilot knows, the destination is as important as the flight.
Lifetime Achievement
Bertha Clark Jones
Metis
Athabasca, AB
Bertha Clark Jones always spoke out for the underdog. If there was person that she felt was being wronged, she would step in. She did it when she was a child growing up with 12 siblings during the depression. She did it while she served in the air force during the war and she did as she became one of the first outspoken voices in the Aboriginal women’s movement. She grew up strong. She excelled in sports and used that skill in her daily life often competing against unbeatable odds and historic prejudices. But she endured and changed the way Native women were treated in the country. She set many firsts in her life and continues to fight for the rights of the underprivileged and disadvantaged. She moved womens rights groups forward by strides when she founded the Alberta Native Women’s Voices in the late 1960s. That organization blossomed to become Native Women’s Association of Canada, a powerful voice for Native women in the country. She was the first President of NWAC and though retired continues to recognize, respect, promote, defend and enhance Native ancestral laws, spiritual beliefs, language and traditions.
Health
Dr. Joseph Couture
Cree
Wetaskawin, AB
Dr. Joseph Couture is a pioneer in every sense of the word. As the first Aboriginal person to receive a Ph.D in psychology, Dr. Joe as he is affectionally known, has not only built bridges of understanding between two cultures but has systematically affected generations of educators and students with his straightforward and profound traditional healing methods.
Dr. Couture’s books broke new ground in the Native and non-Native mental health system by challenging long held views on healing and by combining traditional values with contemporary methods. A man who revolutionized the corrections system by transforming the prison into a place for healing Couture is a sought after speaker in healing centres, prisons and universities across North America. Dr. Couture has inspired many with his philosophies on the Medicine Wheel system of healing. His vision of traditional practice as rehabilitation has transformed individuals and communities. His dedication has set a benchmark for educators and students alike, while his instinctive wisdom and holistic ideas on healing will be felt for generations.
Sports
Wegadesk Gorup-Paul
Mik’maq
Victoria, BC
Becoming a world champion in athletics as a teenager could be a little daunting. But for 18-year-old Wegadesk Gorup-Paul he takes it all in stride. A champion diver who began a diving career at age 12, Gorup-Paul is stirring up the waters in the world competitive diving world. His name means Northern Light in Miq Maq and he’s not your average teenager. He’s traveled the globe competing against the sports’ top divers in the Pan Am Games, the Commonwealth Games and even the South African National Championships, to name a few. A national champion in three different countries, Gorup-Paul currently ranks 3rd in the world in the sport of springboard and platform diving. As a teenager, he’s understandably a role model not only for his athletic prowess but his drive to reach new heights. Besides balancing school, family, cultural practices and part-time jobs like any teenager, he practices twice daily, spends more than 25 hours in the pool each week and manages to squeeze in weight training and yoga. He is one of 13 children in his family. From extraordinary circumstances come extraordinary individuals who even in their youth, never break stride.
Youth Award
James Makokis, Cree
Saddle Lake Cree Nation, AB
Attending University in Ottawa, ON
For 24-year-old James Makokis pursuing a career in medicine has always been at the forefront of his mind. But it’s his love for his community and his desire to learn the wisdom of his ancestors that drives his passion.
As a youth he has already proved himself by making enormous strides in that direction. Its his unique ability to share what he’s learned through nationally syndicated columns, programming university research projects and combining his family’s wisdom with that of his ongoing quest to further his knowledge.
Life as a two-spirited youth on a remote reserve was difficult but it ingrained in him the ability to survive. He left home as most youth do to explore but instead found himself in the gritty streets of Edmonton where he witnessed firsthand the plight of rural Natives. It dismayed him but most importantly, it challenged him. With a strong circle of parents, friends and elders he realized what his descendents worked so hard to achieve. With drive and spirit he joined youth committees, attached himself to various health and wellness boards and began a very personal journey of understanding and change. Now with a strong academic direction, extensive community involvement and spiritual healing, James has a clear sense of career direction but is also on a fast-track to serving his community for a lifetime.
Media & Communications
Lisa Meeches, Ojibway
Long Plain First Nation
Winnipeg, MB
Lisa Meeches is a trained herbalist raised by a family of traditionalists and pipe carriers. They taught her everything about living a traditional life. Meeches realized later that not everyone was as lucky as she was. While the country was barraged with prejudices and preconceived notions about Native people, Meeches decided to set the record straight. She studied media and communications and learned to weave her spirituality with the mediums of media.
That was in the 1980s when Native media was in its infancy. Meeches, a young radio reporter with a knack for capturing the essence of a story liked to tell stories. She grew up listening to traditional stories and it was those legends of lesson, love and life that fueled her imagination and her pursuit to communicate meaningful stories to audiences. Meeches positioned her stories on truth creating dignified stories that weren’t covered by non-Native media. A media trailblazer that led Aboriginal media into the mainstream by exposing the ‘truth’, Meeches buries old prejudices and opens minds with her meaningful and traditional-based approach to television production. By covering her subject matter with dignity Meeches’ stories stand alone in a medium convoluted with mixed messages and mind-numbing nonsense. And while her work soars to the heights of her imagination, it is rooted in the belief systems she inherited from her ancestors. Meeches is one of the most dynamic and respected television producers in Canada, and continues to produce top-notch programming that entertains, teaches and transports.
Education
Joe Michel
Secwepemc
Shuswap-Adams Lake Indian Band, BC
It was a beloved matriarch elder who encouraged Joe to complete high school and continue onto post secondary education instead of continuing to work at his summer job at the local sawmill. It was a good thing he listened because Michel became one of the most outspoken advocates and leaders on Aboriginal education in the country.
As one of the first graduates of a residential school in the west, Michel got his degrees through summer school over many years enabling him to keep abreast of education developments of the time. Michel was able to spend time playing a major role later in life working at his lifelong passion to maintain the Secwepemc language, playing a major role in its revival.
He is a cultural savior and language activist who is retired from education but continues to educate. He mentors students and teachers throughout BC, contributes to Secwepemc language curriculum and is actively involved as an elected member of Band Council. He is busier now in retirement, as a mentor, statesman, elder and parent within his community, than he ever was.
Michel contends that Aboriginal control of education is important because the strength of Native people is in the language and traditional values. “We have to relearn how to learn,” he says. Incorporating western education with traditional values is the key, both feet firmly planted in two worlds. With this, Michel believes Aboriginal people will be the educators of their own history and leaders of their own destiny.
Technology and Trades
Monica Peters
Mohawk
Akwesasne, ON
Indigenous languages are at risk. Many languages have slowly disappeared because they weren’t taught or passed down to the next generation. Too many people today are so plugged into mainstream culture that our ancient languages are teetering on extinction.
So, when Monica Peters wanted to strengthen her Mohawk language she plugged into a whole other language – binary and computer codes – the modern language. She believed if she could combine her awareness of Mohawk with her knowledge of computer programming – they could merge to become a powerful tool to communicate, teach and preserve the language forever.
Monica grew up speaking Mohawk but also learned to read by studying her father’s computer programming books and manuals. She programmed her first codes when she was just six-years-old. But it was much later in her adulthood; after she disconnected with her family and culture that she realized she was losing her language, and more importantly her identity as a Mohawk woman. She abruptly turned her life around focused on her education and relearned her language for her own sake. And then she focused on the larger dilemma. She studied passionately, experimented with countless codes and programs until she created an artificial intelligence program that learns language. By combining modern technology with ancient words she built an instrument that not only gave her identity but has the potential to save threatened languages of the world.
Onkwehonwehnéha satá:ti. - Speak in Indian (Mohawk)
Business and Commerce
Jack Poole
Cree
Vancouver, BC
Some people see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not. Building dreams is an obsession for accomplished business owner and developer John ‘Jack’ Poole. Whether it was working on construction sites as a young man or attaining his engineering degree, constructing monuments and world class skyscrapers is a calling Jack can’t refuse.
He’s been honoured by universities, inducted into business hall of fames, and has received distinctions, honourary degrees and received an Order of Canada. It’s his strong work ethic and his unwavering sense of diplomacy that has elevated him as a leader in the First Nation community. Poole is credited with bringing the 2010 Olympics to Canada and it was his efforts to foster a working relationship with the four First Nations within whose traditional territories the 2010 Paralympic Games will be held.
His father encouraged his confidence, his competitiveness and his appetite for success. His mother, a school teacher instilled in him the importance of education. Its little surprise Poole’s been called a cautious optimist, a visionary and a modest overachiever and it’s what shaped him into becoming one of the most successful real estate developers and community builders in North America.
Environment
Chief David Walkem
Nlaka’pamux Nation
Cook’s Ferry Indian Band, BC
Chief David Walkem is a forester who builds bridges. He is a protector of environment and an advocate for using traditional ecological knowledge in the co-management of our eco-systems. Chief Walkem understands that the eco-systems are valuable tools for Aboriginal people providing an important connection to our traditions, language and identity.
Chief Walkem builds communication bridges with developers and forestry companies that allow Aboriginal people to benefit from the business of forestry but also allow the land to regenerate and renew. It’s a tenuous balance, but Chief Walkem has been doing it for the better part of his life, actually becoming the first Native person in BC to achieve the designation of a forester. He didn’t stop there. He was raised by a family of Native leaders who instilled in him the concepts of respectful negotiations, advocacy and his traditional teachings. Getting a Masters of Business Administration he knew full well the need for a Native person to sit at the negotiating tables with the forestry companies and federal and provincial governments. He established mechanisms that address Aboriginal values and interests in the land, working to create a resource co-management system that puts the control into the hands of the First Nations. He is a force to be reckoned with in the forestry industry. Whether he is building bridges in the industry, encouraging First Nation youth to pursue careers in environment or advocating for First Nation rights, he hopes to leave a legacy that stands as tall and strong as the BC forests he fights so hard to protect.