One Voice, Four First Nations: Support Maskwacîs U16 Female Athletics
Mentor Now!: B.S.W. and Grace YEG-GA Begin Travels
The carving entitled "Grace YEG-GA" is dedicated to the memory of Grace Swampy, a survivor of the Ermineskin Residential School and a pioneer for the advanced study of women and female Elders within Cree society. In addition to her graduate thesis entitled, "The Role of Native Women in a Plains Cree Society; and, Learning the Cree Language, A Grammar", she worked tirelessly to bring attention to the sorry and tragic History of the Residential School system in Canada many years before the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Her significance and example within the History of Canada is further exemplified by the elementary school which bears her name.
Grace YEG-GA was derived from a larger rock used for sculptures found elsewhere in Project Y150 YEG-GA. The carving began its journey with B.S.W. in 2016, shortly after B.S.W. and the School of One Carver once again swapped stories regarding the importance of their respective female ancestors for their everyday lives. B.S.W. is a close friend and frequent collaborator with the Homeglen School of One from the Samson First Nation, and, in 2017 she completed her Ph.D. in Anthropology at a major university in Eastern Canada. Like her treasured ancestor Grace Swampy, she is a major scholarly advocate for Indigenous History and Traditions, hence explaining why the Cree narrative is so important for remembering her experiences shared below. B.S.W. and her sister served as coaches and mentors for U16 Female Athletics in Maskwacîs, a four-nation, First Nations' community located in Central Alberta.
Blue Sky Memory Stream, 2016
The series of vignettes found below recall journeys in 2016, shortly after B.S.W. actively sought to recover corporate sponsorship for the U16 Fastball Team. Tough economic times in Alberta meant the former sponsor pulled out and the team did not have funds to pay for uniforms. Thanks to her hard work and perseverance this issue was temporarily resolved, although anyone reading this Introduction should consider how they might support U16 female athletics in the community. The travels of B.S.W. and Grace YEG-GA throughout Alberta in 2016 were extensive, and she also went to Standing Rock, North Dakota, in support of protests there. The Cree narratives found below follow a distinct "living memory stream" and reveal B.S.W.'s personal insights into her enormous pride of "her girls" at a Canada Day Parade during the Ponoka Stampede, feelings of alienation within the Canadian "nation", sexual assault, religious belief, and friendship.
U-16 Athletics Needs Sponsors
Maskwacis, Late Spring, 2016. Sunny
I did not know what to do. Each avenue of sponsorship was empty and no one had no ability to help us. Many of the girls could not afford cleats and we used bats that I had used when I played ten years ago. We had only three balls when we started, and no helmets. We had to start from the very beginning. We had two girls initially, and then the team blossomed to twenty two. The ball diamonds had never seen competitive fastball teams in over fifteen years. Getting uniforms was going to be a hard challenge. I emailed and "messaged" everyone I knew, and yet I got only one response. I used what they gave me and I put forward the scholarship money from my Ph.D. while we "hustled a cartload" of candy apples that week. We didn’t have the uniforms in time for our Red Deer tournament, but, thankfully, we had them for next week in Lacombe. U-16 female athletics still needs sponsors.
U-16 Float Canada Day
Ponoka, 1 July, 2016. Looks Warm
The sun peaked out behind the clouds as the winds came off from nearby lakes. The annual Stampede was underway. Dressed as beauty queens of years long past, our girls from the Fastball team wave and smile delightfully. The wooden tipi sits atop the float next to hay bales. Our girls wear cowboy hats but their long brown and black hair fall from their shoulders. We were all walking contradictions that day, and it didn’t matter. For one day we were not the stereotypes that shadow our people. We took first in the sports and rec division. Memories gifted to them so they can never forget the experience. How they cheered when we won. We hope they remember how far they can and will go.
Red and White, Memories On the Rocks
Location: Always on the road back home. July, 2016. Cool rains have arrived.
They say “our home and native land” like it has always been their's. It has never been and will never be since this is Creator's territory. It's as if destruction and death is never enough. Never enough until they grasp that single dollar sign in their bank accounts. What about us? Do we not deserve to live well and know that there will be food on the table the next day or next week? No, we were given meat poisoned with lime. We were never to reach this year. We were supposed to assimilate within their culture, learn their language, and progress through this settler-nation as if we have no worries or distress. Our identities lost within the loss of who we are as kin. Am I angry? Yes. Yes, as we continue to witness the large numbers of youth that commit suicide, we still can wear red and white, wave and be happy as we watch fireworks go off and cheer with amazement. Ignorance is bliss, but the moment we say anything, we are characterized as "stuck in the past" and the true colours of nationalism come out, almost to suggest we should adorn black and blue. We were supposed to share this land together as family and fellow custodians. As brothers and sisters. I suppose the worn out saying is true: We always hurt the ones we love the most, and usually it's family first.
The Assault
Summer, 2016. Sunny
They never asked me what happened that night. I suppose they thought that they had all the evidence and statement they needed. He never told them what he did. He is a coward that is cloaked behind his belief that he is a traditional man that can do good for his people. A people he only sees when they give out special pay or land-lease cheques. That’s the predicament of my people. He thought he had won. Does he not know that I am Creator's love first? That He loved me enough to give me a part of His soul and let me roam my mother. Does he not know that the fire inside me that he tried to extinguish is not only of my strength but Creator's, and he has no right to try and diminish it? Does he think he knows our culture and beliefs, so pure, that he acted against them? Does he not know that I hear and feel the generations of ancestors that came before me and helped me get out that night? Does he not realize that the People of the Sky saw his actions? Did he fail to realize that I am not just a woman, I am born of Earth and Sky, linked to past and future and transcended between this World and the Spirit? No, he thought he broke me, but he never had the power to take what I am. For I am. Creator within, I am.
Healing, with Chief
Summer, 2016. Sun through window.
Chief, tell me I will be OK. Tell me. Speak to me. Converse with me like the days of our ancestors. Tell me I will be OK. You lean on me. I will be OK, but why does it hurt?
Friendship Trails
Summer, 2016. Sunny, a good day for my sister to fish.
Maybe it’s because of the highway we both have travelled on or maybe it has always been Creator's will. How lucky am I to have a friend and mentor. The sun sets on the sign that has seen its days and yet the suns rays warm my back. It is a warmth of friendship.
Standing Rock Solidarity
Message sent from Standing Rock: November 23, 2016.
Starting to get real cold.
Mni Wiconi. Water is life.,
You cannot drink oil.
This is only the beginning.