The sound of children giggling filled the old gymnasium of the former Lebret Indian Industrial School, the last standing relic of a residential school that only closed its doors in 1998.
The session was part of the Sacred Four: Re-Awakening Ancestral Ways of Knowing youth summit held by Star Blanket Cree Nation last week in Lebret, roughly 80 kilometres northeast of Regina.
The summit focused on teaching the youth important life skills and traditional teachings.
Jeremiah Manitopyes, a rapper and activist from Muskowekwan First Nation also known as Drezus, was one of the speakers. He shared stories about his life and how he overcame hardships. He said the event meant a great deal to him.
“It’s super significant because I actually attended this school here when it was still open,” he said. “Like we’re literally just in the gym now which is the only thing standing left from the school.”
Manitopyes was adopted as an honorary member of Star Blanket Cree Nation last fall. Coming back to the community to be a positive influence for youth is something he always wanted to do.
“It was very important to hear stories about us, by us,” Manitopyes said. “I wouldn’t dare go into another community and try to tell them stories about themselves.”
He said it is important to share stories as Indigenous people, because storytelling has always been an important part of the culture and traditions. It’s also a big part of who he is.
“When I hear a story told from say an elder, or another Indigenous person from my tribe or something like that, they’ll remind me. Sometimes it’s locked far back there, you know, maybe even my DNA. I might not have even heard the story, but when I hear it, I am reminded of who I am.”
Manitopyes said he went through a lot of trials and tribulations before becoming who he is today. Now he shares his story with youth to help guide them to a better path than the one he went down.
“When I was a kid, I didn’t really have a father figure. I had my mother thankfully, but as far as a father figure, as far as a positive role model, I didn’t really have that,” he said.
He hopes his story will inspire youth to stay on a positive path, and channel themselves through creativity and culture.
“It’s very important to me to build community, and to instill pride, and remind the kids who they are and where they come from and why they’re so powerful, especially Indigenous kids,” he said.
“I can’t speak for everybody, but a lot of us, especially in the Prairies here, have lost it to things like residential schools, literally where we’re standing right now. We reclaim these spaces with things like this.… This used to be a residential school where different things might have went on, but now we’re using it as a space to promote positivity, to promote resilience and cultural pride.”
‘We want to inspire them’: Star Blanket chief
“It was really interesting to hear about what he went through,” said Nalaya Starr, one of the youth in attendance.
“He talked about not having a father figure in his life growing up, and some people can relate to that.”
Another youth, Mya Starblanket, said what stood out to her was when Manitopyes spoke about his hardships and how he overcame them.
“It’s great to see how he turned out now,” she said. “I really took inspiration from him. How he went through hard times, and one day music was really speaking to him. That’s kind of me with other stuff. I do art for instance, I am not really good with it, but he motivated me to do it more often.”
Chief Michael Starr of Star Blanket Cree Nation still remembers Manitopyes from when he was in school in Lebret.
“I remember him being here,” he said. “When he tells his story, you can see the hardships of some of the things that those systems brought on to our people. He explains that quite well.”
Starr said the goal of the day was to inspire the youth to live their life in a good way.
“We want to inspire them and to make the right choices, if you will,” he said. “With inspiration and collaboration from his experiences, to encourage our young people today to live a good, healthy lifestyle, if you will, and just live positively into the future.”
#Indigenous #youth #summit #storytelling #inspire #youth #stay #positive #paths
Leave a Reply