UNews - Alison Frank

Scholarship program to honour influential quartet, support educational opportunities for Blackfoot students

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 17:22:04 +0000

In honour of National Philanthropy Day on Wednesday, Nov. 15, those of us at the U of L's UNews website wanted to highlight some stories from our archives. Each day this week, we'll republish a story that demonstrates the many ways the campus community benefits from philanthropy. Our second story describes the efforts of the Janes to honour Blackfoot Elders and create awards for Blackfoot students.

Seeking to preserve the Blackfoot cultural legacies of four influential men while furthering educational opportunities for Blackfoot students, Dr. Robert and Mrs. Priscilla Janes and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge have created a series of new student awards for Blackfoot students.

Dr. Robert and Mrs. Priscilla Janes and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge have created a series of new student awards for Blackfoot students.

The awards, for both graduate and undergraduate level students from the Blackfoot Confederacy, are named in honour and in memory of Narcisse (Tatsikiistamik “Middle Bull”) Blood, Gerald (Sikapiistamix “Grey Bull”) Conaty, Allan (Mi’kskimmiisoka’simii “Iron Shirt”) Pard, and Frank (Miiksskim “Iron”) Weasel Head.

“I knew these men and worked with them closely over the course of 25 years and then, all of a sudden, they all passed away within about three years of each other,” says Dr. Janes. “That had been on my mind ever since and I’d been thinking, how can these men be recognized, and their legacies carried on in some way? So, Priscilla and I came up with this idea of scholarships, which we named for them.”

Janes, who now lives in Canmore with his wife Priscilla, has a long history of working with the country’s First Nations and Inuit peoples. He was the founding director of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, NWT and spent 14 years working with Northern residents to establish the first professional museum in the Canadian Subarctic, as well as the Science Institute of the NWT.

Janes then took over as President and Chief Executive Officer at Calgary’s Glenbow Museum (1989-2000) and went to work on building stronger relationships with First Nations.

“That was a process of hiring the right people and developing relationships with the Four Nations of the Blackfoot Confederacy,” he says. “We began by striking a First Nations Advisory Council, hiring Blackfoot staff, and meeting the Blackfoot personally at their traditional ceremonies. Over time, a relationship of trust, mutual respect and learning developed. The culmination of this relationship was the decision to return sacred Blackfoot objects to the Confederacy – the largest repatriation of its kind in Canadian history.”

Upon leaving the Glenbow, Janes continued to work with First Nations peoples on a number of projects. When he looked at establishing a series of scholarships to honour his late colleagues, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge stood out due to its close relationship with the Blackfoot Confederacy and its longtime commitment to First Nations, Métis and Indigenous (FNMI) education.

“They were all key players in preserving the Blackfoot culture in Alberta,” Janes says of his late friends. “The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge was a natural because it truly is in the heart of Blackfoot country and has a very strong presence of both Blackfoot undergraduate and graduate students – it was just a natural fit.”

U of L President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon says the gift will further promote Blackfoot education at the U of L and serve as a valuable link to the men who were so committed to preserving Blackfoot culture.

“We’re extremely fortunate to be able to present these scholarships and very thankful to Dr. Janes and Priscilla for this enduring gift,” says Mahon, who was bestowed the Blackfoot name Iipisowahsi or Morning Star, meaning son of the sun and the moon, when he was inducted into the Kainai Chieftainship in 2012. “The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ embraces its responsibility to continue to provide educational opportunities for Blackfoot students and for preserving their rich culture for generations to come. Through this gift, Blackfoot students will be encouraged to celebrate the legacies left by these very influential and prominent men, and to continue the work they devoted so much to over the course of their lives.”

The undergraduate and graduate level awards will be available to students from the Blackfoot Confederacy: Siksika, Piikani (North and South Peigan) and Kainaiwa (Blood) who actively participate and contribute to their Blackfoot culture and heritage through activities of preservation, interpretation or celebration.

The first recipients of the awards are: Constance Day Chief (Dr. Gerald Conaty Memorial Award); Miracle Grier (Narcisse Blood Award); Alison Frank (Frank Weasel Head Award); Malcolm Many Chiefs (Allan Pard Award).

Essay on renewable energy generates scholarship

caroline.zentner — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 21:55:27 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge student Alison Frank couldn’t be more pleased to be one of five recipients of a 2016 Aboriginal Clean Energy Scholarship (ACES) worth $2,500 from BluEarth Renewables Inc.

BluEarth Renewables is a Calgary-based company focused on commercial-scale renewable energy development.

“I am grateful to BluEarth for awarding me this scholarship and providing this support,” says Frank. “It relieves some financial stress and helps me focus on my studies.”

Frank is currently in her final semester of a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Native American Studies. She also is involved with the U of L First Nations, Métis and Inuit Mentorship Program. She plans to apply to the Faculty of Education following the completion of her BA and eventually hopes to teach elementary-aged school children.

“In the essay I wrote when I applied for the scholarship, I wanted to highlight the importance of teaching children at a young age about renewable energy,” says Frank. “I’m learning here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ that we need to start paying more attention to Mother Earth and that we have a responsibility to make sure future generations have a safe place to live in. In my essay, I stressed the importance of relaying that information to younger children.

“When I got word back from them that I had won the scholarship, they mentioned it was a unique essay and that they enjoyed it. Usually they don’t have many applicants from the educational field, so they thought that was really great.”

A class she took last semester discussed the concept of place and what it means, and Frank says she immediately thought of her home.

“My family has an agriculture background. We live in a really beautiful area; Chief Mountain is not far from my home,” she says. “Being from Blackfoot territory, I have this appreciation for the land, so learning where my place is made me think about how I impact the land and the environment around me. We have windmills close by and a few people on my reserve are investing in solar energy. I realized having an appreciation for the land and wanting to maintain a positive environment for the next generation are important to me.”

Coming full circle

trevor.kenney — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 21:40:23 +0000

In the Blackfoot culture, the circle represents all things connected in the universe: the four directions, the four seasons, the four elements, the four sacred medicines. The circular design of tipis promotes face-to-face communication, discussion and decision-making.

It’s perhaps fitting that student mentors in the Scotiabank First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) Mentorship program in the U of L’s Faculty of Management often come “full circle.”

Rhonda Crow, Coordinator, First Nations Governance

Recognizing the challenges FNMI students face, this visionary program was launched in 2012 aiming to break down barriers to their education. It encourages First Nations youth to complete high school and pursue post-secondary studies. It is beginning to see successes as the first mentees have completed high school and are attending university this fall.

“For some families, their parents didn't have the opportunity to go to college or university, so it's foreign to them. It really helps for the younger students to have positive role models who are currently attending university,” says Rhonda Crow, coordinator, First Nations Governance in the Faculty of Management.

The mentorship program is unique in the broad range of students it reaches, spanning university to middle school. U of L FNMI alumni serve as mentors to Aboriginal students in the management and pre-management programs. In turn, U of L students pay it forward by providing guidance to middle school and senior high FNMI students in Lethbridge, as well as schools on the reserve. A recent addition to the program includes invitations to prominent alumni (such as Hon. Jennifer Campeau (BMgt '08), MLA for Saskatoon Fairview) to spend a week on campus as executives-in-residence, speaking to classes, community organizations and local schools.

"Students who are mentored or mentor others are more likely to feel supported and engaged in both the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and local community, and are less likely to drop out," explains Andrea Amelinckx, director and faculty member in the U of L’s First Nations Governance program.

Fifth-year U of L student Alison Frank can further attest to this, having seen first hand the true impact of the FNMI Youth Mentorship program. Frank grew up in a home with six brothers, so when she first heard about the opportunity to mentor youth, she personally wanted to make meaningful connections with younger girls, in addition to gaining valuable real-life work experience. Frank was paired with three students who were in middle school at the time.

"It was a little bit tough in the beginning because, with teenagers, you have to develop a level of trust. However, as I started getting to know them, a relationship and eventually a friendship formed. I talked to them weekly, sometimes even daily," recalls Frank. "It gave me little sisters, something I've always wanted."

During the next three years, Frank connected with the girls through group activities like bowling and going to the movies, but there was always a greater underlying purpose.

"I'm an education major, so it was really important to me to empower them to go to, and stay, in school, to show them that as mentors we are ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ students and you can be, too."

This past year, Frank watched as all of the girls she had journeyed with were handed high school diplomas.

"I had heard about the good times, as well as the hard times in their lives, and I knew what they had been through. So seeing them graduate brought tears to my eyes. I was so proud of them. It made it all worth it."

Since becoming involved with the program, Frank has moved into a supervisor role and is now in a position where she mentors the mentors.

"We always talk about the fact that you never know who is looking up to you. You have to carry yourself in a manner that reflects how you would want to be seen. As students at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, we're future leaders, and we have to carry that responsibility," Frank explains.

Included in a group of 20 ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ student mentors Frank is overseeing, are two of the three girls she originally met all those years ago. Having graduated from high school, the girls are continuing their education at the U of L and have signed up to be mentors themselves.

"It's really come full circle. We're growing with each other through this program," says Frank, with a big smile. "It's a ripple effect, and it's just going to keep getting bigger and bigger. I'm excited to see where it goes."

UNews - Alison Frank

Scholarship program to honour influential quartet, support educational opportunities for Blackfoot students

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