DEH CHO - Luck was with the six Fort Providence youth selected to attend the Dreamcatcher Aboriginal Youth Conference in Edmonton earlier this month after the van they planned to travel in broke down right before the group left town.

"The ride was a little bit long because we were supposed to use the hamlet van, but the brakes went," said Violet Landry, program co-ordinator at the Fort Providence Friendship Centre

"The good thing was two of the parents of the kids were going that way, one to Edmonton and one to Grand Prairie," she said. "We were very, very lucky."

Youth from across Canada gathered in Edmonton for the Dreamcatcher Aboriginal Youth Conference from Oct. 15 to Oct. 17.

Grade 9 student Spencer Bonnetrouge feared the group wouldn't be able to attend, but parents and Landry made sure the students made it.

"I thought we weren't going to go, but we had a last minute emergency meeting and some of our parents drove us," he said.

Bonnetrouge said he was glad he was able to attend the conference.

"I learned things that can help me in life later on," he said.

The event was held at Grant MacEwan University and education was one of the primary goals of the conference, organizer Carolynn Kane said.

"Our mandate is to introduce youth to education options for them when they're considering post-secondary," she said.

The conference has been held for the past 18 years. This year's theme involved highlighting aboriginal role models, Kane said.

"What we've been trying to work on over the last couple of years is bringing in strong role models for them to see," she said. "Those who have blended career, education and culture in their lives."

The event also aims to give youth tools to help deal with issues they deal with in their daily lives, Kane said.

"We're dealing with subject matter around youth leadership as well as gang issues, drug issues, prostitution issues, things that they are seeing and dealing with," she said. "There is quite a range of subject matter that they deal with when they come."

Having elders and educators under the same roof can provide a link between aboriginal culture and a possible educational future, she added.

"We have elders on site so they get a chance to really see some in-depth cultural sessions, as well as the educational sessions," she said.

The conference also gives youth a chance to network because it brings together youth from across the country, Kane said.

"It allows them to connect and maybe find a relative they haven't seen in a while," she said.

Echo Dene School Grade 12 student Briana Kotchea from Fort Liard said this was her second trip to the conference.

She participated in a workshop about drum making.

"I learned about the evolution of the drum," she said. "It was about respecting the drum and what they're made out of."

Kotchea said she would recommend the conference to younger students who are interested in attending.

"It's fun and they get to learn a lot and I hope for all the young ones here when they're older, that they can go," she said.

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