'There was some culture shock'
Indspire youth award laureates discuss obstacles to post-secondary schooling
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A panel of indigenous speakers touring the country to share their stories and words of advice about education made a stop in Yellowknife yesterday.
Panel speakers Fauna Kingdon, left, Thomas Dymond, Elizabeth Zarpa and panel host Suzette Amaya take the stage at NACC yesterday for the Yellowknife stop on the Indspire Youth Laureates Cross Canada Tour. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo |
The Indspire Youth Laureates Cross Canada Tour, held at Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, is currently touring seven cities including Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Vancouver and Winnipeg.
Fauna Kingdon is a 32-year-old Metis woman originally from Manitoba who grew up in Iqaluit. She described challenges she has faced when it comes to education.
"There was some culture shock leaving Nunavut, living in a rural area or a high Arctic area and then moving to the city," she said.
Kingdon was 17-years old when she moved south.
She earned her honours Bachelor of Commerce degree in 2006 from the University of Manitoba and is now one of a small number of indigenous chartered professional accountants in Canada.
She spoke about how the sheer amount of people in a city can be overwhelming in and of itself when moving from a small, remote Northern community.
"It's really easy to move down and make a big change in your life and think that people are just going to be there for you," she told Yellowknifer.
"You have to have the courage to reach out and meet new people and really develop your own network and your own support system."
Elizabeth Zarpa, a 29-year-old Inuk woman from Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador who won an Indspire youth award in the Inuit category in 2013, faced similar challenges going to school to become a lawyer.
She described a shortage in the number of Inuit students pursuing a college or university education in the south.
"In order for me to pursue a post-secondary education ... I had to leave my home, my family, my friends, everything I know of," she said.
Coming from a community of 10,000 people where "everyone knows each other," it was challenging to adapt to city life in Halifax, Zarpa added.
She also faced what she said was an ignorance toward indigenous Canadians and racism she hadn't experienced at home.
Her advice to youth facing the same experiences: find good mentors.
"Stay connected to home in some way, whether it's visiting or being connected through organizational work," said Zarpa.
Twenty-five-year-old Thomas Dymond, who grew up off-reserve in Nova Scotia and won the Indspire's First Nations youth award in 2017, also spoke on the panel.
He said education is a huge part of where he is today although it was never on his radar growing up.
"Neither of my parents went to university and there was never this push to go," Dymond said. "Nobody had really given me guidance on what to do and how to navigate the system."
Despite changing programs several times during his undergraduate degree and struggling to stay in school after coming out as gay during his third year of university, Dymond said getting involved on campus is what got him through.
Indspire is an indigenous-led charity focused on education.
It received funding for the tour from the Canada 150 Fund. Indspire awards recognize indigenous youth and professionals who demonstrate outstanding career achievement, according to the organization.
