Jessica Klinkenberg
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 13, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - A Grade 8 student at St. Joseph school has an eye for design that's taking her to Winnipeg.

Nicole Chang won an Aboriginal People's Television Network (APTN) contest to design a flag for Aboriginal Solidarity Day.

"I was at school still (when I was picked as the winner) and my mom got the call. When I got home she was all excited and wouldn't tell me why. She just told me to check my e-mail," Chang said of how she found out.

Chang said her teacher had told the class there were a couple of competitions they could enter and whoever was interested could try.

From there Chang started working on designing the flag.

"We just did a little bit of research," she said.

From there Chang settled on the design of three triangles with a picture representing different Aboriginal cultures in the flag.

"This one that kind of looks like an eight is a sign for the Metis," she explained. "The Inukshuk is a symbol for the Inuit and then the eagle head is the sign for the First Nations."

Each has its own colours, blue, green and red, which Chang found out afterwards were APTN's signature colours.

Chang said it took her a couple of hours to come up with the design and to draw up the rough draft.

Along with the trip for two to Winnipeg (she decided to take her mom), Chang also won $250, which she plans to save for a summer trip to Edmonton.

Chang is looking forward to attending Aboriginal Day celebrations in Winnipeg on June 21.

"I'm excited to see how (my design) looks on the flag," she said.

She also gets to visit the APTN studio in Winnipeg as well, which she thinks will be exciting.

As for a future in design and art, Chang doesn't think that's for her.

"I like drawing, but not enough to take it seriously," she said.